The Ministry of Science and ICT’s Postal Service is forming a 1 trillion won fund with Korea Development Bank and will focus investment on national future strategic industries such as data centres and energy infrastructure.

The Postal Service on Wednesday signed a memorandum of understanding with KDB at the bank’s headquarters in Seoul’s Yeouido to build a financial cooperation system for AI infrastructure.

Under the agreement, the two institutions plan to jointly invest in a 1 trillion won “AI infrastructure fund”. They plan to invest in advanced infrastructure projects such as next-generation data centres and energy infrastructure and support the government’s policy drive to promote productive finance.

It will be the first time in 20 years since 2006 that the Postal Service and KDB have created a jointly funded vehicle. At the time, the two contributed to expanding national infrastructure through an infrastructure fund, including Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology, the Incheon International Airport Railroad, the Shinbundang Line and the K-Power power plant.

At the signing ceremony, the two institutions pledged financial cooperation, including identifying high-quality AI infrastructure projects and making joint investments.

Postal Service chief Park In-hwan (박인환) said, “This is an era in which how stably we secure AI infrastructure determines national competitiveness.” He added, “We will continue to expand infrastructure investment that can contribute to building future national growth engines based on stability and profitability.”