Deputy Prime Minister and Science and ICT Minister Baek Kyung-hoon (배경훈) said he will foster AI data centres as “token factories” that produce intelligence and help South Korea become a global intelligence exporter.

In welcoming remarks at the launch ceremony of the AI DC Alliance held on the 29th, Baek stressed the alliance’s launch is a national-level move to respond to the global AI revolution.

“This project is not a festival held only in Korea. It is an important starting point for creating the AI revolution together with the entire world,” he said.

He added that South Korea has solidified its position as an IT powerhouse since the information age began in earnest in 1995. “No matter what anyone says, now the AI era will begin,” he said.

He cited semiconductors and data-centre infrastructure as core competitive strengths for the AI era. “An important part at the beginning of the AI revolution is building semiconductors and data centres that become AI infrastructure,” Baek said. “The government is moving toward its goals without disruption as planned,” he said.

He added that the country is not stopping at importing graphics processing units from overseas and that FuriosaAI and Rebellion are also developing neural processing units in Korea. He stressed the need for full-stack AI competitiveness that includes models, infrastructure and services.

He also laid out a plan to foster AI data centres as “token factories” that produce intelligence. “AI data centres are platforms that span models, infrastructure and services, and factories that produce tokens,” he said. “We must make this intelligent and supply it to the world, and South Korea must establish itself as an intelligence exporter,” he said.

He said global big tech companies are also showing strong interest in South Korea’s AI policies and industrial ecosystem. “Many global big tech companies plan to make even more extensive investments going forward,” Baek said. “We must never miss the golden time of this era,” he said.

He also pledged active government support. Baek said this would go beyond simply handling permits and approvals, and that the government would take interest in and support everything companies pursue.

“The government will also actively support companies so they can deliver results and create world-class technologies,” he said. “We will also work to resolve power and water issues that arise in the process of building data centres at the government level,” he said.

Baek particularly stressed the next 3 to 5 years will be a decisive period that determines South Korea’s AI competitiveness.

“South Korea has already moved beyond the stage of preparing for a major AI transformation and has entered an era of full-scale transformation,” he said. “If we miss the golden time of the next 3 to 5 years, we could lose the position we built in the past as an IT powerhouse and a digital powerhouse,” he said.

He urged member companies of the AI DC Alliance to join forces so South Korea can create the AI world together.

The AI DC Alliance will be co-chaired by the Ministry of Science and ICT and the private sector. The first private-sector chair will be Jae-heon Jung (정재헌), CEO of SK Telecom and head of the Korea Association for ICT Promotion. It will set up three subcommittees covering demand, supply and foundations, as well as an export industrialisation task force, centred on a 12-company chair group. The Institute of Information & Communications Technology Planning & Evaluation will support operations as the secretariat.