Is Hyundai eyeing Saemangeum as its AI and hydrogen base?

Hyundai is preparing to announce a KRW 10tr investment into South Korea’s Saemangeum coastal development zone, sources with direct knowledge of the matter have told Reuters. The latest development in 12 months of stacked investment plans for the automaker, it would see the construction of a new AI data centre, green hydrogen facilities, and robotics research infrastructure.

The company is reportedly close to signing a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with South Korea’s ministries of Trade, Industry and Energy, and Environment, with funding to be deployed over five years. The Saemangeum campus forms part of Hyundai’s KRW 125.2tr domestic investment commitment for 2026–2030, and therefore this development likely forms one part of that. The investment package was announced back in November, and Executive Chair Euisun Chung framed the goal as building a “hydrogen and AI city” in the renewable-energy-rich coastal region.

The Saemangeum zone spans 409 square kilometres between Gunsan and Buan on the country’s west coast, where national and provincial authorities are expected to support permitting, land access, and renewable energy infrastructure. South Korea’s government is targeting up to 10GW of renewable energy capacity in the area by 2030 to power energy-intensive facilities including the planned data centre.

The AI data centre is expected to account for the largest share of the investment and would support Hyundai’s autonomous vehicle and robotics programmes, which generate vast volumes of sensor and driving data requiring high-performance computing for training and simulation. Hyundai has already committed to deploying 50,000 Nvidia Blackwell GPUs to expand its AI capabilities, with Saemangeum under consideration as the infrastructure base.

Shares in Hyundai Motor surged 10.5% and those of affiliate Kia soared 15% on 25 February in the hours following the media reporting. However, the development comes against a volatile trade backdrop: a US Supreme Court ruling on 20 February struck down tariffs imposed under IEEPA, prompting the Trump administration to instead invoke Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974 to impose a new 15% global import surcharge effective 24 February. 

South Korean automotive exports currently face a 15% tariff under a bilateral framework, but US President Donald Trump has threatened to revert rates to 25% if Seoul fails to pass legislation formalising its US$350bn investment commitment by early March. The timing of the Saemangeum development—if true—may be partly strategic, signalling domestic commitment to both the Korean public and to the US. 

Hyundai owns humanoid robotics company Boston Dynamics and said in January it aims to establish annual production capacity for 30,000 robot units by 2028. The Saemangeum zone’s robotics research component would sit alongside Hyundai’s existing hydrogen vehicle operations in Jeollabuk-do, where the company already runs commercial hydrogen vehicle production in Jeonju.