Korea already has many of the technologies needed for the AI data center era. The harder challenge may be turning those technologies into companies that global customers, partners and investors can understand and trust.
Steve Park has spent more than 25 years in global marketing, PR, communications and business development, with experience involving Apple, Nokia Networks and Sony Korea. He now serves as CMO of IMMERSEKOOL’s Marketing Division and Head of its Seoul Office, while also advising companies on growth, global market entry and VC strategy.
DATAAD spoke with Park about how Korea’s emerging AI data center industry can move from strong engineering to stronger global businesses.
DATAAD: Korea is investing heavily in AI infrastructure. What do you see as the biggest opportunity?
Steve Park: Korea already has many of the industrial capabilities that AI data centers require. We have semiconductors, batteries, power electronics, telecommunications, precision manufacturing and strong engineering suppliers.
The opportunity is not simply to build more data centers. It is to connect these capabilities into an AI infrastructure ecosystem.
As rack density increases, the data center becomes a convergence of computing, electrical power, thermal management, mechanical systems, software and eventually automation. Korea is already strong in many of those individual areas.
The question is whether we can connect them quickly enough and present them to the global market as one credible industrial capability.
DATAAD: Korean technology companies are often considered technically strong. What is usually missing?
Steve Park: In many cases, the technology itself is not the problem.
The problem is that companies explain their products from the engineer’s point of view rather than the customer’s point of view.
Engineers naturally talk about flow rate, pressure drop, thermal resistance, materials and specifications. Those things matter, of course.
But a customer wants to know what changes for them.
Does this allow higher rack density? Does it reduce installation time? Does it lower operational risk? Is maintenance easier? Can the supplier respond quickly when the rack configuration changes?
Companies need to translate engineering into business value.
Good technology is not automatically a good global proposition. The market has to understand why the technology matters.
DATAAD: Does that become especially important in liquid cooling?
Steve Park: Yes, because liquid cooling is moving very quickly toward global competition.
As specifications become more standardized, there will be many suppliers of quick disconnects, manifolds, hoses, cold plates and CDUs.
If every company says, “We also manufacture this component,” price competition becomes inevitable.
The stronger question is: what problem can you solve that another supplier cannot solve easily?
That may be faster customization, local engineering, system integration, testing, reliability, application knowledge or the ability to adapt standardized interfaces to non-standard customer systems.
That is much harder to commoditize.
DATAAD: So Korean companies should not compete only on manufacturing cost?
Steve Park: Exactly.
There will always be someone who can manufacture a standardized product at a lower price.
Korean companies need to build value around engineering response, quality, integration and customer knowledge.
In a developing market such as AIDC, the customer often does not need only a component. The customer needs someone who understands how that component fits into the rack, the cooling loop and the facility.
That application knowledge can become a very important competitive advantage.
DATAAD: You have worked with global brands. What should smaller Korean technology companies learn from them?
Steve Park: One important lesson is consistency.
A global customer experiences a company through many small things: the website, presentation, technical documentation, response time, product naming, certifications, references and the people they meet.
All of those things together create trust.
A company does not need to be large to appear credible. But it needs to be clear and consistent.
When a potential customer in the United States, Europe or Singapore looks at a Korean supplier, they are asking very simple questions.
Can I understand what this company does?
Can I trust the product?
Can they support us?
Do they have credible references?
Will they still be supporting this product several years from now?
Those questions need good answers.
DATAAD: Should Korean AIDC companies think globally from the beginning?
Steve Park: I think so.
International expansion should not begin only after the domestic market is complete.
Global thinking should influence product documentation, English communication, certification strategy, partnerships and customer references from an early stage.
This does not mean spending heavily on international marketing before the company is ready.
It means designing the company so that it can be understood internationally when an opportunity appears.
DATAAD: You often emphasize cost-efficient marketing. How does that apply to industrial technology?
Steve Park: Marketing does not have to mean a large advertising budget.
My approach has always been to create clear outcomes with the most cost-efficient marketing possible.
For an industrial technology company, one strong customer reference can sometimes be more valuable than a large advertising campaign.
A well-written technical case study can be more valuable than dozens of generic promotional posts.
A meeting with the right partner can be more valuable than a very expensive exhibition booth.
The important question is always: what result are we trying to create?
Marketing should support the business objective, not become an activity for its own sake.
DATAAD: How important are early references in the AI data center market?
Steve Park: Extremely important.
New markets contain many claims. References turn claims into evidence.
If a company can demonstrate that a product has been installed, tested or successfully integrated in a real AI data center project, that becomes an asset for the next sales discussion.
Even a relatively small project can therefore have strategic value.
I would encourage Korean companies to think of early projects not only in terms of immediate revenue but also in terms of the credibility they create.
DATAAD: What do investors look for that engineers sometimes overlook?
Steve Park: Investors obviously care about market growth, but a growing market by itself is not enough.
They want to understand why a particular company can capture value from that growth.
What is difficult to copy?
What knowledge accumulates as the company completes more projects?
What relationship does it have with customers?
Is there proprietary engineering, qualification know-how, application data or intellectual property?
And can the business expand beyond one domestic customer?
A company that repeatedly solves difficult customer problems can become much more valuable than a company that simply resells standardized components.
DATAAD: What role do global partnerships play?
Steve Park: They can be very important.
No Korean company needs to develop every part of the AI infrastructure stack alone.
Sometimes the fastest strategy is to combine excellent global technology with Korean engineering, manufacturing and customer support.
A partnership can shorten development time and also create a path into other markets.
A relationship that starts with a Korean project may later lead to opportunities in Southeast Asia, Europe, the Middle East or North America.
Companies should therefore think about partnerships as part of their growth strategy, not simply as purchasing relationships.
DATAAD: Where do you think Korea can differentiate itself in the global AIDC market?
Steve Park: Korea has an interesting combination of semiconductor knowledge, manufacturing discipline, fast engineering response and strong adjacent industries such as batteries, power electronics and telecommunications.
That combination can be powerful.
But Korea should avoid becoming only the place where imported GPU servers are installed.
We should build expertise in the infrastructure around those servers — power, cooling, components, integration, maintenance and automation.
That is where Korean companies can create additional industrial value.
DATAAD: What is your advice to a Korean AI infrastructure startup preparing to enter the global market?
Steve Park: I would start with five questions.
- What problem do we solve?
- Why are we different?
- Who needs us most urgently?
- What evidence do we have?
- Why should a global customer or investor pay attention now?
If the company cannot answer those questions clearly, more marketing will not solve the problem.
If it can answer them clearly, even a relatively small company can begin to build a strong international position.
DATAAD: Finally, how do you see Korea’s AI data center opportunity over the next few years?
Steve Park: I believe Korea has a real opportunity because the AIDC market sits at the intersection of industries where Korea already has strong capabilities.
But engineering strength alone will not determine who wins.
The companies that succeed will combine technology with application knowledge, credible references, partnerships, global communication and disciplined market execution.
Korea’s challenge is not only to build good AI infrastructure technology. It is to turn that technology into a global proposition that customers, partners and investors can understand and trust.
That is the transition I believe Korean AIDC companies now need to make.