[Market Focus] Cafe24 Surges on Government's 16 Trillion Won "AI Highway" Investment; Naver and Google as Major Shareholders

Cafe24 is showing strong performance. The company is drawing attention as both Naver and Google, who are major shareholders, are in the spotlight following news that the government will invest 16 trillion won to build an "Artificial Intelligence (AI) Highway."

As of 9:27 a.m. on June 19, Cafe24 was trading at 53,900 won, up 7.6% from the previous day.

According to industry sources, the Ministry of Science and ICT reported its business plan to the National Assembly's National Policy Planning Committee the previous day, outlining an investment of 16 trillion won over the next five years to drive technology-led growth through AI development. Of this amount, 12.3 trillion won will be focused on achieving the goal of becoming one of the world's top three AI powerhouses.

The core of the "AI Highway" project is to secure 50,000 advanced Graphics Processing Units (GPUs) and to build AI data centers. Specifically, the plan includes establishing AI data integration clusters to collect and connect training data held by both the public and private sectors, expanding research and development investment in areas such as Artificial General Intelligence (AGI), fostering national AI innovation hubs such as AI special zones, and promoting policy finance support and fund creation.

Previously, the Presidential Office announced the appointment of Ha Jungwoo, head of Naver Cloud AI Innovation Center, as the inaugural Chief of AI Future Planning. Ha, who oversaw the development and operation of Naver's large language model "HyperCLOVA X," is regarded as a hands-on AI expert. The inclusion of a former Naver executive as a key figure to lead President Lee Jaemyung's AI policy blueprint has heightened expectations for policy-driven benefits.

Meanwhile, Naver is the second-largest shareholder of Cafe24, holding a 13.69% stake. Google is the third-largest shareholder, with a 7.24% stake.