Donghae launches AI committee to build industrial ecosystem around GS data center

Donghae, a city in Gangwon Province where GS Group plans to build an AI data center, is establishing an artificial intelligence committee to chart the industrial development path the facility is expected to open up.

The city will launch the Donghae AI Committee and hold its inaugural meeting on Wednesday.

The committee will discuss in concrete terms the AI policies and projects the city needs to pursue, including development strategies that link the data center to local industries.

The 21-member body will draw on experts from the public sector, military, industry, academia and research institutions. It will advise on and propose policy across five areas: drawing up an AI industry development plan, advancing AI transformation in civil society, reviewing major AI-related policies and initiatives, responding to government AI grant programs and pending projects, and devising strategies to leverage the data center for broader regional development.

The move signals the city's ambition to go beyond simply landing the data center — whose construction investment alone is expected to reach around 100 trillion won ($74.3 billion) — and instead build a comprehensive corporate city that integrates an AI-linked industrial ecosystem with culture and tourism.

The committee plans to work through the post-attraction challenges step by step: identifying which industries and companies to bring in, determining how to cultivate local talent and create jobs, and mapping out how the city and its residents will make the transition to AI-driven administration and daily life.

Alongside this, the city plans to explore ways to merge AI technology with Donghae's core local industries — including logistics and energy — and to proactively pursue new projects tied to national AI policy, laying the groundwork for what officials are calling a "Donghae-style AI ecosystem."

The inaugural meeting will focus on sharing the city's AI project roadmap and the current status of the data center development, with priority discussion on what steps must be taken first to translate the data center into tangible local growth — connecting it to regional industries, talent development and job creation.

"Securing the AI data center is just the starting point," said Lee Seon-u, Donghae's director of planning and budget. "What matters is how we connect it to real growth for the city — in industry, jobs and talent development. Through the AI committee, we will gather expert opinion from all sectors and work through, one by one, the tasks Donghae needs to start preparing for right now."