Amazon to pour $5b into new AI data centers in Korea

GYEONGJU, North Gyeongsang Province — Amazon Web Services will invest more than $5 billion by 2031 to build AI data centers across Incheon and Gyeonggi Province, the government said on Wednesday following President Lee Jae Myung’s meeting with AWS Chief Executive Matt Garman on the sidelines of the APEC CEO Summit in Gyeongju.

The investment represents Amazon’s largest-ever greenfield commitment in Korea and comes just months after the US tech giant pledged $4 billion to establish an artificial intelligence data hub in Ulsan, in partnership with SK Group. Together, the two projects position Korea as a central node in Amazon’s regional AI cloud network.

“Korea’s most urgent task today is to achieve economic recovery and sustainable growth,” Lee said after the meeting. “The key to that growth lies in advanced science and technology, and at the center of that is AI data. We are very pleased that Amazon Web Services has chosen to build Korea’s future together with us.”

Lee said the investment reflects Amazon’s confidence in Korea’s AI and IT competitiveness and aligns with the government’s effort to build an “AI highway” — a nationwide infrastructure to make AI tools widely available across industries and research sectors.

He encouraged the company to expand partnerships with Korean firms, pledging that Seoul will continue to act as a “bridge of prosperity” linking global investors and local industries.

Earlier in the day, at the APEC CEO Summit’s morning session, Garman stressed the company’s broader commitment to the Asia-Pacific region, announcing that AWS’s total AI and cloud infrastructure investment across 14 APEC economies, excluding the US, will exceed $40 billion between 2025 and 2028.

Garman’s appearance in Gyeongju, which is his first in Korea since becoming CEO, signals Amazon’s determination to lead the AI infrastructure race sweeping across Asia, as Microsoft and Google similarly accelerate investment in regional data centers and sovereign AI platforms.

With Korea emerging as a strategic hub for Amazon’s Asia-Pacific operations, the combined $9 billion in fresh foreign investment marks one of the strongest endorsements yet of the country’s role in the global AI supply chain.

“These investments will contribute an additional $45 billion to US (gross domestic product) while benefiting all APEC economies,” Garman said.

“AI agents are what will deliver the real value from AI that we’ve all been waiting for,” he told the audience. “They can make decisions, take action and continuously learn about your business. This is a complete game-changer.”

Lee also held a meeting with seven multinational firms, including AWS, Renault, Amkor Technology, Corning, Air Liquide, Siemens Healthineers and Umicore, which unveiled a combined $9 billion investment plan in Korea over the next five years.

The projects span AI data centers, semiconductor packaging, electric vehicles, display materials, medical devices and battery components.

Renault Korea will convert its Busan plant to produce EVs, while Siemens Healthineers plans to expand an ultrasound device component line in Pohang to make Korea a regional base for cardiac ultrasound manufacturing. Amkor, Corning, Umicore and Air Liquide will also expand their high-tech facilities to reinforce Korea’s supply chains in chips, materials and energy.

Lee thanked the executives for choosing Korea as a strategic base, citing its manufacturing infrastructure, digital competitiveness and skilled workforce, and pledged continued policy support for foreign investors.