Bill Gates Returns to South Korea After a Year for SMR Talks With SK, HD Hyundai Chiefs

Bill Gates, the Microsoft co-founder and founder of advanced nuclear company TerraPower, arrived in South Korea on Aug. 13. Gates, TerraPower’s chairman, will stay through Aug. 14 and is set to meet SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won and HD Hyundai Vice Chairman Chung Ki-sun to discuss next-generation nuclear reactor development.

Gates entered the country through the Seoul Gimpo Business Aviation Center. It was his first trip to South Korea since August 2025. Asked about the purpose of his visit, Gates declined to comment and left the arrival hall.

Gates is the founder and chairman of TerraPower, which is developing the Natrium reactor, a next-generation small modular reactor, or SMR. The design combines a molten salt-based energy storage system that allows output to be adjusted while improving safety.

During his August 2025 visit to South Korea, Gates also met Chey and Chung to discuss SMR cooperation. His latest meetings with the two executives could further flesh out collaboration among the three companies.

SK Group and HD Hyundai are key investors in TerraPower. SK Inc. and SK Innovation invested a combined $250 million in 2022 as part of TerraPower’s $750 million fundraising round, making SK the company’s second-largest shareholder.

HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering, an HD Hyundai affiliate, invested $30 million in TerraPower in November 2022. In 2024, HD Hyundai Heavy Industries won an order to manufacture the reactor vessel for the 345-megawatt Natrium reactor TerraPower is building in Wyoming.

In May 2026, HD Hyundai Heavy Industries and TerraPower signed a framework agreement on Natrium reactor supply. Chung and Gates also met at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, in January 2026 to discuss SMRs.

Kang Hae-ryeong / Song Jun-young, Korea Economic Daily reporters hr.kang@hankyung.com