The korea submarine cable market is projected to grow moderately from 2025 to 2035, driven by the rising demand for robust international data transmission, national digitalization initiatives, and the ongoing expansion of 5G and cloud infrastructure.
Submarine cables form the foundation of global connectivity, transmitting over 95% of intercontinental data traffic. In 2025, the submarine cable industry in Korea is estimated to be valued at USD 103.4 million, and is projected to reach USD 128.5 million by 2035, growing at a CAGR of 2.2%.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Market Size in 2025 | USD 103.4 Million |
| Projected Market Size in 2035 | USD 128.5 Million |
| CAGR (2025 to 2035) | 2.2% |
South Korea’s strategic location and strong ICT ecosystem position it as a critical player in the Asia-Pacific submarine cable network. While growth is stable, emerging technologies, increased digital traffic, and regional smart city developments are expected to sustain long-term industry relevance.
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South Gyeongsang, with its strategic coastal location and industrial ports, plays a supportive role in submarine cable logistics and marine cable deployment. The province is home to shipbuilding and heavy industries that contribute to the cable-laying infrastructure and support services. Government investment in smart port development is expected to drive additional demand for high-speed marine data connectivity and cable reinforcement.
North Jeolla’s emerging role in the submarine cable industry, as the province is looking to bolster its digital and marine technology foundation The region’s emphasis on research and innovation, from universities to industrial complexes, is expected to foster improvements in the materials used to manufacture cables and technologies for deploying them from offshore.
South Jeolla, with an expansive coastline and access to vital shipping routes, has the potential to become a market for new submarine cable landing stations. The province is slowly deploying smart coastal use technology, aquaculture digitalization, shipborne monitoring, and monitoring systems all of which require a submarine cable to ensure reliable high-speed data transmission.
JejuJeju has strategic relevance for data infrastructure due to its renewable energy initiatives and its status as a digital tourism testbed. Although not a significant cable manufacturing center, the region’s geographical isolation renders it an important node for regional cable landing and a necessity for redundancy planning.
The local submarine cable-related spending will remain shaped in part by sustained efforts to enhance the data reliability for the island’s tourism, energy, and smart grid initiatives.
The submarine cable market in South Korea faces strategic and operational challenges
As global data consumption surges, capacity saturation on legacy East Asian cable routes is creating performance bottlenecks. Moreover, the complex permitting landscape, involving multi-agency coordination and maritime zoning regulations, slows down project timelines.
Geopolitical frictions in Northeast Asia especially tensions in the Taiwan Strait and South China Sea complicate the routing, security, and international partnership strategies of cable consortia. South Korean operators must also navigate cybersecurity threats and sovereignty concerns in joint-build agreements with foreign telecoms and hyperscalers.
Data Center Growth, 5G-6G Backbone, and Indo-Pacific Digital Corridors
Despite the barriers, South Korea is rapidly emerging as a strategic digital hub in the Asia-Pacific region, driven by its robust domestic internet penetration, hyper scale data center expansion, and AI compute infrastructure build-outs. The rising demand for international bandwidth, low-latency content delivery, and cross-border cloud services is spurring investment in new transoceanic cables and regional spurs.
Government incentives under Korea's Digital New Deal and 6G national strategies are encouraging the private sector to invest in next-gen submarine infrastructure. South Korea is also positioned to play a pivotal role in Indo-Pacific digital corridors connecting Japan, Vietnam, Taiwan, the USA, and Oceania increasing the strategic relevance of Korean landing stations and marine engineering capabilities.
Between 2020 and 2024, Korea's submarine cable industry underwent a period of rapid advancement fueled by surging demand for high-capacity data transmission, regional digital infrastructure development, and offshore wind energy expansion.
The country's strategic geographic position in East Asia, serving as a digital and energy transit hub, intensified investments in both fiber-optic submarine communication cables and high-voltage submarine power cables. South Korean firms like LS Cable & System and Taihan Cable & Solution led the regional market, securing major domestic and global projects, including interconnection lines for offshore wind farms and cross-border data cables.
