Original article Total Telecom:Read More
News
The announcement brings Amazon’s total pledged investment in South Korea to $9 billion over the next five years
Amazon Web Services (AWS) is investing $5 billion to develop new AI data centres in South Korea, reinforcing the country’s ambition to emerge as a leading AI and advanced industrial hub in Asia.
The pledge, announced during a high-profile meeting between AWS CEO Matt Garman and South Korean President Lee Jae Myung in Gyeongju, marks a continuation of AWS’s significant investments in the region following an earlier $4 billion project linked with SK Group in Ulsan.
The new AI data centres are slated for construction in Incheon and Gyeonggi Province, complementing the Ulsan facility initiated this year. The Ulsan project, a collaboration between AWS and SK Group, involves building the largest AI data centre in South Korea, beginning construction in September 2025 with full operation expected by 2029. It will feature 60,000 graphics processing units (GPUs), and is initially planned to provide 100MW of computing capacity, expandable to 1GW.
President Lee underscored the strategic importance of these investments, highlighting them as crucial to accelerating South Korea’s economic growth and technological leadership. He spoke of an “AI expressway” initiative designed to integrate AI across industries and research sectors nationwide, positioning South Korea within the top three AI powerhouses globally.
For AWS, Garman said the investment should be viewed as part of a broader strategy to deepen the company’s AI infrastructure strategy to support Asia’s digital growth.
“At AWS, we’ve invested and committed to investment of an additional $40 billion across 14 non-U.S. APEC countries and economies between now and 2028,” he said.
This latest AWS commitment is part of a wider wave of foreign direct investment pledges relating to South Korea that total approximately $9 billion from seven global companies over the next five years. These companies, which include Renault, Amkor Technology, Corning, Air Liquide, Siemens Healthineers, and Umicore, are targeting strategic sectors such as AI, semiconductors, secondary batteries, future mobility, and biotechnology.
AWS’s expanding footprint in South Korea is also complementary to parallel initiatives by other global AI players. OpenAI, for example, has announced plans to collaborate with Samsung and SK Group to build specialised Korean data centres and strengthen supply chains by sourcing memory chips from South Korean firms such as Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix.
Keep up to date with all of the latest telecoms news from around the world with the Total Telecom newsletter
Also in the news
Connected Britain Award winners 2025 announced!
Netomnia announces ‘powerful and ambitious’ rebrand ahead of Connected Britain
VodafoneThree drops Samsung, relies on Nokia and Ericsson for £2bn network upgrade