South Korea’s Lee to Meet Nvidia, OpenAI CEOs on 11-Day Trip to US, South America

San Francisco and South America trip begins July 24

Summits also planned with leaders of three South American countries

South Korean President Lee Jae-myung will begin an 11-day overseas trip on July 24, starting in San Francisco before traveling to Brazil, Chile, Argentina and Germany. In the US, he will meet global big-tech chief executives to discuss broader investment and cooperation. In South America, he will seek to expand the basis for economic and diplomatic ties amid an unstable international environment.

Lee will arrive in San Francisco on July 24 and hold back-to-back meetings with the chief executives of Nvidia, OpenAI, Anthropic and Broadcom. He will then attend an artificial intelligence summit, announce the "San Francisco AI Declaration" and outline South Korea’s commitment to developing its AI industry, including three mega-projects, and deepening global cooperation.

From July 26 to July 29, Lee will pay a state visit to Brazil at the invitation of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. He will hold a summit with Lula in the capital, Brasilia, and attend a Korea-Brazil Business Round Table event in Sao Paulo.

Lee will then hold talks with Chilean President Jose Antonio Kast in Santiago on July 30 and with Argentine President Javier Milei in Buenos Aires on July 31.

Kim Yong-beom, Lee’s chief presidential policy aide, said the San Francisco leg of the trip will highlight South Korea’s irreplaceable standing in the global AI ecosystem and signal its willingness to deepen AI cooperation with big-tech companies.

Lee is also set to stop in Frankfurt on Aug. 2 for a meeting with members of the Korean community there.

Park Su-rim, Hankyung.com reporter paksr365@hankyung.com