South Korean and Japanese financial companies are seeking to pool funds from companies in both countries to build large artificial intelligence data centers in Japan. The initial investment target alone is 1.15 trillion yen, approximately 10 trillion won, with plans to increase the investment further. The initiative is expected to provide related South Korean companies with opportunities to enter Japan’s AI infrastructure market.
According to financial and industry sources in both countries on November 1, Korea Investment Holdings and Japan’s SBI Financial Group are discussing a joint fund to invest in Japanese AI data centers. The data centers to be built through this investment would have 200 megawatts of power capacity.
The two companies have reportedly approached SK Group, Samsung Group and LG Group about participating. Japanese political figures are also supporting the initiative. Seiji Kihara, a Liberal Democratic Party member of the House of Representatives and former deputy chief cabinet secretary who visited South Korea in August 2026, met Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong and Korea Investment Holdings Chairman Kim Nam-goo to discuss cooperation. In September 2026, Lee met a delegation from Japan’s House of Councillors visiting South Korea. Later that month, Kim and SBI Holdings Chairman Yoshitaka Kitao met to continue related discussions.
Companies that have expressed interest in participating aim to link their fund contributions with supplying their own products and equipment to the data centers. Samsung SDI is being mentioned as a leading potential supplier of energy storage system (ESS) equipment, and LG Electronics as a leading potential supplier of cooling equipment.
The two financial companies intend to establish an outline of their financing and investment plans by the end of 2026.
South Korea and Japan expand economic cooperation from energy security to a joint response to AI competition.
Discussions accelerated following a meeting of the chairmen, with plans also envisaging an increase in investment to 10 trillion yen.
The joint investment fund envisaged by Korea Investment Holdings and Japan’s SBI Financial Group would not stop at 1.15 trillion yen, approximately 10 trillion won. If the initial project proceeds smoothly, they plan to expand investment to more than 10 trillion yen over the following 30 years. An AI infrastructure partnership combining the two countries’ capital and technology is expected to emerge. Analysts also suggest that political relations between South Korea and Japan would become closer.
Benchmarking Masayoshi Son’s Stargate project
The joint investment concept reflects the difficulty individual companies and countries face in independently providing all the substantial funding and equipment needed for AI competition. Leading financial companies in both countries with established investment banking operations could assemble investors, while related companies supply equipment and technology, allowing them to share the risks of a large project.
Korea Investment & Securities, a subsidiary of Korea Investment Holdings, has continued to deliver standout results, including ranking first in equity capital markets on the Market Insight and Hankyung A-cell league tables for the first three quarters of 2026. The article attributes this to its investment capabilities and extensive network of South Korean companies and institutional investors.
SBI is a diversified financial group that owns Japan’s largest online securities company and also has operations in banking, insurance and asset management. The two financial companies plan to use this opportunity to explore new investment and asset management businesses related to AI infrastructure. Detailed cooperation discussions reportedly accelerated following the September 2026 meeting between Korea Investment Holdings Chairman Kim Nam-goo and SBI Holdings Chairman Yoshitaka Kitao.
Participating companies are focusing on investment returns and opportunities to supply products. In addition to semiconductors for computing and data storage, data centers need cooling equipment to remove server heat and various types of equipment to ensure a stable electricity supply. Related companies would gain access to these business opportunities through contributions to the fund.
The cooperation reportedly takes its cue from SoftBank Chairman Masayoshi Son’s investments in U.S. data centers. A prominent example is the Stargate project, which envisages investing $500 billion, approximately 668 trillion won, in U.S. AI infrastructure over four years.
The industry is also paying attention to the close involvement of Japanese political figures, including House of Representatives member Seiji Kihara, who served as chief cabinet secretary in Fumio Kishida’s cabinet. This reflects the importance of government support for land and electricity supply during data center construction. It also explains why electricity supply for potential project sites was discussed with Kyushu Electric Power before the joint fund’s establishment.
Expanding South Korea-Japan cooperation
The cooperation also extends the bilateral collaboration that has accelerated since the inauguration of South Korea’s Lee Jae-myung administration and Japan’s Sanae Takaichi administration. As major importers of liquefied natural gas, or LNG, the two countries have strengthened energy cooperation through joint purchases and cargo swaps. Korea Gas Corporation carried out an LNG cargo swap with JERA, Japan’s largest private thermal power producer, in 2025. The companies also agreed to continue cooperating on joint procurement, trading and supply responses during energy crises.
Analysts suggest that joint investment in AI data centers could extend this cooperation to building infrastructure for advanced industries. Whereas energy cooperation combined the two countries’ purchasing power, reserves and supply capabilities, data center cooperation would combine financing and equipment with electricity and land.
Political and business figures in both countries have also argued that South Korea and Japan should expand cooperation over the long term to a level comparable to the European Union in response to changes in the international economic and security environment. At the Japan seminar of the International Korean Peninsula Forum, held at the University of Tokyo on October 29, 2026, former Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba cited the economic cooperation among the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg that helped lay the foundations for the EU. “South Korea-Japan cooperation also needs to develop over the long term, centered on the economy,” Ishiba emphasized.
If the joint fund proposal takes concrete form, it could become the first instance of discussions among political and business leaders in both countries leading to actual investment. A business community representative said, “South Korea and Japan compete in many areas of their main industries, including automobiles and electronics, which has limited progress in cooperation discussions. The key will be not only the scale of financing but also how much each side can compromise and share tangible benefits.”
Original Korean article: Korea Economic Daily
English brief by Korea Wind Intelligence, koreawindintel.com
