Chey Tae-won, chairman of SK Group, will meet with Bill Gates, chairman of the Gates Foundation, during his visit to Korea to explore cooperation in nuclear power, vaccines, and artificial intelligence (AI) development.
According to the business community on the 21st, Chey is scheduled to meet with Gates at a place in Seoul.
It is reported that Chey and Gates will discuss cooperation in the energy sector, including next-generation nuclear power such as small modular reactors (SMR).
SK Co., Ltd. and SK Innovation invested 300 billion won in 2022 in TerraPower, a developer of small modular reactors (SMR, with a generation capacity of 300,000 kW), founded by Gates.
Gates is also seeking to collaborate with Korean corporations for the Gates Foundation's ongoing vaccine distribution project in low-income countries.
SK bioscience and the Gates Foundation have maintained a collaborative relationship since 2013 to address global public health issues, including the development of vaccines for typhoid fever and rotavirus and antiviral preventive solutions.
The first COVID-19 vaccine developed and commercialized in Korea in 2022 is cited as a successful collaboration between SK bioscience and the Gates Foundation.
The meeting is expected to focus on cooperation in the bio sector, including research and development (R&D) of vaccines.
Additionally, cooperation in the field of artificial intelligence (AI) is anticipated to be a major agenda item. Microsoft (MS) plans to invest $80 billion (approximately 110 trillion won) in AI data center development this year.