Minister Bae Gyeong-hun of the Ministry of Science and ICT visited the Naver Sejong Artificial Intelligence (AI) data center on the 24th and announced a strategy for advancing Korea to become one of the top three AI nations.
Minister Bae noted that securing graphic processing units (GPUs) is a crucial factor and stated that they are rapidly pushing towards a goal of securing 50,000 GPUs. He said, "We are discussing accelerating the timeline rather than first securing 10,000 GPUs and doing it step by step," adding, "It seems that we need to secure a position in the AI race within 2 to 3 years. The speed at which we can prepare GPUs within 1 to 2 years is important."
Minister Bae stated that government support is needed for the establishment of AI data centers and emphasized that not only technical competitiveness and operational capacity but also price competitiveness are important issues. Minister Bae also mentioned the need for corporations to utilize internal documents for AI, underscoring the significance of self-reliance in the domestic AI data center ecosystem without relying on overseas cloud service providers (CSPs). He highlighted the requirement for policy support to resolve regulations and power issues related to the data center establishment.
Regarding regulatory issues for the expansion of AI data centers, industry stakeholders requested solutions for problems related to construction regulations, power regulations, and public opposition. Kim Dong-hoon, CEO of NHN Cloud, raised the need to shorten the power system impact assessment process, while Lee Jun-hee, president of Samsung SDS, proposed flexibility in data center design. Kim Se-woong, vice president of Kakao, suggested tax benefits and financial models, and Kang Jung-hyup, president of the Korea Data Center Association, mentioned "Korea passing" and urged comprehensive promotion measures.
Minister Bae promised to incorporate simplification of the approval process and tax benefits into government policies, along with easing regulations to resolve power issues. He stated regarding the 100 trillion won investment plan that rather than focusing on the numbers, he would reflect policies considering the position of corporations. At the meeting, various AI corporations and academia participants discussed ways to enhance AI infrastructure and improve regulations related to data centers.