President Lee Jae-myung departed on the 24th for an 11-day overseas trip covering the United States, three South American countries — Brazil, Chile and Argentina — and Germany. The visit aims to turn into reality the artificial intelligence (AI) demand that underpins the government's three mega-projects, and to kick-start efforts to secure critical mineral supply chains and new markets.
The president left Seoul Airport in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, for San Francisco that day. On the first day of the trip, he holds individual meetings with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, and Broadcom President and CEO Hock Tan. Afterward, at an AI summit, they are joined by Samsung Electronics Chairman Jay Y. Lee, SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won, Hyundai Motor Group Chairman Euisun Chung, and Naver Chairman Lee Hae-jin, bringing together the heads of Korea's four leading AI companies and the CEOs of four global big tech firms for a discussion with the president.
Through the San Francisco AI Declaration, President Lee plans to position South Korea as a "trusted supplier" in the global AI supply chain, and to express a commitment to an inclusive AI transition, including "AI for All" and an AI-based society. On the 25th, at a Silicon Valley venture investment meetup, the National Pension Service will sign a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with six VC firms, including Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), one of Silicon Valley's leading venture capital firms.
From the 26th, he will visit the three South American countries in sequence — Brazil (through the 28th), Chile (through the 30th), and Argentina (through August 1). During the South American leg, he will focus on diversifying economic security supply chains for lithium, copper, rare earths, energy and food, and on resuming Mercosur trade negotiations. With Chile, he will discuss modernizing the free trade agreement (FTA). President Lee will then hold a meeting with local Korean residents in Frankfurt, Germany, on the 2nd of next month, before returning home on the 3rd.