Technological upgrades in optical fiber performance and high-voltage direct current (HVDC) systems played a vital role in ensuring the efficiency and durability of deployed infrastructure. The Korean government also promoted digital transformation initiatives under its “Digital New Deal,” creating strong support for data cable development. Meanwhile, Korea’s ambitious offshore wind targets 12 GW by 2030 provided strong momentum for submarine power cable deployment.
Looking ahead to 2025 to 2035, the Korean submarine cable industry is expected to experience transformative growth as global digitalization, green energy goals, and geopolitical dynamics reshape undersea infrastructure demand. Korea is projected to enhance its role as a submarine cable manufacturing and deployment powerhouse, supported by advanced robotics, AI-driven seabed mapping, and high-efficiency HVDC technologies.
The global race for digital sovereignty will trigger strategic submarine cable alliances, with Korea strengthening ties with Indo-Pacific and European partners to ensure secure and resilient connectivity routes. The offshore energy transition, particularly floating wind and hydrogen production hubs, will drive demand for longer and higher-capacity submarine power cables.
Moreover, sustainability will become central, with a focus on eco-friendly insulation materials, carbon-reduced cable production, and seabed environmental compliance.
Market Shifts: A Comparative Analysis 2020 to 2024 vs. 2025 to 2035
| Market Shift | 2020 to 2024 Trends |
|---|---|
| Regulatory Landscape | Multi-ministry permitting, neutral stance on cable routing |
| Technology Innovations | Focus on fiber capacity (100G/400G), SDM (space-division multiplexing) pilot tests |
| Market Adoption | Driven by KT, SK Broadband, LG U+, and international hyperscalers |
| Sustainability Trends | Minimal emphasis on energy use or ecological footprint |
| Competition Dynamics | Consortium model dominated by NEC, SubCom , Alcatel Submarine Networks (ASN) |
| Geopolitical Factors | Reactive alignment to USA-China digital influence zones |
| Market Shift | 2025 to 2035 Projections |
|---|---|
| Regulatory Landscape | Proactive policies on national data routes, marine sovereignty, and critical infrastructure protection |
| Technology Innovations | Adoption of SDM-2 cables, AI-assisted cable monitoring, self-healing network topologies |
| Market Adoption | Expansion to Korean cloud players, fintechs , and AI compute firms requiring proprietary data paths |
| Sustainability Trends | Integration of eco-friendly cable laying, lower-carbon repeater systems, and ESG-compliant sourcing |
| Competition Dynamics | Entry of new players like HMN Tech (Huawei Marine), South Korean marine tech firms, and green cable startups |
| Geopolitical Factors | Proactive hedging via multilateral cable partnerships (Quad, ASEAN, ROK-USA initiatives) |
As a key industrial and coastal city, Changwon is home to marine engineering and cable component manufacturing units. Its proximity to port infrastructure supports logistics and equipment handling for submarine cable production and export. Local firms are contributing to cable sheathing and repeater housing manufacturing.
| City | CAGR (2025 to 2035) |
|---|---|
| Changwon | 2.1% |
Jeonju is developing as a secondary hub for R&D in telecommunication components, with universities and government labs engaging in fiber optic research and cable system design. Public-private partnerships are boosting innovation in lightweight, high-capacity fiber technologies.
| City | CAGR (2025 to 2035) |
|---|---|
| Jeonju | 2.2% |
Mokpo, being a coastal logistics and marine service city, plays a growing role in supporting offshore cable-laying activities, including barge services, maintenance vessels, and deployment logistics. Regional investment in marine ICT infrastructure is aiding the local ecosystem.
| City | CAGR (2025 to 2035) |
|---|---|
| Mokpo | 2.1% |
Jeju City serves as a strategic subsea cable landing site, providing vital inter-island and international data routing capabilities. Its geographic positioning makes it ideal for hosting redundancy nodes and emergency data rerouting systems, as well as acting as a buffer hub for Asia-Pacific cable networks.
| City | CAGR (2025 to 2035) |
|---|---|
| Jeju City | 2.4% |
The development of the Korean submarine cable industry is accelerating with the expansion of digital infrastructure and offshore energy transmission as well as national defense communications. An underwater cable is commonly needed for the power transfer and data transmission in between mainland locations and international or remote when you have an island.
