South Korea Poised to Become Asia-Pacific’s AI Powerhouse with SK Telecom’s Grand Vision

SK Telecom, a major player in South Korea’s tech landscape and part of SK Group, has revealed a transformative agenda to establish the nation as a central hub for AI data infrastructure across the Asia-Pacific. The announcement was made by CEO Ryu Young-sang during the recent SK AI Summit held in Seoul, where he presented the ‘AI Infrastructure Superhighway’ initiative—an ambitious plan aimed at building a highly advanced AI network.

Central to this project is the construction of a large-scale AI data center, initially drawing more than 100 megawatts of power with expansion plans reaching up to a gigawatt in capacity. SK Telecom is slated next month to debut a testing site in Pangyo, a tech-driven district south of Seoul, which will leverage Nvidia’s cutting-edge chips and AI technologies. This investment underscores SK Telecom’s commitment to staying at the forefront of AI infrastructure development.

Ryu outlined SK Telecom’s mission to secure South Korea’s place among the world’s top three AI leaders. This vision includes an integrated ecosystem encompassing high-performance data centers, Graphics Processing Units as a Service (GPUaaS), and edge AI solutions. As part of this goal, the company’s facility in western Seoul is set for a complete transformation into an AI-specific data center in collaboration with global cloud provider Lambda, with the project kicking off in December. This new AI center will enable GPUaaS, providing scalable, cloud-based solutions tailored specifically for AI applications.

In a further commitment to AI advancement, SK Telecom has earmarked 100 billion won (about $72.9 million) starting next year for the development of a “sovereign AI” system designed specifically to cater to South Korea’s unique market needs. Additionally, the company is advancing in edge AI technologies that blend telecom capabilities with AI computation for greater network efficiency. These innovations are expected to form the backbone of future sixth-generation (6G) networks.

Through these pioneering efforts, SK Telecom is actively positioning South Korea at the forefront of AI development, aspiring to make the nation a leading AI hub in the Asia-Pacific.

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