Alibaba Launches Third Data Center in Korea: "Positioning as a Full-Stack AI Cloud Provider" (Comprehensive)

One Year After the Second Data Center in 2025
"Enhanced Stability for Domestic AI Services"

Targeting SMEs and Startups as a Full-Stack Cloud Provider

Alibaba Cloud, the cloud service arm of China's Alibaba Group, will launch its third data center in Korea. This comes just one year after the opening of its second data center, as the company accelerates infrastructure expansion to meet the growing domestic demand for artificial intelligence (AI).

Yoon Yongjun, Head of Alibaba Cloud Korea, is speaking at a press conference held on the 18th in Gangnam-gu, Seoul. Alibaba Cloud.

At a press conference held on the morning of the 18th at the Josun Palace Seoul Royal Chamber in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, Yoon Yongjun, General Manager of Alibaba Cloud Korea, explained the reason for the additional data center launch within a year, stating, "This is a proactive investment taking into account the increasing demand for cloud and AI in Korea, as well as projected demand over the next year."

Since entering the Korean market in 2016, Alibaba Cloud established its first data center in 2022, followed by a second data center last year, continuing its investments in Korea’s AI infrastructure. The company did not disclose specific details such as the size or processing capacity of the newly operational third data center. All three data centers are located in Seoul.

With the addition of the third data center, Alibaba Cloud aims to enhance the stability and availability of AI and cloud-based services operated by corporate clients. Even if one location experiences a failure, the remaining two sites will handle and recover customer workloads, thereby improving service stability. As a result, the service level agreement (SLA) for the Korea region has increased from 99.95% to 99.99% following the launch of this third data center.

The new data center will provide enterprise cloud computing services, including compute storage, networking, and security. In particular, to meet the rising demand for enterprise AI agents, Alibaba plans to expand its agent-based AI services (such as AgentRun and STAROps) in Korea, supporting the development and operation environment for these agents.

This new data center is part of Alibaba Group’s investment plan to commit 53 billion dollars (approximately 75 trillion won) to AI and cloud businesses over the next three years. With the launch of its third Korean data center, Alibaba Cloud has established 104 availability zones across 30 regions worldwide. Yoon emphasized, “Korea is a key market where Alibaba is making sustained long-term investments,” adding, “This third data center is more than just an expansion of infrastructure—it is an investment to help domestic companies stably operate AI and cloud-based services.”

"Enabling Everyone to Benefit from AI": Targeting Korea as a Full-Stack AI Cloud Provider

Yoon Yongjun, Head of Alibaba Cloud Korea, is introducing the AI strategy at a press conference held on the 18th in Gangnam-gu, Seoul. Alibaba Cloud.

Alibaba Cloud plans to target the Korean market as a public cloud provider offering the full AI stack—including infrastructure, AI models, platforms, and applications. In particular, the company will leverage its price competitiveness to focus on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and startups that are sensitive to the costs of cloud migration and AI application development. Their strategy is to lower entry barriers so that businesses, regardless of size or development capabilities, can adopt AI. Yoon stated, “One of Alibaba Cloud’s strengths is cost-effectiveness,” and described the company as “an optimal partner for cloud migration or AI app development at minimal cost.”

The press conference also featured examples of Korean companies utilizing Alibaba Cloud’s AI services. Domestic AI startup Zendaive has enhanced its agent platform DevDive using Alibaba Cloud’s video generation model Wan and image generation model HappyHorse. Alibaba Cloud is currently partnering with Korean companies such as MegazoneSoft and Team Sparta, providing customized consulting services and industry-specific solutions.

Meanwhile, Yoon reiterated that regarding data center security, “Customer data stored in the Korean region will never be transferred overseas without customer consent.”

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