Nucky Fang (left), general manager of Tencent Cloud International, and Heo Jeong-pil, country manager of Tencent Cloud Korea, speak during an interview with The Korea Herald in Seoul on Monday. (Tencent Cloud)
Tencent Cloud is stepping up its push in South Korea, betting on the country’s strengths in gaming, media and enterprise technology as local companies increasingly use artificial intelligence and cloud infrastructure to expand overseas.
“Korea is one of the benchmark markets for Tencent Cloud in Asia-Pacific,” Nucky Fang, general manager of Tencent Cloud International, told The Korea Herald in Seoul on Monday.
“I see it less as one side serving a role for the other and more as a partnership where both sides grow together.”
Fang said Korea’s established base in gaming, manufacturing and media has made it a key market for Tencent Cloud’s international business. But the company’s strategy is no longer focused solely on helping Korean firms enter China.
“Our strength is not only in China,” he said. “We operate 66 availability zones across 23 regions globally, and we are already supporting many Korean game companies with their global operations and publishing.”
Tencent Cloud Korea Country Manager Heo Jeong-pil said Korean customers often choose Tencent Cloud for its experience operating services across multiple markets.
“We have products specialized for games, services that help prevent hacking, and network services that allow users to communicate globally with very low latency,” Heo said. “That is why Korean customers use Tencent Cloud when they want to provide services more easily in global markets.”
For companies entering China, however, Tencent Cloud believes it retains a competitive edge.
“Our cloud infrastructure resources in China are more extensive, and we have a deep understanding of compliance issues there,” Heo said.
Beyond its traditional strengths in gaming and streaming media, Tencent Cloud is looking to expand into commerce, enterprise software and AI-driven content creation.
Artificial intelligence is also becoming a core pillar of the company’s Korea strategy.
“Companies in Korea and China are changing the way they understand and accept AI,” Fang said. “Across both business-to-business and business-to-consumer markets, more customers and partners are using AI.”
The comments came as Tencent Cloud unveiled new partnerships and a global AI agent portfolio at Tencent Cloud Day Korea 2026 on Tuesday.
The company announced collaborations with GS Neotek, ESTsoft, I Hate Flying Bugs, the Korea Management Association and Aptos Labs. It also introduced AI products including Miora, an AI-powered creative studio; TokenHub, a gateway for accessing multiple AI models; WAND, a media workflow platform; and WorkBuddy, an AI productivity agent.
Heo said Tencent Cloud remains optimistic about Korea and plans to broaden its focus beyond gaming and media.
“Games and OTT (streaming) will continue to be important areas, and we will also expand cooperation in commerce and traditional enterprise sectors,” he said.
“We are also finding many opportunities in local partnerships in Korea and in video-generation AI.”
yeeun@heraldcorp.com