South Korea AI infrastructure: GPUs, power and policy in 2026

South Korea has announced a goal of 18.4 gigawatts of AI data centres by 2035, plus a deal for more than 260,000 Nvidia GPUs. Chips and money look available. Electricity, grid connections and sites outside Seoul are the hard part, and several flagship projects have moved slower than their announcements.

This post collects what has been reported, labels each figure by source and date, and says where accounts disagree. It is a factual summary, not investment advice. For the wider region, see the Asia Pacific overview. Three companion explainers carry the detail this overview only summarises: who gets the GPUs in Korea's sovereign AI stack, Korea's memory makers and HBM and Korea's nuclear fleet and grid.

Key numbers at a glance

• Over 260,000: Nvidia GPUs in the supply agreement announced at the APEC summit (Nvidia press release, 30 October 2025). Financial terms were not disclosed (Data Center Knowledge, 3 November 2025).
• 50,000: latest generation GPUs the Ministry of Science and ICT (MSIT) said it would secure for sovereign AI models (Data Center Knowledge, 3 November 2025).
• About 45,000: Korea's existing GPU count as estimated by local analysts, which would make the deal about five times current stock (Data Center Knowledge, 3 November 2025). This is an analyst estimate, not an official count.
• About 14.8 trillion won: value of the GPU deal estimated by the Chosun Daily, quoted in that report, based on an assumed B200 unit price of 30,000 to 40,000 US dollars. An estimate, not a disclosed contract value.
• 18.4 GW: national AI data centre capacity target for 2035 (Light Reading, 30 June 2026, reporting the plan announced on 29 June 2026).
• 8.4 GW: target for phase 1 by 2029, at about 550 trillion won, roughly 357 billion US dollars (same report). Phase 2 adds 10 GW for 2030 to 2035.
• More than 1,000 trillion won: total investment named for the plan, about 650 billion US dollars in that report. Another outlet converted a similar won figure to about 739.67 billion dollars (Korea JoongAng Daily, 7 September 2026). The gap comes from exchange rates and what is counted.
• 15 GW: share of the plan attached to SK Group, led by SK Telecom, according to Light Reading (30 June 2026).
• 103 MW: full build of the SK and AWS Ulsan site, with about 60,000 GPUs expected (Korea JoongAng Daily, 16 June 2025, citing industry insiders). Phase 1 of about 40 MW was targeted for November 2027.
• 20 MW: initial capacity reported for each of two planned OpenAI linked data centres (Korea JoongAng Daily, 7 September 2026, citing October 2025 domestic reports). Reported figures varied.
• 50 percent and 33 percent: SK hynix and Samsung shares of high bandwidth memory (HBM) revenue in the second quarter of 2026, from 64 percent and 15 percent a year earlier (Counterpoint Research, 3 September 2026).
• 22 January 2026: date the AI Basic Act took effect (Cooley, 27 January 2026).
• 10 MW: size above which a data centre's power request needs a grid impact assessment under the Distributed Energy Act (Korea JoongAng Daily, 24 April 2026).
• 53 and 1: data centre related applications filed since the law took effect, and approvals in the capital area, the one approval being backup power at an existing site (KEPCO figures in Korea JoongAng Daily, 24 April 2026).
• 12 months: how long KEPCO, the state utility, was reported to take to confirm power supply for a Seoul area data centre, up from 2 to 3 months (Cushman and Wakefield, 29 October 2024).

The shape of the strategy

South Korea describes AI infrastructure as national infrastructure. At the 29 June 2026 announcement, President Lee Jae-myung presented what Light Reading called a "triple axis" strategy, with AI data centres as one pillar. Science and ICT Minister Bae Kyung-hoon described these sites as "token factories", and SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won called them "factories that produce intelligence".

Plain language helps here. A gigawatt is a thousand megawatts, and one GW of continuous load is roughly the electricity of a large city. Most existing Korean data centres are tens of megawatts each. A national target of 18.4 GW is therefore a different order of magnitude, which is why power dominates the discussion.

The plan has two phases. Phase 1 aims for 8.4 GW by 2029. Phase 2 adds about 10 GW by 2035. Light Reading reports that the government will offer discounted electricity rates and streamlined land and water rights. It also reports that domestic neural processing unit (NPU) chips from Korean makers such as FuriosaAI and Rebellions are to be tested in these sites, with turnkey exports planned later if the tests succeed.

Priority regions are outside the capital: Chungcheong, Ulsan, Donghae and Sejong. The stated aim is to balance regional growth and ease grid congestion around Seoul. That second point is the key one, and the sections below return to it.

