Korea unveils $276 mil. 'Hangang' supercomputer

Korea has officially debuted its sixth national supercomputer, named Hangang after the famous Han River running through the city of Seoul. The ambitious machine aims to advance cutting-edge artificial intelligence and scientific research. The Ministry of Science and ICT, along with the state-owned Korea Institute of Science and Technology Information (KISTI), unveiled the new system on Monday at KISTI's headquarters in Daejeon, a key scientific and research center situated about 140 kilometers southeast of Seoul.

The grand ceremony convened around 200 leaders from various sectors including industry, academia, and government research organizations. The new supercomputer, priced at 382.5 billion won ($276 million), supersedes Nurion, the fifth-generation system introduced in 2018. Nurion secured the 11th position globally upon its launch and facilitated 1,730 research projects throughout its eight-year run.

These endeavors yielded 1,520 peer-reviewed papers, with 70 published in prestigious international journals such as Nature, Science, and Cell.

Although Hangang carries on executing the same heavy computational simulations previously handled by its predecessor, such as vehicle crash tests, it boasts enhanced capabilities and performance.