NHN to Build 'Second Data Center' in Gimhae, Gyeongnam with 500 Billion Won Investment

[Asia Economy Reporter Bu Aeri] NHN is planning to build its second data center, 'TCC2' (Toast Cloud Center 2), in Gimhae, Gyeongnam.

On the 4th, NHN announced that it signed an investment agreement for the construction of NHN's cloud data center together with Gyeongsangnam-do, HDC Hyundai Development Company, and Gimhae City at the Gyeongnam Provincial Government Office. Key officials attending the investment agreement signing ceremony included Jin Eun-sook, NHN Chief Technology Officer (CTO), Park Young-sun, Minister of SMEs and Startups, Kim Kyung-soo, Governor of Gyeongnam Province, Kwon Soon-ho, CEO of HDC Hyundai Development Company, and Heo Seong-gon, Mayor of Gimhae.

Through this investment agreement, NHN will invest approximately 500 billion KRW together with HDC Hyundai Development Company. The two companies plan to jointly develop about 20,000 pyeong (approximately 66,115 square meters) of land in the Buwon district of Gimhae City, which was selected as the data center site, and build NHN's second cloud data center 'TCC2' and an R&D center on the site.

Since early this year, NHN has been consulting with Gyeongsangnam-do on investments and reviewed a total of three candidate sites within the Gyeongnam region. After on-site inspections and technical evaluations, the Buwon district in Gimhae was selected as the final site for TCC2. The Buwon district, finally chosen as the TCC2 site, will be jointly developed by NHN and HDC Hyundai Development Company into a smart city based on the data center.

The 'TCC2' to be built in the Buwon district of Gimhae is a hyperscale urban eco-friendly data center capable of operating more than 100,000 servers. It is more than four times larger than 'TCC1' located in Pangyo, Gyeonggi-do.

An NHN official explained, "As we expand our integrated cloud service 'TOAST,' which we own, we needed a new 'data hub' that exceeds the data capacity of the existing data center 'TCC1.' We expect a surge in cloud demand in the post-COVID era."

'TCC2' plans to expand cloud supply to local industries in Gyeongnam such as manufacturing, medical, finance, and public sectors, and lead the construction of a data platform through inter-industry linkage using big data and artificial intelligence (AI). Approximately 500 research personnel will work at the NHN R&D center established alongside.

Jin Eun-sook, NHN CTO, said, "NHN plans to grow 'TCC2' in the Buwon district of Gimhae into a core base for its cloud business. We will continue multifaceted investments and support so that the Gyeongnam region can secure a leading position in IT-related new growth industries."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.