CORÉE DU SUD PERSPECTIVE

South Korea approaches the data center energy crisis with a massive sovereign ambition: a $735 billion national AI initiative including 50 data centers by 2030 (2 GW), 500,000 GPUs, and 10 GW of additional nuclear capacity. The AI Basic Act, effective January 2026, provides the legislative framework.

The Korean approach distinguishes itself through explicit nuclear-AI coupling: LS Electric and Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power Corporation signed an MOU to develop data centers powered by small modular reactors (SMR). Data center capacity must triple from 1,960 MW in 2025 to 6,320 MW by 2030.

But UPI reports South Korea faces growing strain: AI data centers pressure water and electricity resources, while regulatory frameworks haven't caught up with deployment pace. The $10 billion project for a 3 GW data center in Jeollanam-do, expandable to $35 billion, illustrates the scale of ambitions but also overheating risks.

Korean discourse systematically frames data centers as a national competitiveness issue, within the regional technological rivalry with Japan and China.