SK Group and AWS Launch 15-Year Partnership to Build AI Data Center Hub in Ulsan

SK Group and AWS Join Forces to Launch AI Zone in Ulsan

SK Group, South Korea's second-largest conglomerate, is partnering with Amazon Web Services (AWS) to establish a new AI Zone in Ulsan. This collaboration focuses on building advanced data center infrastructure to support AI adoption across South Korea. Scheduled to begin operations in 2027, this initiative is set to enhance cloud and AI capabilities for organizations locally and regionally.

What the AI Zone Brings to Operations Teams

The AI Zone will deliver a dedicated AWS AI infrastructure featuring world-class semiconductors, UltraCluster networks for faster AI training and inference, and AWS services like Amazon SageMaker, Amazon Bedrock, and Amazon Q. This setup will enable organizations to deploy AI applications with improved efficiency, security, and speed — all within South Korea.

Operations professionals can expect access to:

• AI-optimized computing systems with ultra-high-density rack configurations
• Hybrid cooling systems combining air and liquid cooling for energy efficiency
• Stable, high-performance network infrastructure supporting AI workloads

Strategic Importance of Ulsan

Ulsan was chosen due to its stable gas supply, advanced energy solutions, and favorable industrial environment. The city supports submarine cable connectivity and has ideal sites for data center construction. SK Group's existing infrastructure and affiliates in ICT, energy, and semiconductors will contribute to the AI Zone’s success.

Long-Term Collaboration and Impact

The 15-year partnership between SK Group and AWS will provide customers with onshore infrastructure alternatives, supporting data sovereignty and local AI workload processing. As the data center scales, it is expected to create up to 78,000 direct and indirect jobs, making it a significant contributor to the regional economy.

This partnership complements AWS's planned US $5.88 billion investment in South Korea by 2027, strengthening the country’s position in the AI and cloud infrastructure landscape.

Statements from Leadership

Prasad Kalyanaraman, VP of Infrastructure Services at AWS, highlighted the collaboration’s goal to empower Korean organizations with safe and secure AI technologies. He emphasized that combining SK Group’s technical strengths with AWS’s AI cloud services would benefit customers across industries.

Chey Tae-won, Chairman of SK Group, expressed commitment to building an AI data center hub in the Asia-Pacific region by leveraging the unique strengths of SK Group affiliates and global partnerships.

About SK Group

SK Group operates 198 companies with over 100,000 employees globally, focusing on semiconductors, AI, energy, and life sciences. The conglomerate aims to create economic value while positively impacting society.

About Amazon Web Services (AWS)

Since 2006, AWS has offered a broad range of cloud services, supporting diverse workloads globally. With over 240 fully featured services and 117 Availability Zones across 37 geographic regions, AWS serves millions of customers including startups, enterprises, and government agencies.

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