First Shovel of South Korea's 'AI Heart' in Haenam

"This is a historic day marking the beginning of South Korea's AI (artificial intelligence) revolution."

Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Science and ICT Bae Kyung-hoon made these remarks at the groundbreaking ceremony for the National AI Computing Center held at the Datacenter Park in Solarisdo, Haenam County, Gwangju Metropolitan City on the 3rd. He stated, "South Korea will grow from a nation that utilizes AI and supplies memory semiconductors into a core country of the AI supply chain."

The groundbreaking ceremony, held under scorching heat exceeding 36 degrees Celsius, was attended by Vice Prime Minister Bae, along with National Assembly members Park Ji-won, Han Jun-ho, and An Do-gyeol; Gwangju Metropolitan Mayor Min Hyung-bae; An Seong-tae, President of Korea AI Computing Center (KOACC); Lee Jun-hee, CEO of Samsung SDS; and Kim Yu-won, CEO of Naver Cloud. Key figures from the government, National Assembly, local governments, and industry gathered to break ground at this vast site where core infrastructure for South Korea's AI industry will be established by 2028.

The National AI Computing Center is a key infrastructure component of the government's "AI Highway." It provides the latest AI computing resources to academia, industry, and research institutions to support the development of super-large-scale AI models and verifies domestic AI semiconductors in actual service environments.

The project was awarded following a public recruitment last year to a consortium led by Samsung SDS. The consortium includes Samsung SDS (Samsung SDS), Naver Cloud, Samsung C&T, Kakao, Samsung Electronics, and KT. KOACC, established by the government in June, will be responsible for construction and operation.

Lee Jun-hee, CEO of Samsung SDS, stated, "The National AI Computing Center is not merely a facility but a collaborative model where the government and private sector jointly enhance South Korea's AI competitiveness." He added, "We aim to build top-tier AI infrastructure, maximize synergies through public-private cooperation, and create a hub in Haenam where the AI industry ecosystem and talent will gather."

The center will be developed with a total investment of 2.4 trillion won at Solarisdo Enterprise City in Sugim-ri, Sanmi-myeon, Haenam County. By 2028, it plans to install 15,000 GPUs (graphics processing units) and expand to 50,000 units by 2030 to operate as a national AI computing hub. Starting next year, before completion, some AI computing resources will be provided from Samsung SDS data centers to meet the AI computing demands of academia, industry, and research institutions.

The government plans to verify domestic AI semiconductors in the R&D (research and development) zone within the center. Products with confirmed performance will be applied to commercial services, leading to the revitalization of the domestic AI semiconductor ecosystem. Additionally, in cooperation with relevant ministries such as the Financial Services Commission, the government will promote demand linkage and financial support necessary for initial operations.

Vice Prime Minister Bae remarked, "Just two years ago, we were worried about how many GPUs South Korea had, but now global companies have moved to investing in South Korea's AI infrastructure." He continued, "Now, it is more important not just how many we secure, but how we utilize them to become the protagonists of the AI era." He further emphasized, "The government will continue to support the successful construction and operation of the National AI Computing Center until the end."