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President Lee says Korea climbing 'strenuous hill,' praises SK data center at AI roundtable in Ulsan

Published: 20 Jun. 2025, 16:42

President Lee Jae Myung, right, speaks to SK Chairman Chey Tae-won during the ″AI Global Cooperation Business Roundtable” held at the Ulsan Exhibition and Convention Center in Ulsan on June 20. [YONHAP]

President Lee Jae Myung said that Korea has achieved rapid economic growth until now, but the country is currently climbing over what people call a “strenuous hill” on Friday.

Lee made these remarks during his opening statement at the “AI Global Cooperation Business Roundtable” held at the Ulsan Exhibition and Convention Center on Friday.

At the event were many business leaders, including SK Chairman Chey Tae-won, Kakao CEO Chung Shin-a, Samsung SDS CEO Lee June-hee, LG AI Research Institute Director Bae Kyung-hoon, Lunit CEO Suh Beom-seok, FuriosaAI CEO Baek Joon-ho, Korea AI Software Industry Association Chairman Cho Joon-hee and Naver Cloud CEO Kim Yu-won.

From the presidential office, key economic aides, including National Policy Director Kim Yong-beom, Economic Growth Senior Secretary Ha Joon-kyung, AI Future Planning Senior Secretary Ha Jung-woo and Fiscal Policy Advisor Ryu Deok-hyun, assisted Lee.

“Depending on how we prepare, we could move into a new world or fall back,” Lee said. “I believe that with the great strength of our people, we will overcome this crisis and enter a new world.”

“I saw today that Korea’s stock index hit 2,999.1, and I hope it will surpass 3,000 with new expectations and enter a new era of growth,” Lee went on.

President Lee Jae Myung attends an opening ceremony fpr an AI data center in Ulsan at the Ulsan Exhibition and Convention Center on June 20. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]

President Lee especially praised Chey for launching an AI data center, saying, “Chairman, you’ve worked hard.”

He also mentioned Chung and others, saying, “The greatness of our people is continued in the greatness of businesses through the outstanding abilities of people like them, leading our industry and economy,” and encouraged them, saying, “I believe they will play a great role in leading the world in this cutting-edge AI era.”

“There is particular meaning in attracting a large-scale AI data center to a region,” said Lee. “I took time to come here today because I believe this project creates new hope for the regional economy and industry. I hope this becomes the starting point for revitalizing the Ulsan economy and for Korea’s growth to bloom.”

“Ulsan is also the starting point of Korea’s industrialization,” Lee said. “I’m from Andong, and many from my hometown have come to Ulsan. While this applies to all of Korea’s regions, it’s said that Ulsan’s economy hasn’t been good lately. Ulsan must revive for the regional economy to revive, too.”

President Lee Jae Myung attends an opening ceremony for an AI data center in Ulsan at the Ulsan Exhibition and Convention Center on June 20. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]

“The Ulsan AI data center is more than a corporate investment — it will play an essential role for Korea to join the President’s vision of becoming a top-three AI powerhouse,” Chey said during the roundtable discussions. “Though currently under construction at 100 megawatt capacity, we will expand it to 1 gigawatt and turn it into a global hub to meet domestic AI demand.”

The SK Group is building the Ulsan AI data center in the Mipo National Industrial Complex in partnership with Amazon Web Services (AWS). About 60,000 GPUs are planned to be installed, making it the largest AI data center currently underway in Korea.

The two parties plan to invest several trillion won, currently estimated at 7 trillion won ($5.11 billion), and expand it to a 1 gigawatt scale to create the largest AI data center hub in Northeast Asia.

AI data centers, which store vast amounts of data and provide stable network services, are considered essential infrastructure in the AI era.

Translated from the JoongAng Ilbo using generative AI and edited by Korea JoongAng Daily staff.
BY CHO MUN-GYU [[email protected]]