The GPU deal: what is known

Nvidia's own release of 30 October 2025 describes "over 260,000" GPUs across Korea's sovereign clouds and AI factories. It gives the government up to 50,000, deployed through a National AI Computing Center and the clouds of NHN Cloud, Kakao and Naver Cloud. Samsung and SK Group each get over 50,000 for semiconductor "AI factories", Hyundai Motor Group 50,000 Blackwell GPUs, and Naver Cloud over 60,000. The release does not say whether the government's share overlaps the Naver total. Who uses each block, and for which national models, is covered in the sovereign AI stack explainer.

Two cautions apply. First, a supply agreement is not the same as chips installed and running. Delivery depends on Nvidia production, on finished buildings and on power at the site. Second, the "five times" comparison rests on an analyst estimate of about 45,000 existing units, and other counts exist. Treat the ratio as a rough sense of scale.

Cost is also an estimate. The Chosun Daily's figure of about 14.8 trillion won assumed a unit price range and did not come from the parties. Real contract prices for large buyers are private.

Memory: Korea's other AI position

Korea's strongest direct stake in the AI boom may be memory rather than data centres. Modern AI accelerators use HBM, high bandwidth memory, a stack of memory chips placed next to the processor. SK hynix and Samsung Electronics are two of the three makers. Counterpoint Research put their second quarter 2026 revenue shares at 50 percent and 33 percent, against 64 and 15 percent a year earlier (3 September 2026); other trackers measure differently. The memory makers explainer covers the shares, generations and risks in full. For this post the point is simpler: Korea sits on both sides of the AI build out. It buys compute for its own use and sells memory into everyone else's.

The flagship projects and their status

The projects show how far announcements run ahead of construction, and why a reader should check dates.

• Ulsan, SK Group and AWS. Korea JoongAng Daily reported on 16 June 2025, citing industry insiders, that the two firms would jointly invest "several trillion won" in a 100 MW class AI data centre on land in the Mipo National Industrial Complex. The headline figure was 100 MW, with a build out figure of 103 MW by February 2029 and about 40 MW by November 2027. About 60,000 GPUs were expected. The site is near an LNG combined heat and power plant, and cold energy released when LNG is turned back into gas can help cool the building. SK Telecom and SK Broadband bought the land from SK Chemicals for about 28.3 billion won. SK Telecom declined further comment. A later Fnnews article (5 April 2026) says SK Telecom broke ground on the site with AWS the previous year.
• Sejong, Naver. Fnnews (5 April 2026) lists Naver as expanding its ecosystem around its Sejong data centre. No capacity figure for the expansion is cited here.
• Stargate Korea, OpenAI with Samsung and SK. Korea JoongAng Daily reported on 7 September 2026 that two data centres were planned, one led by Samsung SDS and one by SK Telecom, announced in October 2025 alongside memory supply plans. Domestic reports then placed them in Pohang and the southwest, at 20 MW each initially. A year on, the paper says an OpenAI spokesperson called the project "still under discussion", Samsung SDS said "nothing has been confirmed", and SK Telecom said no progress had been made since the October 2025 memorandum of understanding. An anonymous industry source said the firms were struggling to find a site with enough power and water. Minister Bae had said in February 2026 that the project was underway with a groundbreaking targeted for March, which the paper's reporting contradicted. A memorandum of understanding is a non-binding statement of intent.

For context on how such commitments work, see the explainers on OpenAI compute commitments and Stargate and Anthropic compute commitments.

Power: the real constraint

Korea's electricity system is operated largely by one state utility, KEPCO, and the biggest demand is around Seoul and its surroundings, where land is costly and the grid is crowded.

Cushman and Wakefield wrote on 29 October 2024 that KEPCO's time to confirm power supply for a data centre had stretched to about 12 months from 2 to 3 months, that a new policy restricted additional supply in the Seoul metropolitan area, and that national policy was to move data centres from Greater Seoul to regional districts. It also noted that 2024 legislation gave KEPCO powers to manage new power applications and protect grid stability. That article is nearly two years old, so use it for direction rather than current waiting times.

Fnnews, in an article dated 5 April 2026, calls power the biggest bottleneck and says the grid is nearing its limits. It describes a proposed Special Act on AI Data Centres as stalled by disagreement between ministries. According to that report, the trade and industry ministry wants data centres treated as national strategic facilities with broad rights to sign direct power purchase agreements, meaning long term contracts with a generator, because large technology firms secure low cost renewable contracts abroad. The finance ministry worries about distorting the power market, losing tax revenue and unfair special tariffs. The environment ministry wants stronger assessments because of water use, cooling and heat. The science ministry wants AI infrastructure named a national strategic technology so it can receive tax credits like semiconductors, while the finance ministry wants those benefits narrowed.

That is a useful picture of the choices.

The Seoul grid test

The sharpest tool already in force is a grid impact assessment. Korea JoongAng Daily reported on 24 April 2026 that under the Distributed Energy Act, any project drawing more than 10 megawatts must pass an assessment that weighs power availability alongside wider social, economic and policy effects. Citing KEPCO, the paper said 53 data centre related applications had been filed since the law took effect, and only one had been approved in the capital, for backup power at an existing facility.

