A consortium led by SK Telecom will be chosen to lead South Korea’s new state-funded frontier AI project by 30 June 2027.

On 5 October, the Ministry of Science and ICT proposed ₩4.7 trillion in government equity funding with private companies expected to match that investment, and aims to select a lead company by March 2027. This makes financing almost as important as technical capability, as the government will provide the chips while participating companies fund much of the surrounding infrastructure. SK Telecom is well placed. It already supplies Nvidia computing capacity to the government, while its parent group (SK Group) has substantial financial firepower. SK hynix posted a record ₩60.5 trillion operating profit in the second quarter and holds ₩69.4 trillion in net cash – giving the group the most viable balance-sheet strength to support a capital-intensive AI project. Nvidia chips still account for roughly four-fifths of the project’s spending – meaning Korea’s push for greater AI independence will remain heavily dependent on American hardware.