President Lee Jae-myung, visiting San Francisco, held a dinner with global big tech chief executive officers (CEOs) and heads of major domestic corporations.
Chief Presidential Spokesperson Kang Yu-jung said in a written briefing on the 24th (local time) that President Lee had dinner with officials from global artificial intelligence (AI) corporations at The Ramp restaurant in San Francisco.
The dinner was attended by Jensen Huang, Nvidia CEO; Hock Tan, Broadcom CEO; and Rani Borkar, Microsoft Azure hardware president. Also present were Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong; SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won; Hyundai Motor Group Chairman Chung Eui-sun; and Lee Hae-jin, Naver founder and board chair.
Following the San Francisco AI Summit held earlier in the day and a series of meetings with global big tech CEOs, the dinner was arranged to allow business leaders at home and abroad to speak freely.
Earlier, when Huang visited Korea last year, he had what was called a "chimaek meeting" with Chairman Lee Jae-yong and Chairman Chung Eui-sun at a Kkanbu Chicken location in Seoul. Regarding the chimaek meeting, President Lee said when he met Huang last year, "I should have been there too," expressing regret. At the time, Huang said, "The president will join us next time."
Spokesperson Kang said the dinner was prepared with the idea of talking informally while sharing local California food, similar to how Huang last year naturally built rapport with heads of major domestic corporations over chicken and beer.
President Lee and the attendees took seats on the restaurant's outdoor terrace and ate with beer. They posed for a commemorative photo holding beer bottles. The table featured mini burgers, fish and chips, fried calamari, crab cakes, and clam chowder. Light beer was served with the food.
Looking over the menu, President Lee joked, "We need chicken." When Huang asked the president, "When was the last time you had a burger?" Lee laughed and answered, "I don't remember."
The dinner proceeded in a warm and friendly atmosphere from start to finish. President Lee told Huang and others, "In Korea, we call family 'sikgu.' It means people who share meals." Huang responded, "We are family."
When President Lee led a toast with "We are," the attendees shouted "family" and clinked their beer bottles.
President Lee turned to Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Science and ICT Bae Kyung-hoon and said, "The vice prime minister is buying dinner today." Huang then asked, "May I have one more bottle?" before suggesting, "How about buying beer for everyone in the restaurant?"
Alluding to the recent semiconductor boom, Huang remarked, "Korea so rich." President Lee laughed and replied, "That's true, but it's not allowed because he is a public official." The point was that since Vice Prime Minister Bae is a public official, it would be difficult to buy drinks for everyone in the restaurant.
Spokesperson Kang said, "By showing global AI leaders gathering around President Lee, we can imprint on the world the elevated stature of Korea as a key hub in the global AI supply chain."