Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong and SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won, along with heads of other major Korean conglomerates, will head to the United States this week. It comes at the invitation of Son Jeong-ui, the Japan SoftBank chairman who is leading the artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure project "Stargate."
According to the business community on the 15th, Chairman Chey Tae-won will depart for the United States on the 16th on a private jet. Chairman Lee Jae-yong and Hyundai Motor Group Chairman Chung Eui-sun are expected to travel from Japan to the United States after finishing the Korea-U.S.-Japan economic dialogue. LG Chairman Koo Kwang-mo is also likely to join.
The trip was arranged after Chairman Son invited them to an investment event to be held on the 18th (local time) at the Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida.
Mar-a-Lago is known as the vacation home of U.S. President Donald Trump. The property features more than 100 rooms as well as a garden, swimming pool, and golf course facilities the size of 11 soccer fields.
Some speculate the conglomerate chiefs could also have a golf meeting with President Trump.
The business leaders' U.S. trip overlaps with the schedule of Presidential Chief of Staff for Policy Kim Yong-beom and Minister Kim Jung-kwan of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, who will depart for Washington, D.C., on the 16th to follow up on U.S.-Korea tariff negotiations.
Korea and the United States currently have differences over how to manage $350 billion (about 480 trillion won) in investment funds for the U.S.
The Stargate project is also drawing attention. SoftBank, partnering with OpenAI and Oracle, is pushing a $500 billion (about 700 trillion won) mega-project to build AI data centers across the United States. Chairman Son has recently been working to form an "AI alliance" with global corporations.
A business community official said, "The group heads may support the tariff negotiations by presenting specific investment plans during this U.S. visit," adding, "It is difficult to confirm detailed schedules such as golf."
Meanwhile, foreign media on the ground reported that President Trump is scheduled to visit the Mar-a-Lago resort from the 17th to the 19th.