KKR, Brookfield Asset Management and Macquarie Asset Management are leading a global rush into South Korea’s AI data centers and the power infrastructure needed to operate them, with the three firms and their partners pledging at least $10 billion over the coming years. Financial investors’ share of Korea’s data center investment is projected to rise from 17% in 2020-2023 to 90% in 2024-2027, while telecommunications and related companies’ share is forecast to fall from 83% to 10%, according to Samil PwC. Korea’s private commercial data center market was valued at 3.6 trillion won ($2.65 billion) last year and is projected to grow 54% to 5.56 trillion won by 2028. KKR has invested more than $5 billion in Korean energy, utility and digital infrastructure over the past six years. It agreed in August to take a 29% stake in SK Horizon, joining IMM Investment and Stonebridge Capital in a 3.08 trillion won transaction for 49% of the AI data center infrastructure company, which is due to be established in February next year. The deal will expand SK Horizon’s infrastructure to 318 megawatts across eight operating SK Broadband data centers and facilities under construction in western Seoul’s Guro District and Ulsan. Brookfield agreed in July to provide up to $9 billion for Naver’s AI infrastructure expansion alongside Nvidia’s $1 billion investment in Naver. Naver’s Sejong data center is planned to grow from 55 megawatts to 200 megawatts by 2028. Brookfield will invest through a special purpose vehicle (SPV), a separate entity created for a specific transaction, that will purchase Nvidia GPUs and data center assets before selling computing capacity to Naver’s AI factory. Keppel, Macquarie Asset Management and other investors are also pursuing Korean data center assets. Power availability remains a major bottleneck: 522 projects had applied to Korea Electric Power Corporation for initial grid reviews by March, but only 10 had received final power-supply approval, according to CBRE. Analysts said that constraint could shift investment into regions outside the capital area where electricity is easier to secure, provided developers can establish firm long-term demand. Korea’s three-to-seven-year investment exit targets also contrast with 15- to 20-year leases common in the United States, limiting the time investors have to benefit from rising rents. CBRE said global data center REITs (real estate investment trusts) and hyperscale operators are expanding direct ownership in Asia Pacific, potentially broadening the buyer pool for Korean assets with secured power capacity.