On June 11, 2026, South Korean media Hankyung Business reported that Chey Tae-won, chairman of South Korean SK Group, revealed a plan to build a next-generation AI (artificial intelligence) data center, 'AI Factory,' in Japan.

According to the article, Chairman Chey explained that discussions with Japanese companies for the data center construction are underway. With a target operation date of 2028-2029, they are reportedly surveying candidate sites capable of providing a large-scale power supply.

The 'AI Factory' is expected to be a large-scale data center specialized in AI training and inference, utilizing SK Hynix's High Bandwidth Memory (HBM) and NVIDIA's GPUs. SK Group plans to first launch an AI Factory in partnership with NVIDIA within South Korea, then proceed with overseas expansion, with Japan being the top candidate.

Chairman Chey expressed his view that the rapid growth of the AI market has led to a continuous semiconductor shortage, emphasizing the need to expand production capacity. He also evaluated Japan, stating that 'the ecosystem for related industries such as semiconductor manufacturing equipment and material manufacturers is well-established,' and reportedly indicated it as a strong candidate for overseas investment.

The article states that the AI Factory will not only support Japanese companies in their AI utilization but also function as a base to showcase SK Hynix's advanced memory technology.

Regarding this, South Korean netizens expressed opinions such as 'The Japanese market is large. I think it's a good decision,' 'Korean-Japanese cooperation will be important in the AI era,' 'Cooperation is essential when prioritizing the economy,' 'Japan has many semiconductor material and equipment companies, so synergy can be expected,' and 'It's welcome for South Korean companies to increase their global presence.'

On the other hand, comments such as 'Why Japan?' 'Shouldn't they first increase investment within South Korea?' 'There are concerns about technology leakage if factories and data centers are built in Japan,' 'Ultimately, it's about pursuing markets and profits,' and 'I hope it doesn't only contribute to the Japanese economy' were also seen.