In practice, that makes the Seoul area close to closed for new large loads, while the 29 June 2026 plan steers investment to the regions. The same April report described another response: heavy industry firms looking at turning old plant sites into data centres. It named Dongkuk Steel sites in Incheon and Pohang, Hyundai Steel land in Incheon and a Pohang ferroalloy plant approved for conversion. None of those projects had a published megawatt figure in the report. Former industrial sites can bring existing high voltage connections and zoning, which is why they attract interest, but each still has to pass the same assessment.

The trade off is latency. Cushman and Wakefield noted in 2024 that some users still want capacity near Seoul because services for users there run faster from nearby. Training jobs care less about that than live services, which helps explain why the regional plan and the metropolitan squeeze can coexist. Everyone agrees AI sites need cheap, firm power. They disagree on who pays, and on whether special treatment for data centres is fair to other users.

The regional shift raises its own question. The Light Reading article names the regions and the aid on offer, but it does not discuss risks or how the plan is financed beyond government support, and it says the public and private split is not specified. Moving load away from Seoul only helps if new generation and transmission lines are built where the load goes. Transmission lines take years and often meet local opposition.

The AI Basic Act

Korea also has a national AI law. Cooley's summary of 27 January 2026 says the AI Basic Act took effect on 22 January 2026. It covers firms that develop and provide AI and firms that offer products or services that use it. Duties include telling users when a product uses AI, labelling hard to spot generative content, and extra steps such as self assessment and human oversight for "high-impact" uses like healthcare, hiring and energy. Fines are capped at 30 million won, about 21,000 US dollars in Cooley's conversion, with a one year grace period indicated by MSIT. Foreign firms above set revenue or user thresholds must appoint a local agent. The sovereign AI stack explainer walks through the thresholds. For suppliers selling software into Korea, the practical effect is documentation and notice duties that a customer may pass down by contract.

What is firm and what is uncertain

Firm, because several sources agree or an official step happened:

• The 260,000 plus GPU agreement was announced in late 2025, with MSIT securing 50,000 units for sovereign AI.
• The government announced an 18.4 GW, two phase plan on 29 June 2026, with regional priority outside Seoul.
• The AI Basic Act is in force, with a grace period on fines.
• HBM revenue share has shifted toward Samsung, per Counterpoint.

Uncertain or contested:

• Delivery. No official count of installed GPUs from the 260,000 has been published.
• Money. The plan's dollar value differs by outlet, and the split of public and private funding is not specified. Light Reading notes that its article does not cover financing mechanisms.
• Stargate Korea. Parties describe it as undecided or without progress, while a minister said it was underway.
• Capacity numbers. Ulsan is reported as 100 MW and 103 MW depending on the line, and it relies on insiders. The 15 GW share for SK reported by Light Reading is large against 8.4 GW for phase 1, so it likely spans both phases, but the article does not break it down.
• Power rules. The special AI data centre act was reported as stalled in April 2026, and no later report on its status is cited here.

What to watch next

• Whether the special act on AI data centres passes, and if so whether direct power contracts are allowed.
• Grid approvals for regional sites, and whether new transmission lines keep to schedule.
• First megawatts online at Ulsan, with the phase 1 target of November 2027 as the benchmark.
• Whether Stargate Korea gets a named site, a financing structure and a start date.
• HBM4 volumes in the second half of 2026 and the effect on Samsung and SK hynix shares.
• Enforcement decrees under the AI Basic Act, especially for high-performance AI, and the end of the grace period.
• Official GPU installation counts from MSIT.
• Approval numbers for 10 MW plus requests under the grid impact assessment, inside and outside the Seoul area.

AI buildouts add software suppliers to review, and Safeguard's free dependency scan at https://gold.safeguard.sh/scan is one place to start.

Quick check

Sources

• Nvidia, press release on Korea sovereign AI infrastructure (30 October 2025)
• Korea JoongAng Daily, From factories to data centers: Korea's heavy industries pivot to meet surging AI demand (24 April 2026)
• Data Center Knowledge, South Korea to boost AI infrastructure with 260,000 Nvidia chips (3 November 2025)
• Light Reading, South Korea plans massive 18.4GW AI data center buildout by 2035 (30 June 2026)
• Korea JoongAng Daily, OpenAI's Stargate project in Korea stuck at starting gate (7 September 2026)
• Korea JoongAng Daily, SK Group and AWS to build Korea's largest AI data center in Ulsan (16 June 2025)
• Counterpoint Research, Global HBM market share Q2 2026 (3 September 2026)
• Cooley, South Korea's AI Basic Act overview and key takeaways (27 January 2026)
• Cushman and Wakefield, South Korea data centre industry (29 October 2024)
• Fnnews, article on Korea AI data centre policy and power (5 April 2026)

Last reviewed: 19 October 2026.