AWS data center (Image courtesy of AWS)
SEOUL, July 16 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s financial institutions are rapidly embracing cloud computing, with 92 percent now using public cloud services — and more than half of them relying on Amazon Web Services (AWS), according to new industry data.
At a press briefing held Wednesday in Seoul, Noh Kyung-hoon, head of AWS’s financial services division in Korea, revealed findings from a recent joint study by AWS and market research firm IDC. The survey showed that 53 percent of domestic financial institutions using public cloud have selected AWS as their primary provider.
Public cloud services, which offer computing resources over the internet without requiring organizations to invest in physical infrastructure, are being increasingly leveraged across the sector for flexibility and cost-efficiency. The study found that 64 percent of firms are either actively using cloud services or planning to expand their cloud budgets.
Security compliance (42%), system reliability and disaster recovery (41%), and product roadmaps (39%) were the most critical factors in selecting cloud providers, the report noted.
AWS highlighted several key areas where Korean financial firms are applying artificial intelligence via the cloud — including regulatory automation, fraud detection, personalized marketing, and advanced data analytics.
K-Bank, one of Korea’s leading internet-only banks, shared its own cloud transformation journey during the session. Cha Dae-san, head of K-Bank’s technology division, outlined the institution’s transition to a multi-cloud architecture, adoption of microservices (MSA), and the development of a data lakehouse system.
“These initiatives are not just about infrastructure migration,” Cha said. “They represent a strategic digital transformation to improve operational efficiency and strengthen technological autonomy.”
K-Bank’s cloud-native systems, he added, are designed to handle traffic spikes, system failures, and rapid service scaling, underscoring the bank’s push toward hybrid and multi-cloud strategies to enhance agility and resilience.
Kevin Lee (kevinlee@koreabizwire.com)
