Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong set out on a business trip to Europe to seek cooperation plans with German automakers and returned on the 13th.
Lee entered the country that day through the Seoul Gimpo Business Aviation Center (SGBAC) in Gangseo District, Seoul, and, when asked whether he had met clients in Europe during the trip, said "Yes" before leaving the site, according to reports. Choi Joo-sun, president of Samsung SDI, also accompanied the trip.
Lee is understood to have visited Germany and other parts of Europe with Choi to meet major automakers, including Mercedes-Benz. Choi also told reporters that day, "I was in Europe," adding, "We met several clients (in addition to Mercedes)." On the possibility of additional orders, Choi said, "We will work hard."
Samsung SDI counts numerous European automakers, including BMW and Volkswagen, as clients and is reportedly in talks with Mercedes-Benz to supply electric-vehicle batteries. In November last year, Lee met Ola Källenius, chairman of Mercedes-Benz, during his visit to Korea and discussed the vehicle electronics and electrical equipment (auto parts) business.
On the 18th, Lee is also expected to meet with AMD CEO Lisa Su, who is visiting Korea, to discuss cooperation in the semiconductor business. Su is expected to discuss expanding supplies of High Bandwidth Memory (HBM), a key component of AI accelerators, and foundry (contract chip manufacturing) with Lee.