However, with Korea investing significantly in smart grids, renewable energy integration, and 5G-backed telecommunication systems, this is affecting the demand for durable, efficient, and high-capacity cable systems. Segmentation: Oil & Gas, Renewable Energy, Telecommunications, Defense by End Use; Oil/Fluid Filled Cables, Solid Filled Cables by Filling Type.
These cables are favored for their mechanical robustness, fluid-leakage resistance and long-term reliability, so they are considered ideal for deep-sea installations and harsh marine environments.Solid insulation, commonly cross-linked polyethylene (XLPE), allows higher thermal performance and negligible environmental risk. The low maintenance and high efficiency of these engines makes them especially appealing for Korea’s growing offshore energy and inter-island power industry.
Korea is a global leader in broadband connectivity, high speed 5G deployment, and smart city development, and is constantly enhancing its undersea data transmission infrastructure.Submarine fiber optic cables are the lifeblood of not only domestic network expansion, but also international connectivity with partners across Japan, China and Southeast Asia.
With the ever-increasing demand for high-capacity, low-latency networks that serve everything from data centers to AI-powered technologies, telecom-driven submarine cables are still the most crucial, most invested segment.
Driven by rising demand for ultra-high-speed internet for 5G backhaul infrastructure, cloud transmission, and international data center interconnections, the submarine cable market in South Korea is booming.
As a global policy and digital hub, Korea is an important part of the trans-Pacific and intra-Asian fiber-optic network and has several main landing stations and participated in developing subsea cable projects that connect Japan, China, Southeast Asia, and the USA The South Korean government and private sector players are all heavily investing into strategic submarine cable partnerships, next-gen repeater less systems, low-latency, and high-capacity cables.
Market Share Analysis by Company (Korea)
| Company Name | Estimated Market Share (%) |
|---|---|
| KT Corporation | 20-24% |
| LS Cable & System Ltd. | 16-20% |
| SK Telecom Co., Ltd. | 10-14% |
| Korea Telecom Japan / KIS-IX | 8-12% |
| Hanyang Electric Co., Ltd. | 6-9% |
| Other Companies (combined) | 25-30% |
| Company Name | Key Offerings/Activities |
|---|---|
| KT Corporation | KT leads South Korea’s international subsea connectivity, managing major cable landing points and actively participating in Asia-Pacific and global consortiums. Its emphasis on redundancy, cloud peering, and smart cable routing supports Korea’s digital infrastructure dominance. . |
| LS Cable & System Ltd. | LS Cable is Korea’s top submarine cable manufacturer, providing high-voltage and fiber-optic cables for deep-sea applications. Its vertical integration and international project portfolio strengthen Korea’s submarine cable supply chain. . |
| SK Telecom | SK Telecom leverages its position in 5G and edge computing to drive demand for low-latency subsea links, especially in content delivery, hyperscale cloud access, and data center partnerships across Asia |
| Korea Telecom Japan / KIS-IX | This regional player focuses on interconnecting Korea with Japan and China, enabling low-latency B2B data transport and premium network services for multinational corporations . |
| Hanyang Electric Co., Ltd. | Hanyang provides local cable installation and offshore integration, supporting short-range subsea routes, marine energy grids, and government-backed infrastructure development in Korea’s EEZ. . |
The overall market size for the submarine cable industry in Korea was USD 103.4 Million in 2025.
The submarine cable industry in Korea is expected to reach USD 128.5 Million in 2035.
The rising demand for robust international data transmission, national digitalization initiatives, and the ongoing expansion of 5G and cloud infrastructure will drive the demand for the submarine cable industry in Korea during the forecast period.
The top 4 cities contributing to the development of the submarine cable industry in Korea are South Gyeongsang, North Jeolla, South Jeolla, and Jeju.
Solid Filled Cables and Telecommunications are expected to command a significant share over the assessment period in the submarine cable industry in Korea.
Korea Submarine Cable Market
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