New AI data center projects give rise to hopes of regional development, more employment around Korea

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New AI data center projects give rise to hopes of regional development, more employment around Korea

Published: 19 Dec. 2025, 14:26 Updated: 19 Dec. 2025, 19:08

Audio report: written by reporters, read by AI

Moreh signs an investment agreement with North Jeolla to build an AI data center for physical AI demonstration projects on Dec. 16. From left are Gov. Kim Kwan-young and Moreh CEO Jo Gang-won. [MOREH]

As artificial intelligence (AI) data centers spring up nationwide, expectations are rising for new business opportunities among startups, traditional midsize firms and conglomerate affiliates alike.

With the Lee Jae Myung administration’s AI transformation initiative gaining momentum, local governments outside the Seoul metropolitan area — including Busan, North Jeolla and South Jeolla — are also moving faster, aware of data centers’ potential to attract companies and young talent.

Domestic AI startup Moreh signed an investment agreement with North Jeolla on Tuesday for a “physical AI data center project.” Moreh plans to invest 20.6 billion won ($13.9 million) to establish an AI data center and research hub in Jeonju, while also directly hiring research personnel.

Physical AI refers to AI systems that understand physical space and time, such as humanoid robots. The technology is considered crucial to realizing “smart manufacturing,” enabling collaboration between humans and robots, as well as among robots themselves, on factory floors.

The first step to a bigger picture

North Jeolla’s 1 trillion-won project to build a “collaborative intelligence physical AI industrial ecosystem” received a preliminary feasibility exemption in August. The finance minister is required to conduct a preliminary feasibility study in advance when drafting a budget for large-scale projects, including new projects involving construction works with a total project cost of at least 50 billion won and government fiscal support of 30 billion won or more.

However, Paragraph 2 of the same article stipulates that projects falling under any of the following categories shall be excluded from preliminary feasibility studies in accordance with procedures prescribed by presidential decree. In this case, this allows the provincial government to link Moreh’s AI infrastructure to the project and use it as a shared platform for robotics, drone and smart city initiatives.

Founded in 2020, Moreh has drawn attention as a software developer that could help Korea escape Nvidia’s dominance, and has attracted investment from both AMD and KT. Unlike Nvidia’s CUDA, a computing platform exclusive to Nvidia graphics processing units (GPUs), Moreh’s software allows AI models to be developed and deployed regardless of the underlying semiconductor.

The AI data center being built will likewise avoid reliance solely on Nvidia GPUs, instead using AI chips from AMD and Tenstorrent. By combining AMD and Tenstorrent chips with Moreh’s software, the center will provide cloud services to nearby companies and research institutes.

The facility will be North Jeolla’s first AI data center and is expected to ease what had been an “AI computing blind spot.”

“There were many difficulties for companies and institutions that wanted to conduct AI research because there was no data center equipped with GPUs in the province,” a North Jeolla official said. “Defense companies and other local firms have already expressed interest in using it.”

Autech Carrier's cooling equipmen in a data center in the Mieum Industrial Complex in Gangseo District, Busan [AUTECH CARRIER]

The more the merrier

Similar moves are seen in other regions. Autech Carrier said Wednesday it has begun supplying cooling equipment to a newly built AI data center in the Mieum Industrial Complex in Gangseo District, Busan. The data center is being developed by Hong Kong-based cloud network operator OneAsia, which is investing more than 1 trillion won in the 100-megawatt facility.

Carrier, best known for residential and commercial air conditioners, is stepping up its push into environmentally friendly, high-efficiency chillers for data centers. Effective heat management is directly tied to performance at AI data centers, which house large numbers of power-hungry GPUs.

“We are currently bidding on 17 domestic data center projects, with Carrier products already incorporated into the designs of seven sites,” said the company.

Busan, which has an advantage in power supply thanks to the presence of the Kori nuclear power plant, has long viewed data centers as a new growth engine.

There are 15 privately led AI data centers either under construction or planned, with a combined investment of 12.7 trillion won, according to the city. Of these, six have already secured land and power.

“AI data centers require advanced facilities, so investment sizes have grown larger than initially planned,” an official at Busan’s AI Software Division said.

A rendering of the Jangseong Pine Data Center in Jangseong County, South Jeolla [CJ OLIVENETWORKS]

More benefits than meets the eye

CJ OliveNetworks said Tuesday that it will participate in a data center project in Jangseong County, South Jeolla. The 400 billion-won, 26-megawatt facility will be the province’s first privately developed data center, with CJ OliveNetworks responsible for mechanical systems, power supply and distribution.

Data centers have traditionally been viewed as low-employment facilities, where “computers work without people” once construction is complete. However, consulting firm McKinsey said in a recent report that each data center job creates 3.5 additional jobs in the surrounding area, as high-paying support staff take up residence and stimulate local economies.

Local government officials say AI data centers also help attract other high-tech industries, as startups, research institutions and skilled workers cluster near facilities where AI infrastructure is readily available.

“Large-scale data center projects are benefiting not only local construction firms but also firefighting and electrical design companies and regional banks,” a Busan city official said. “Korean companies that have participated in building data centers for Big Tech firms like Microsoft are also gaining opportunities to expand overseas based on that experience.”

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY SHIM SEO-HYUN [[email protected]]