South Korea’s IGIS Asset Management plans to invest $1.3 billion to build two AI data centers in Busan, about 280 miles southeast of Seoul.<\/b>
\n17 South Korea’s IGIS Asset Management, the country’s leading real estate investment firm, plans to invest $1.3 billion to build two AI data centers in Busan, about 280 miles southeast of Seoul.
To that end, IGIS Asset Management signed a memorandum of understanding with the Busan Metropolitan City government on Tuesday. The construction of the 40- and 80-megawatt data centers is expected to begin in late 2026, with operations scheduled to start in late 2029.
The MOU signing ceremony came just a day after nearby Ulsan city disclosed a $5.1 billion joint investment by Korea’s SK Group and Amazon Web Services, the world’s top cloud provider.
The two partners aim to establish a 41 MW facility by 2027 and expand it to 103 MW by 2029 in Ulsan, which is situated 30 miles north of Busan.
„This landmark investment will serve as a catalyst for Busan’s advancement into a national hub for artificial intelligence-based infrastructure“, Busan Mayor Park Heong-joon said in the ceremony.
More data center projects are currently underway in the area.
Earlier this year, for instance, Stock Farm Road announced that the investor group would channel at least $10 billion to install one of the world’s largest AI data centers in South Korea by 2028.
Stock Farm Road was co-founded by Brian Koo, the grandson of LG Group founder Koo In-hwoi, and Amin Badr-El-Din, CEO of Jordan-based BADR Investments.
„The data center is one of the major infrastructures for the AI industry. South Korea is working hard on that“, Professor Yoon Seok-bin of Sogang University told UPI.
„Once the infrastructure is complete, the country would be attractive for foreign companies to provide advanced services in the Asia-Pacific region“, he said.<\/p>\n