On the third day of his visit to Korea, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang is, quite literally, rushing around in all directions.
He met Hyundai Motor Group Chairman Chung Eui-sun at a Pyongyang cold noodle restaurant and met Krafton Executive Chairman Jang Byung-gyu and NCSOFT CEO Kim Taek-jin at a PC bang. At Jamsil Baseball Stadium, he threw out the first pitch with Doosan Group Chairman Park Jeong-won, and in the evening, he sat down again with SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won at a fried chicken restaurant.
On the 8th, after meeting executives of Samsung Electronics and SK, he will also appear on a live broadcast of "CHZZK" at Naver's headquarters. His itinerary spans the entire Korean AI ecosystem, from AI Semiconductor to games and content, cloud, Robotics, and mobility.
On the afternoon of the 7th, Huang had a "chimaek (chicken + beer)" dinner with SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won at Kkanbu Chicken's Samsung branch in Gangnam-gu, Seoul. It came two days after a so-called "samso (samgyeopsal + soju) gathering" near Hongdae with Chairman Chey, LG Group Chairman Koo Kwang-mo, and Naver Executive Chairman Lee Hae-jin at a samgyeopsal restaurant.
After throwing the first pitch at the Doosan Bears–Kiwoom Heroes game at Jamsil Baseball Stadium that afternoon, Huang headed straight to Samseong-dong in his Doosan Bears uniform. He arrived in front of the restaurant at about 6:46 p.m., waved to citizens, and signed autographs. His wife, Lori Huang, accompanied him in the same uniform.
Chairman Chey arrived about 10 minutes later, exchanged a high-five with Huang, and went inside. The meeting was also joined by key SK Group AI and semiconductor executives, including SK hynix President Kwak Noh-jung, SK hynix AI Infrastructure President Kim Ju-seon, SK Telecom President Jung Jai-hun, and SK Telecom AI CIC head and Chief Technology Officer (CTO) Jeong Seok-geun.
The atmosphere was close to a fan meeting. In the middle of the meal, Huang stood up to take photos with child fans and signed their sketchbooks. Chairman Chey and SK executives handed out "HBM Chips," a snack inspired by HBM (high bandwidth memory), to citizens. Standing beside them, Huang shouted, "HBM! I want more HBM," drawing laughs.
But the center of attention was, ultimately, AI Semiconductor.
Huang told reporters, "We achieved very significant results with SK hynix this year," adding, "In the second half and next year, it will be even larger in scale." He continued, "The next-generation AI supercomputer 'Vera Rubin' has now entered the production phase, and SK hynix DRAM will also be used in the innovative CPU 'Vera.'"
Asked why he has met Chairman Chey seven times in the past seven months, he said, "I work with friends," and added, "I enjoy meeting him."
Huang's schedule in Korea does not end here.
On the morning of the 8th, he will hold a public Q&A with Chairman Chey at SK Seorin Building in Jongno-gu, Seoul.
He will then visit LG Twin Towers to meet key executives including LG Group Chairman Koo Kwang-mo and LG Electronics President Lyu Jae-cheol, followed by visits to Hyundai Motor Group, Naver, and Seoul National University. At Naver's second headquarters, 1784, he is also set to appear in a special live broadcast on the streaming platform "CHZZK" with Executive Chairman Lee Hae-jin.
In the evening, he is scheduled to hold a closed-door meeting with Samsung Electronics Device Solutions (DS) division head and Vice Chairman Jun Young-hyun. "I look forward to meeting Vice Chairman Jun," Huang said that day, adding, "We have several meetings scheduled with Samsung."
The meeting is expected to focus on strategies for supplying next-generation high bandwidth memory (HBM4) and on collaboration plans for Nvidia's AI platform. Regarding Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong, Huang said, "He is currently on a business trip," noting, "We met in person in California a few weeks ago and had a wonderful dinner."
The final item on his Korea itinerary is the "Korea AI Ecosystem Reception" at THE SHILLA Seoul. The event will draw a large turnout from major domestic AI and robotics corporations, including Samsung Electronics, SK hynix, Hyundai Motor Group, LG Electronics, Naver, Krafton, Upstage, and Doosan Robotics.
In the industry, Huang's visit is seen not as a simple client tour but as a move to directly assess the competitiveness of Korea's AI ecosystem. Attention is also on what roles Korean corporations spanning memory, platforms, games, mobility, and Robotics will play in Nvidia's next-generation AI strategy.
Earlier that day, before meeting Chairman Chey, Huang had a meal with Hyundai Motor Group Chairman Chung Eui-sun, and at a PC bang in Gangnam, Seoul, he met Krafton Executive Chairman Jang Byung-gyu and NCSOFT CEO Kim Taek-jin to look over games and AI technology. He also engaged with Doosan Group Chairman Park Jeong-won while throwing the first pitch at Jamsil Baseball Stadium.