Computing capacity and global standing
Hangang combines 8,496 advanced GPUs with 9,936 CPUs for a theoretical computing capacity of 614 petaflops, according to the ministry. It is designed to handle both advanced AI-based science and technology research and conventional research.
The government expects the system to place among the world's 10 most powerful supercomputers. That expectation is distinct from its measured performance: DongA Science reported that Hangang achieved 342.6 petaflops as of June 2026, putting it around 12th globally.
Hardware, cooling and contract
Hewlett Packard Enterprise's May 2025 announcement identifies Hangang as an HPE Cray Supercomputing EX4000. It has two partitions, one using NVIDIA GH200 Grace Hopper Superchips and the other using 5th Gen AMD EPYC processors, with HPE Slingshot 400 connecting the nodes.
The ministry reported in September 2026 that the system provides 205 petabytes of storage and network connectivity rated above 400 gigabits per second. According to the Korea Institute of Science and Technology Information (KISTI), Hangang uses direct liquid cooling and has a power usage effectiveness (PUE) of about 1.15, compared with 1.35 for its predecessor, Nurion.
KISTI and Hewlett Packard Enterprise signed the construction contract on May 12, 2025, the ministry said. Its value of 382.5 billion won, or about $276 million, includes 78 billion won for five years of maintenance.
Pilot demand and research allocations
Ahead of the December 16 official service date, Hangang is supporting about 190 projects through a roughly two-month pilot running in October and November 2026, according to Seoul Economic Daily. Those include 20 grand-challenge projects and 17 national strategic projects. Requests for computing resources amount to about 85% of the system's total capacity.
KISTI says the government plans to reserve about 55% of Hangang's computing resources for R&D innovation, 30% for national strategic projects and 15% for industrial innovation research. The strategic allocation includes K-Moonshot and the seven SEED projects.
Hangang succeeds Nurion, the fifth-generation national supercomputer deployed in 2018. From 2019 through October 2026, Nurion supported 1,730 free-of-charge projects and 3,631 paid projects, according to KISTI. Research conducted with that system yielded 1,520 SCI(E)-indexed papers, including 70 in Nature, Science and Cell.
Quantum integration planned for 2027
South Korea plans to connect Hangang to IonQ's 100-qubit Tempo quantum computer around the first half of 2027, creating a hybrid quantum and high-performance computing system. KISTI signed a trilateral memorandum of understanding with NVIDIA and IonQ at GTC on March 18, 2026, covering the integration.
