Science ministry launches Hangang supercomputer for AI-era research

The science ministry said Friday that its sixth national supercomputer, named Hangang, began operation at a ceremony at the Korea Institute of Science and Technology Information (KISTI) in Daejeon, replacing the Nuri-on system that has served Korean researchers since 2018.

The new machine carries 8,496 of Nvidia's latest GPUs, including the GH200 CPU-GPU accelerator chip, alongside 9,936 CPUs. Against the fifth system it offers 24 times the theoretical computing performance, 10 times the storage and four times the network capacity.

Hangang is expected to place among the top 10 when the next Top500 ranking is published at the SC2026 international supercomputing conference in early November. Nuri-on was ranked 11th worldwide when it was introduced.

The ministry attributed the shift to GPU accelerators to the space and power limits that constrain CPU-only systems, and to the need to support artificial intelligence workloads alongside conventional simulation. Hangang will continue to serve the large-scale CPU-based computational science and simulation work Nuri-on supported, while adding AI-driven research on its GPUs. It will be directed first at national strategic programs such as K-Moonshot, and more broadly at work ranging from university and government-funded institute research to corporate technology development.

KISTI signed a final contract with HPE worth 382 billion won ($286 million) on May 12, 2025, against a customary ceiling of about 100 billion won, with the budget raised toward 450 billion won as demand for GPUs surged. A 15-megawatt power connection is in place, and the ministry expects annual electricity costs of about 20 billion won ($15 million) at full operation.

Researchers were recruited from September and are now being served under a trial program, with official service due to begin on Dec. 14. Universities and research institutes will use the system free of charge, while companies will receive 90 percent of their allocation free and pay for the remaining 10 percent.

The ministry framed the launch as a remedy for a shortage that has pushed researchers to buy expensive GPUs themselves or to pay for overseas cloud capacity out of research budgets, at a cost both financial and, for sensitive data, a risk of leakage.

Nuri-on supported 1,730 research projects over the past eight years, producing 1,520 SCI(E) papers, including 70 in Nature, Science, Cell and their sister journals, the ministry said.

"Hangang will be the foundation for AI and science to converge and lead to new scientific discoveries," said Kim Sung-soo, the ministry's director-general for R&D policy. "We will actively support the solving of national challenges such as K-Moonshot and innovative research across industry, academia and research institutes."

Lee Sik, president of KISTI, said the institute would draw on its operating experience to keep the system stable and support its users, so that Hangang can serve as the base for Korean researchers' most ambitious work.