President Lee Jae-myung departed on the 24th for a tour of the United States and three South American countries. Over 11 days and seven nights, he will visit Silicon Valley, the heart of US advanced technology, followed by Brazil, Chile, and Argentina, which lead the South American economy.
Lee left for San Francisco from Seoul Airport in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, around 1 p.m. that day, accompanied by his wife Kim Hye-kyung. Lee wore a dark navy suit with a navy diagonal-striped tie, while Kim wore a light sky-blue two-piece outfit.
Those who saw him off included Chief of Staff Kang Hoon-sik, Senior Secretary for Political Affairs Hong Ihk-pyo, acting Democratic Party leader and floor leader Han Byeong-do, Minister of the Interior and Safety Yun Ho-jung, First Vice Foreign Minister Park Yoon-joo, Chilean Ambassador to Korea Mathias Francke, Argentine Ambassador to Korea Dario Cesar Celaya Alvarez, and Brazilian Charge d'Affaires to Korea Homero Maia.
On the 24th local time, Lee will attend an "AI Summit" event with global big tech CEOs in Silicon Valley. The event will bring together some 150 representatives and researchers from AI companies at home and abroad, including Samsung Electronics Chairman Jay Y. Lee, SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won, Hyundai Motor Group Executive Chairman Euisun Chung, and Naver Chairman Lee Hae-jin.
Ahead of the AI Summit, Lee plans to hold successive meetings with Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, and Broadcom President and CEO Hock Tan to request investment and cooperation. On the 25th, the second day of the tour, he will meet with six top-tier venture capital firms in Silicon Valley.
Lee will then visit Brazil, Chile, and Argentina in turn starting on the 26th to meet with each country's leader. He is expected to hold summits with key South American nations and discuss ways to strengthen practical cooperation in various fields, including critical minerals, food, defense, energy, and culture.
Afterward, Lee will return home via Germany. In Germany, a gathering with the Korean expatriate community is scheduled for the 2nd of next month in Frankfurt.
