February 18, 2025
SEOUL – The South Korean government will secure 10,000 high-performance graphics processing units this year to accelerate the launch of a national artificial intelligence computing center, the Ministry of Science and ICT announced on Monday.
Acting President and Deputy Prime Minister Choi Sang-mok convened the third meeting of the AI Computing Infrastructure Special Committee, where he announced the government’s plan to accelerate its initiative to build AI infrastructure. Choi, who also serves as the minister of economy and finance, added that the country will purchase an additional 8,000 GPUs to establish its sixth supercomputer.
“As competition for AI supremacy intensifies, the rivalry has shifted from being solely between corporations to a contest between nations, transforming into a race for innovative ecosystems,” Choi said.
“If the government and private sector unite as one team and leverage AI computing infrastructure, we can become one of the world’s top three AI powerhouses, just as we established our position in the IT sector with broadband networks in the past.”
Choi emphasized that the government will collaborate with the private sector to secure high-performance GPUs and accelerate the launch of the National AI Computing Center, currently set to open in 2027.
The government’s latest initiative comes amid global efforts to strengthen AI capabilities. Countries like the United States and France are launching large-scale projects, such as the US Stargate Project and France’s AI data center, highlighting AI computing infrastructure as a key determinant of national AI competitiveness.
At Monday’s meeting, key government officials in attendance included Financial Services Commission Chairman Kim Byung-hwan and Korea Development Bank Chairman Kang Seok-hoon. Private sector attendees included Park Jong-bae, a professor at Konkuk University, Korea Software Industry Association Chairman Jo Joon-hee and Korea Semiconductor Industry Association Executive Vice Chairman Kim Jeong-hoe.
Kim Sung-hoon, the CEO of a Korean AI startup Upstage, and Bae Kyung-hoon, the director of LG AI Research, also delivered presentations on AI computing infrastructure and industry trends.
The National AI Committee, established in September 2023, brings together government ministries, academia and industry leaders to discuss emerging AI technologies and promote infrastructure development.
The government announced plans to build a National AI Computing Center with a computing power of 1 exaflop, equivalent to 100 quintillion floating-point operations per second. With private sector investment, the total computing capacity is expected to expand to 2 exaflops.
To build the center, the government is planning to form a special-purpose company with private entities, and begin the project with an initial investment of 400 billion won ($277 million). The SPC will be structured with 51 percent public and 49 percent private ownership. The total anticipated investment is 2 trillion won.
This year, the government has increased its annual AI technology budget by 25 percent year-on-year, allocating 1.8 trillion won for AI initiatives. Additionally, it plans to introduce a cross-ministerial plan aimed at strengthening national AI capabilities.
“The government is aware of rapid technological and market changes and plans to regularly assess progress through the special committee,” the Ministry of Science and ICT stated.