President Lee Jae-myung was reported to have held a dinner meeting with SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won on the 20th.
It has been about a month since Lee and Chey last met at the "Artificial Intelligence (AI) Summit" in San Francisco in the United States in November. At the dinner, broad discussions were likely held on the three mega projects, including the government's push to create a Honam semiconductor cluster.
With observations emerging that the United States is asking for investment in the semiconductor sector in connection with Korea's U.S.-bound investment projects, attention is on whether related discussions took place.
However, Minister Kim Jung-kwan of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources, who returned to Korea the same day after finishing his U.S. visit, told reporters at the airport that "there was no discussion about semiconductors in the conversation with Secretary Howard Lutnick during this trip to the U.S."
In political circles, there is speculation that following Chey, Lee may also meet in succession with other heads of major corporations, including Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong and LG Group Chairman Koo Kwang-mo.
The Blue House said it was "difficult to confirm schedules that are not public" regarding whether Lee and Chey met that day.