Chey Tae-won, chairman of SK Group and head of the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, has called for a fundamental shift in South Korea’s economic model as global competition in artificial intelligence (AI) intensifies.
Speaking at a policy seminar hosted by the Korea-China Parliamentary Alliance on April 28, Chey said the country must move beyond its traditional manufacturing-led export structure toward what he described as an “intelligence-exporting” economy.
“To compete in AI, a nation must be able to produce AI itself,” he said, noting that South Korea currently lacks sufficient large-scale data center infrastructure.
Chey highlighted an ongoing project between SK and Amazon Web Services (AWS) to build a 100-megawatt data center in Ulsan, but stressed that even gigawatt-scale facilities would only mark the beginning. “To secure global competitiveness in AI, Korea needs infrastructure on the order of 20 to 30 gigawatts,” he said.
While South Korea is home to leading semiconductor companies such as SK hynix and Samsung Electronics, Chey pointed out that the supporting ecosystem—particularly in power supply and data infrastructure—remains insufficient.
The remarks come as global demand for AI computing continues to surge, prompting major tech companies to invest heavily in large-scale data centers powered by tens of gigawatts of electricity. Industry observers say South Korea must accelerate its response to remain competitive.
Chey identified key bottlenecks in the AI industry as electricity, graphics processing units (GPUs), high-bandwidth memory (HBM), and capital investment. “We are currently facing simultaneous shortages of funding, power, and semiconductors,” he said, adding that memory demand is expanding across industries such as automotive, consumer electronics, and smartphones.
“AI ultimately comes down to competition in power and chips,” he said. “If even one of these elements falls short, the entire ecosystem cannot move forward.”
As part of a broader growth strategy, Chey also emphasized the need to build a public-sector-driven AI ecosystem. He argued that government-led demand could stimulate private sector innovation, enabling companies to develop AI services and models that could eventually be exported.
“The growth model of Korea itself must change,” he said. “We are entering an era where we export intelligence, not just products.”
Chey also touched on the possibility of deeper economic integration with Japan, suggesting that combining the two economies could create a bloc worth around $6 trillion, capable of competing more effectively with the United States and China.
Industry experts say Chey’s remarks are likely to influence discussions around expanding AI infrastructure investment and restructuring the broader semiconductor and energy sectors. As the AI race evolves into a competition over data centers, power, and chips, South Korea’s strategic response is expected to face increasing scrutiny.
