Korea’s National Growth Fund to offer $271mn support to Naver data cent...

(Naver Cloud)

The National Growth Fund is in the final stages of reviewing a plan to provide a low-interest loan of 400 billion won ($271 million) to support the construction of Naver Cloud Corp.’s artificial intelligence (AI) data center in Sejong City.

According to financial and information technology industry sources on Wednesday, the National Growth Fund, a 150 trillion won policy vehicle aimed at fostering advanced industries, plans to approve funding for Gak Sejong, a hyperscale data center being developed by Naver Cloud in Sejong City, as early as this month.

Final deliberations are currently underway, with a low-interest loan of 400 billion won being the most likely option.

Gak Sejong is considered a key infrastructure facility supporting Naver’s proprietary AI model, HyperCLOVA X, as well as its search, shopping and cloud services. Naver plans to use the site as a dedicated AI hub.

The name “Gak” refers to the preservation of knowledge and data, drawing from Janggyeonggak at Haeinsa Temple, which houses the Tripitaka Koreana woodblocks, carved printing blocks for Buddhist scriptures. The data center spans about 290,000 square meters and is expected to reach a final power capacity of around 270 megawatts.

The project will be developed in six phases. The first phase was completed in 2023, with part of the northern server building already in operation.

The National Growth Fund is reviewing support for the second and third phases, valued at a combined 900 billion won. The second phase centers on building high-density server rooms for AI, with detailed design work nearing completion and construction slated to begin within the year.

The planned support is part of broader efforts to strengthen AI sovereignty.

On Tuesday, financial authorities identified six projects for the second round of National Growth Fund investment, including a sovereign AI competitiveness initiative aimed at supporting domestic AI model development. Authorities said the initiative is intended to safeguard data sovereignty and advance technological independence.