Municipalities vie to host Naver's data center
Naver's first data center, called GAK, in Chuncheon, Gangwon Province / Courtesy of Naver
By Jun Ji-hye
Dozens of municipalities are competing to host Naver's second data center, with expectation that the facility will bring various economic benefits such as new jobs and tax revenue, company officials said Monday.
The moves by municipalities including Incheon and Suwon come as the nation's largest portal operator withdrew its initial plan to build its second data center in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, June 13, after facing opposition from local residents who raised concerns over detrimental health and environmental effects from electromagnetic waves emitted by the facility.
Besides Incheon and Suwon, Uijeongbu and Paju in Gyeonggi Province, Pohang in North Gyeongsang Province and Gunsan in North Jeolla Province have expressed their intentions, directly and indirectly, to host Naver's data center.
“We have received a number of inquiries from dozens of municipalities after our initial plan was withdrawn,” a Naver official said. “We plan to select a candidate location at the earliest possible date and push to build our second data center.”
Naver opened its first data center, called GAK, in Chuncheon, Gangwon Province, in 2013.
A data center is a core facility of an internet service company, often compared to a human's heart.
In June 2017, Naver announced the plan to build its second data center in Gongse-dong of Yongin and has pushed for the project aiming to complete the construction by the end of 2023.
Naver was going to invest 540 billion won ($467 million) to build the second data center, which will be 132,230 square meters in size, two and a half times larger than the first data center.
But local residents who live near the site have opposed the plan, citing the high-voltage establishment can potentially pose a threat to their health. The residents organized an emergency planning committee in May last year, asking Yongin City and Naver to cancel the plan.
Naver sent an official letter to Yongin City, June 13, notifying the city of its retraction of the plan.
“Naver decided to suspend a project to build a data center in Gongse-dong for some unavoidable reasons. It is regrettable that we can no longer carry out a project to create a good model to grow together with a local community,” the company wrote in the letter.
This has opened up an opportunity to other municipalities.
Suwon City has created a taskforce team in charge of hosting Naver's data center, while other cities are also working to gather relevant information about Naver's plan for the project.
Competition among municipalities is expected to become fiercer once Naver moves in earnest to find an alternative candidate location.