SK Group, AWS Boost Ulsan Data Center to Drive Growth

• SK Group-AWS build 100MW hyperscale data center in Ulsan.
• Supports South Korea's decentralization and Data Valley push.
• Indo-Pacific data center market projected to hit $71.7B by 2032.

The SK Group and Amazon Web Services (AWS) investment in a Ulsan data center marks a pivotal step in South Korea’s tech decentralization strategy, aiming to expand infrastructure beyond Seoul’s metropolitan area.

Backed by the Korean government, this move aligns with broader national efforts to promote data center development in provincial regions like Gangwon Province under President Yoon Suk-yeol’s “Data Valley” initiative.

Building in Ulsan, traditionally an industrial hub, helps reduce the infrastructural strain on Seoul while fostering regional economic growth and potentially transforming Ulsan into a new technology hub. This project also addresses a key challenge in South Korea: strict regulatory hurdles and limited power approvals for new data centers, which have slowed sector expansion in urban centers.

The SK-AWS partnership strengthens South Korea’s competitive stance in the Indo-Pacific data center market, projected to grow at 12.6 percent annually, reaching $71.7 billion by 2032. South Korea’s current footprint of 43 data centers pales compared to China’s 449, indicating significant growth potential as the country’s market is expected to expand from $4.5 billion in 2023 to $7.2 billion by 2029.

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With an initial capacity of 100 megawatts and plans to scale to 1 gigawatt, the Ulsan facility is set to become one of the largest hyperscale centers in the region. This development supports South Korea’s 97 percent internet penetration rate and increasing AI-driven computational demands, signaling a strategic pivot from connectivity-led to power-driven data center growth across Asia.