President Lee Jae-myung is expected to hold a dinner meeting with Samsung Electronics Chairman Jay Y. Lee this week, following an earlier dinner with Hyundai Motor Group Chairman Euisun Chung. After a private dinner with SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won on the 20th, the president is holding a series of meetings with the heads of major conglomerates, seen as a sign of his intent to personally review companies' investment progress, centered on three mega projects.
According to political and business sources on the 24th, the president and Chung are expected to hold a dinner meeting as early as the start of this week, with Hyundai Motor Group's investment in Saemangeum set to be a key agenda item. Hyundai Motor previously announced a plan to invest about 9 trillion won ($6.5 billion) to build an artificial intelligence (AI) data center, robot production facilities and hydrogen-related infrastructure in Saemangeum, North Jeolla Province. As the president is paying particular attention to the pace of the project, the discussion is expected to cover the status of the investment as well as broad measures to create synergy with the government's three mega projects.
At the meeting with Lee, the semiconductor cluster in the Honam region, in which both Samsung Electronics and SK hynix are participating, is expected to be raised as a key issue. Counting this meeting, the president will have met Chey eight times and Lee 13 times this year. With many prerequisites remaining before the Honam cluster gets on track, including the relocation of Gwangju's military airport, the president is expected to call for active investment by the companies while also stressing the government's commitment to support. As political circles have recently floated building additional semiconductor fabs in Honam beyond the original plan, attention is also on whether the possibility of further investment will be discussed.
Investment in the United States is another key focus of this series of meetings. During last year's Korea-U.S. tariff negotiations, the president also met with the heads of major companies in succession to request their support, activating a public-private cooperation framework. As U.S. investment linked to the Korea-U.S. tariff talks gains momentum, concerns have also been raised that domestic investment in advanced industries could be relatively dampened. Accordingly, close communication between the government and companies is expected in this series of meetings on major issues, including the balance between investment in the United States and at home.
