"Now is the Kkaltak Pass… We must advance towards a new world with AI"
President Yoon Seok-youl attended the launch ceremony of a large-scale artificial intelligence (AI) data center project held in Ulsan on the 20th and expressed his expectations, stating, "This is a case that presents new hope for local industries and the economy."
At the 'AI Global Cooperation Corporate Meeting' held at the Ulsan Exhibition and Convention Center, President Yoon analyzed the current economic situation, saying, "The Republic of Korea has continued to achieve rapid growth until now, but we are currently crossing a metaphorical Kkaltak Pass. We stand at a crossroads where we can move into a new world depending on our preparation, or we might fall back again."
He continued, "Our people always have the strength to overcome crises," adding, "I am confident that the Republic of Korea can play a central role in leading the world in this advanced AI era."
"Attracting AI infrastructure to the provinces has special significance"… Expressing gratitude to SK
President Yoon particularly noted the establishment of a large-scale AI infrastructure in the provinces. He remarked, "Attracting a large-scale AI data center to the provinces is a very symbolic achievement."
He also paid his respects to Chey Tae-won, chairman of SK Group, who attended the meeting. President Yoon mentioned, "Our Chairman of SK, you have worked hard," directly conveying his gratitude.
Furthermore, he emphasized, "This can be a model case that shows that advanced technology industries, which have been concentrated in the metropolitan area, can also thrive in the provinces," expressing hope that the Ulsan project would revitalize the Ulsan economy and serve as a starting point for the Republic of Korea's growth.
Chairman Chey replied, "The Ulsan AI data center will be a key foundation in line with the President's emphasized vision of becoming one of the 'three major AI powers'," adding, "Currently, it is being established at a scale of 100MW, but we plan to expand it to 1GW in the future to develop it into a central hub that responds to global AI demand."
Building the largest-scale AI infrastructure in the country… Collaborating with AWS in Ulsan
The Ulsan AI data center is set to be constructed by SK Group in collaboration with Amazon Web Services (AWS) at the Ulsan Mipo National Industrial Complex. Approximately 60,000 GPUs will be utilized, making it the largest single-scale AI data center being established in the country.
The AI data center serves as a crucial infrastructure for training and inference of ultra-large AI models, providing the functionality of storing vast amounts of data and offering high-speed and stable computing and network environments. Accordingly, the Ulsan project is expected to become an important pivot not only for the industry but also for the government's AI ecosystem strategy.
The meeting was attended by key figures from major domestic AI and ICT companies, including Chairman Chey, Jeong Shin-a, CEO of Kakao, Lee Jun-hee, President of Samsung SDS, Bae Kyung-hoon, Director of LG AI Research Institute, Seo Beom-seok, CEO of Lunit, Baek Jun-ho, CEO of FuriosaAI, Cho Joon-hee, President of the Korea AI & SW Association, and Kim Yu-won, CEO of Naver Cloud.
Image source: youtube 'ktv 이매진'
