South Korea's Ministry of Science and ICT and the Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment signed a memorandum of understanding on Tuesday afternoon at the Government Complex Seoul to secure a stable power supply for artificial intelligence data centres (AIDC).

On May 7, the National Assembly passed a special law on promoting the AIDC industry that includes government support and regulatory easing to successfully expand AI infrastructure. The key to the latest agreement is building a cooperation framework between the two ministries to ensure stable power supply for AIDCs after the law's passage.

Second Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Science and ICT Kyung-hoon Bae (배경훈) and Climate Minister Sung-hwan Kim (김성환) agreed to supply stable power to AIDCs through the national power grid. They also agreed to form and operate a joint task force if there is demand to build large-scale, gigawatt-class AIDCs in the future.

Bae said the agreement would accelerate efforts to secure AI infrastructure in South Korea and further solidify its push to become one of the top three AI powers. He added he would work to prepare policies the industry can feel.

Kim said South Korea's power system would become a strong competitive advantage in expanding AI infrastructure. He said he would work to establish a power industry structure that supports the development of advanced industries, including AIDCs.