Lee Embarks on 11-Day US and South America Tour... Establishing 'AI Alliance' in San Francisco

President Lee’s First Visit: Meetings with U.S. Business Leaders
Emphasizes Investment and Cooperation in Talks with Sam Altman, Jensen Huang, and Others
San Francisco Declaration on AI Announced at Joint Korea-U.S. Business Gathering

President Lee Jaemyung departed on July 24 for an 11-day, 7-night trip to San Francisco, United States, and three South American countries. Accompanied by business leaders such as Lee Jay-yong, Chairman of Samsung Electronics, President Lee will meet with CEOs of major global big tech (large information technology companies). He plans to announce the “San Francisco Declaration” at a gathering of business leaders from both countries and lead the formation of an “Artificial Intelligence (AI) Alliance” between companies of both nations.

President Jae-myung Lee and First Lady Hye-kyeong Kim are moving by Air Force One at Seongnam Seoul Airport on the 24th to depart for a tour of the United States and South America. Photo by Yonhap News

On this day, President Lee, together with First Lady Kim Hyekyung, took off from Seoul Airport aboard Air Force One. At Seoul Airport, President Lee and First Lady Kim were seen off by President’s Chief of Staff Kang Hoonshik, Democratic Party Acting Leader and Floor Leader Han Byungdo, Minister of the Interior and Safety Yoon Ho-jung, and others.

Immediately after arriving in San Francisco, President Lee will meet with global business leaders. He is scheduled to conduct successive meetings with CEOs such as Dario Amodei (Anthropic), Sam Altman (OpenAI), Jensen Huang (NVIDIA), and Hock Tan (Broadcom), where he will stress South Korea’s full commitment to investment in and cooperation on AI. Substantial outcomes are also anticipated, such as partnership agreements for investment cooperation with major U.S. global companies.

President Lee will then attend the “San Francisco AI Summit” alongside Chairman Lee Jay-yong, SK Chairman Chey Tae-won, Hyundai Motor Group Executive Chair Euisun Chung, and Naver Chairman Lee Haejin. A total of around 150 participants, including the global big tech CEOs who previously met with President Lee, as well as domestic and international AI company researchers and startup investors, are expected to attend. At the summit, companies from both countries will announce their AI innovation strategies and investment plans, and will sign memorandums of understanding (MOUs).

At the event, President Lee will unveil the “San Francisco AI Declaration,” which outlines his blueprint to elevate South Korea as an “irreplaceable nation” in the global AI ecosystem and sets out key principles for international cooperation. These three mega projects, made public last month, are intended to mark the starting point for connecting domestic investment plans to the global technology and capital network. Blue House policy chief Kim Yongbeom explained, “This will be an opportunity for domestic conglomerates driving South Korea’s AI innovation and global big tech companies to gather in one place and expand and materialize the vision for the three mega projects on a global scale.”

President Lee will also host a dinner inviting representatives from big tech and domestic companies. The Blue House announced that, through a schedule including official meetings, the summit, and the dinner, it aims to strengthen partnerships between domestic firms and global big tech, and to further develop follow-up investments and joint business projects.

On the following day, July 25, President Lee will attend the “Silicon Valley Venture Investment Meetup,” where he will meet with representatives of six world-renowned venture capital firms in Silicon Valley. The event will be attended by leaders from Andreessen Horowitz, General Catalyst, Sequoia Capital, Khosla Ventures, Lightspeed Venture Partners, and New Enterprise Associates.

Beginning with the San Francisco schedule, President Lee will visit Brazil, Chile, and Argentina sequentially by August 3. From July 26 to 29, he will pay a state visit to Brazil at the invitation of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. On July 29-30, he will be in Chile for discussions with President José Antonio Kast on ways to modernize the Korea-Chile Free Trade Agreement (FTA). From July 30 to August 1, he will make an official visit to Argentina for a summit meeting with President Javier Milei.

Meanwhile, the Blue House announced that on July 28, Democratic Party lawmakers Min Hongchul and Lee Kiheon, and People Power Party lawmaker Kang Minkook will be dispatched to Peru as presidential special envoys to attend the inauguration ceremony of President Keiko Fujimori. The delegation plans to discuss ways to deepen bilateral economic cooperation based on the Korea-Peru Free Trade Agreement (FTA), and to foster collaboration in key mineral resources and infrastructure sectors.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.