On the 24th, President Lee Jae-myung had a dinner meeting with Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong. This is seen as an attempt to check investment plans in the U.S. ahead of tariff negotiations.
On the same day, Spokesperson Kang Yoo-jung noted in a written briefing that President Lee met with Chairman Lee in the afternoon for a dinner gathering.
Earlier, President Lee met in succession with Chung Eui-sun, Chairman of Hyundai Motor Group, Gu Gwang-mo, Chairman of LG Group, Kim Dong-kwan, Vice Chairman of Hanwha on the 21st, and Chey Tae-won, Chairman of SK Group on the 22nd. The presidential office explained that the meeting with the corporate heads involved a broad exchange of views without setting a separate agenda.
However, some speculate that President Lee may have focused discussions with the corporate heads on the important economic issue of the Korea-U.S. tariff negotiations.
Reports are emerging that the U.S. is demanding massive investment in order to lower reciprocal tariffs. On this day, Bloomberg reported that Korea is considering the establishment of investment funds to reduce U.S. auto tariffs. An anonymous source stated that U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick suggested a figure of $400 billion (about 550 trillion won) as the scale of investment in Korea.
This has led to interpretations that President Lee has assessed the investment capacity of major corporations and collected the corporations' recommendations.