President Lee Says AI Era Offers South Korea Opportunity to Become Global Leader
Key Takeaways
- •President Lee Jae Myung described the artificial intelligence era as a historic opportunity for South Korea to transition from a technology follower into a global leader.
- •U.S. technology firms including Nvidia, OpenAI, and Anthropic signed partnership agreements with South Korean companies such as Samsung Electronics and SK hynix, with a presidential official estimating the deals at $950 billion.
- •SK hynix is a key supplier of high-bandwidth memory chips used in Nvidia's AI accelerators, positioning South Korea as a critical node in the global AI supply chain.
- •Lee cited South Korea's democratic values and its semiconductor manufacturing infrastructure as strategic assets for economic leadership in the AI age.
- •The president's San Francisco visit was specifically designed to promote AI investment and cooperation between global technology giants and South Korean firms.
President Lee Jae Myung said Saturday that the dawn of the artificial intelligence era presents a historic opportunity for South Korea, pledging to transform the nation from a technological follower into a global pacesetter.
Speaking at a meeting with South Korean residents in San Francisco on the second day of a two-day visit designed to promote AI investment and cooperation between global tech giants and South Korea, Lee drew a sweeping historical parallel.
"Just as humanity's discovery of fire ushered in new history, a new era is coming in which we cannot live without AI," the president said.
The AI era, he continued, represents "a truly new opportunity for South Korea," adding that his goal is to make the country "an irreplaceable country" — one that prompts other nations to conclude that "nothing can be done without South Korea."
His remarks followed a major event one day earlier in which several U.S.-based technology giants, including Nvidia, OpenAI, and Anthropic, reached a series of business deals and partnership agreements with South Korean firms such as Samsung Electronics and SK hynix. Lee attended the high-level gathering, where a presidential official said the partnerships would amount to $950 billion. Samsung and SK hynix are two of the world's largest memory chipmakers, and SK hynix is a key supplier of high-bandwidth memory, or HBM, the chips used in Nvidia's AI accelerators.
"So far the country has pursued a strategy of learning from other countries and following them, but from now on, I want to make South Korea a leader that stays half a step ahead," the president said.
Lee pointed to South Korea's democratization experience as one of its greatest assets in leading the AI age. "In a high-tech society, democracy itself serves as a core element of industrial and economic development," he said, citing reasonableness, objectivity, transparency, and predictability as democratic values that help foster economic growth.
The president also underscored South Korea's dramatic transformation from a war-torn nation into an economic powerhouse, noting that global industry already cannot function without the country's semiconductor factories. (Yonhap)