Chey Tae-won Visits Ulsan, Says, "Let’s Lead the AI Era Through Synergy Among SK Group Affiliates"

[Financial News] SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won visited the construction site of an artificial intelligence (AI) data center in Ulsan and SK Innovation’s Ulsan CLX on the 10th. He emphasized, "Let’s lead the AI era through synergy among SK Group affiliates."
During his visit to Ulsan’s manufacturing sites to inspect the implementation of AI transformation (AX), Chey said, "SK AI Data Center Ulsan, a symbol of AI infrastructure, and SK Innovation’s Ulsan CLX, which applies that AI to actual production, must ultimately be connected as one for SK’s envisioned ‘AI full-stack provider’ to be completed."
Chey’s emphasis on an “AI full-stack provider”—a strategy to build infrastructure spanning semiconductors, AI data centers, energy and services and apply it to real-world industrial sites through manufacturing AX—is expected to strengthen related efforts at the group-strategy level.
Jang Yong-ho, president and chief operating officer of SK Innovation; Jung Jae-heon, president of SK Telecom; Yoon Byung-seok, president of SK Gas; Kim Won-ki, president of SK Enmove; Kim Jong-hwa, president of SK Energy and SK Geo Centric; Kim Sung-soo, president of SK Broadband; and Kim Young-sik, president of SK ecoplant, joined the visit along with other chief executives of major affiliates.
Three months after declaring a “major shift to AX-centered management” at the New Icheon Forum in June, Chey began his AX field visits by inspecting the construction of SK AI Data Center Ulsan, the largest AI-dedicated data center outside the Seoul metropolitan area. The project has brought together the capabilities of major SK Group affiliates and is being built with Amazon Web Services (AWS), with operations targeted for the end of next year and an estimated investment of about 7 trillion won.
SK Innovation’s Ulsan CLX is a key manufacturing AX site where the company is applying AI to refining and chemical processes to pursue process optimization, safety management and energy efficiency simultaneously. If AI continuously detects and analyzes all processes and equipment across the 2.5-million-pyeong Ulsan CLX around the clock, a system will be established to enable rapid responses based on human judgment.
Chey encouraged employees, saying, "SK AI Data Center Ulsan is an AI infrastructure facility that serves as a cornerstone for the development of AI in Korea. Please take pride in your work and make safety your top priority during construction." He added, "SK Innovation’s Ulsan CLX is the heart of SK Innovation, the foundation of SK Group. Please continue to devote yourselves as you have done so far and lead SK Group’s AX innovation as well."

[email protected] Hak-jae Kim Reporter