South Korea's Lee to visit South America and Germany, attend AI summit in US

South ​Korean President Lee Jae ​Myung will visit San Francisco, Brazil, ​Chile, Argentina and Germany from July 24 to August 3, the presidential office said on Wednesday.

Lee will hold separate summits with ‌the ⁠leaders of ⁠Brazil, Chile and Argentina and attend an AI summit in ​San Francisco, National Security Adviser Wi Sung-lac said in a ​press briefing.

The presidential office said Lee is also scheduled to meet Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, OpenAI CEO ​Sam Altman and Anthropic CEO Dario ⁠Amodei, while ‌Samsung Electronics Chairman Jay Y. Lee, ​SK ​Group Chairman Chey Tae-won and Hyundai Motor ⁠Executive Chair Euisun Chung will also attend ​the AI summit.


South Korea is eyeing an ​expansion of trade and business in South America, Wi said, seeking fresh negotiations for the South Korean-Mercosur trade agreement as well as modernisation of a free trade agreement with Chile.

Seoul is also aiming ‌to enhance cooperation in energy and food, Wi said, citing abundant reserves of critical ​minerals in ​the region.

In ⁠San Francisco, Lee will meet with executives of six top venture capital firms, including Andreessen Horowitz, General Catalyst and Sequoia Capital.

He will attend an MOU ceremony between South Korea's National Pension Service and the venture capital firms for long-term partnership, and then attend a roundtable, the presidential office said.