South Korea’s Lee to Meet Jensen Huang in San Francisco on July 24 as He Starts US, South America and Germany Trip

Lee to Unveil ‘San Francisco AI Declaration’

Samsung, SK, Hyundai and Naver Chiefs to Gather

South Korean President Lee Jae-myung will visit San Francisco, three South American countries — Brazil, Chile and Argentina — and Germany from July 24 to Aug. 3, National Security Adviser Wi Sung-lac and presidential policy chief Kim Yong-beom said at a July 22 briefing.

Lee plans to meet global AI leaders and Silicon Valley venture investors in San Francisco on July 24-25, Kim said. His meetings are set to include Nvidia Chief Executive Officer Jensen Huang, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei and Broadcom CEO Hock Tan.

Lee will also attend the San Francisco AI Summit. There, he will discuss a vision for three mega projects with business leaders including Samsung Electronics Chairman Jay Y. Lee, SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won, Hyundai Motor Group Executive Chair Euisun Chung and Naver founder Lee Hae-jin. He will also announce the “San Francisco AI Declaration” at the event.

After his US trip, Lee will make a state visit to Brazil from July 26 to July 29 at the invitation of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. He will hold a summit with Lula and attend other official events. Lee will then make a two-day official visit to Chile starting July 29, where he will hold a summit with President Jose Antonio Kast, whose administration took office this year. From July 30 to Aug. 1, he will visit Argentina for a summit with President Javier Milei.

The trip is expected to help expand trade and investment with Brazil, Chile and Argentina, South America’s key economies, while opening new markets, Wi said. He added that the visit would help broaden South Korea’s diplomatic reach across the Global South.

Choi Su-jin, Hankyung.com reporter naive@hankyung.com