SK Group has announced its partnership with Amazon Web Services (AWS) to expand cloud infrastructure in South Korea. SK Group, in partnership with AWS, will build a data center in Ulsan, South Korea for a new AWS AI Zone that will help organizations in South Korea build innovative and new AI applications locally while leveraging the full breadth of AWS capabilities.
The AI Zone will bring together multiple innovative capabilities, including dedicated AWS AI infrastructure and servers with world-class semiconductors, UltraCluster networks for faster AI training and inference, AWS services like Amazon SageMaker and Amazon Bedrock, and AI application services such as Amazon Q to advance Korea’s mission to be a world leader in AI.
On June 20, SK Group and AWS held a signing ceremony for the establishment of the AI Zone in Ulsan, where both parties pledged cooperation for the successful launch of the project. Chey Tae-won, Chairman of SK Group; Ryu Young-sang, CEO of SK Telecom; Prasad Kalyanaraman, Vice President of Infrastructure Services at AWS; Jaime Valles, Vice President and General Manager for Asia Pacific and Japan at AWS; and Ham Kee-ho, Country Managing Director of Korea at AWS attended the signing ceremony.
The data center in Ulsan is scheduled to begin operations by 2027 and is expected to generate up to 78,000 direct and indirect jobs over time as the data center scales and operations expand. The AI Zone in Ulsan will combine industry-leading capabilities from SK Group and AWS through a 15-year partnership to provide top-tier network operations, a semiconductor supply chain, and efficient power infrastructure. This partnership is in addition to AWS’s long-term US $5.88 billion (approx. 7.85 trillion won) planned investment in Korea by 2027.
Prasad Kalyanaraman, VP, Infrastructure Services, AWS
When SK Group's exceptional technical capabilities combine with AWS's comprehensive AI cloud services, we'll empower customers of all sizes, and across all industries here in Korea to build and innovate with safe, secure AI technologies. This partnership represents our commitment to Korea's AI future, and I couldn't be more excited about what we'll achieve together.
Chey Tae-won, Chairman, SK Group
We are pleased to combine the technological capabilities of SK Group with AWS, the world’s leading cloud provider, to establish a core infrastructure for a Korean AI ecosystem and create a powerful new engine for 'AI highway.' Moving forward, SK will continue to build an AI data center hub in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region by leveraging the unique strengths of each affiliate and our global partnerships.
