Nvidia CEO to meet Chey Tae-won at Seorin Building at 8:30 a.m., followed by joint Q&A; meetings with Samsung semiconductor chief Jeon Young-hyun, LG Group's Koo Kwang-mo, Hyundai Motor Group's Euisun Chung and Naver's Lee Hae-jin also planned; to attend Korea AI ecosystem reception
Jensen Huang, the Nvidia CEO driving the global AI boom, made another appearance Sunday at Kkanbul Chicken's Samsung branch in Gangnam-gu, Seoul.
The restaurant is the same one where Huang — visiting South Korea last October for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation CEO Summit — met Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong and Hyundai Motor Group Chairman Euisun Chung in what became widely known as the "Kkanbul meeting."
Huang was the only returning face from last year's gathering, but his counterparts had changed: this time he sat down with the key figures leading SK Group's AI push. Joining him were SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won, SK Hynix CEO Kwak Noh-jung, SK Hynix AI Infrastructure President Kim Ju-sun, SK Telecom CEO Jeong Jae-heon and SK Telecom AI CIC head and Chief Technology Officer Jeong Seok-geun.
Huang will carry the momentum into Monday, with a visit to SK's headquarters as the first stop on his schedule.
According to industry sources, Huang will meet SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won at SK's Seorin Building in Jongno-gu, Seoul, at 8:30 a.m. Monday to discuss cooperation between the two companies.
After the meeting, Chey and Huang plan to take questions from reporters on the Nvidia-SK partnership.
SK Hynix CEO Kwak Noh-jung, SK Telecom CEO Jeong Jae-heon and CTO Jeong Seok-geun are also expected to attend.
The two are expected to continue discussions on AI and semiconductor business cooperation at SK headquarters.
Later Monday afternoon, Huang also plans to meet Jeon Young-hyun, the vice chairman overseeing Samsung Electronics' semiconductor business.
When reporters asked Huang at Kkanbul Chicken on Sunday whether he planned to visit Samsung Electronics on Monday, he said, "I'm looking forward to meeting Vice Chairman Jeon Young-hyun on Monday."
Jeon and Huang are expected to discuss HBM supply and other memory-related issues. Both Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix currently supply Nvidia with HBM and other DRAM products, and HBM4 — the sixth-generation HBM — from both companies is set to be included in Nvidia's next-generation AI accelerator, the Vera Rubin.
After the SK Seorin Building visit, Huang is scheduled to meet LG Group Chairman Koo Kwang-mo, LG Electronics CEO Ryu Jae-cheol and other senior executives at LG Twin Towers in Yeouido.
He will then make a series of stops at Seoul National University, Hyundai Motor's Yangjae headquarters and Naver's offices, where he will meet Hyundai Motor Group Chairman Euisun Chung and Naver Chairman Lee Hae-jin in a packed schedule.
Huang's final engagement Monday will be the "Korea AI Ecosystem Reception" at the Shilla Hotel in Jung-gu, Seoul, where he will meet domestic companies working in AI and robotics.
Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix, SK Telecom, Hyundai Motor Group, LG Electronics, Naver, Krafton, Upstage and Doosan Robotics are among the companies set to attend.
gil@heraldcorp.com
