South Korea’s Ministry of Science and ICT held a groundbreaking ceremony on the 3rd for the National Artificial Intelligence (AI) Computing Center at the Solaseado Data Center Park in Haenam-gun, Jeonnam Gwangju Integrated Metropolitan City. The government and private sector will jointly invest a total of 2.5 trillion won to secure AI computing resources for industry and research communities, with operations targeted to begin in the second half of 2028. The center plans to secure 15,000 units of advanced AI Semiconductor chips by 2028. In the operator bid last Sep., the Samsung SDS consortium submitted the sole bid for Solaseado in Haenam and won the contract. The consortium includes Naver Cloud, Samsung C&T, Kakao, Samsung Electronics, Clush, KT, Jeonnam Gwangju Integrated Metropolitan City, and Seonamhaean Enterprise City Development. Construction and operation will be spearheaded exclusively by KOACC (Korea AI Computing Center), established based on public-private joint investment by the Ministry of Science and ICT and the Financial Services Commission's Public Growth Fund, along with the Samsung SDS consortium. KOACC plans to provide AI computing infrastructure for industry, academia, and research institutions and create an R&D zone for designing domestic AI Semiconductor chips and developing prototypes. The Ministry will work with the Financial Services Commission to review policy support, including linking demand and securing funds. Vice Premier and Minister Bae Kyung-hoon said the center