President Lee Jae-myung and First Lady Kim Hye-kyung departed for a 7-night, 11-day tour of the United States and South America on July 24, 2026. They will visit San Francisco, Brazil, Chile, Argentina, and return via Germany.
President Lee and First Lady Kim left Seoul's Seongnam Airport around 1 p.m. on July 24. They were seen off by key officials, including Chief of Staff Kang Hoon-sik, Chief Political Secretary Hong Ik-pyo, and Acting Leader of the Democratic Party Han Byeong-do.
Upon arrival in San Francisco, President Lee will hold a series of meetings with Dario Amodei, CEO of Anthropic; Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI; Jensen Huang, CEO of NVIDIA; and Hock Tan, President and CEO of Broadcom. He will also attend the upcoming 'San Francisco AI Summit.'
The summit will feature over 150 participants, including prominent South Korean business leaders such as Lee Jae-yong of Samsung Electronics, Choi Tae-won of SK Group, Chung Eui-sun of Hyundai Motor Group, and Lee Hae-jin of Naver, alongside global tech CEOs, AI companies, researchers, startups, and investors.
During the summit, agreements between domestic companies and big tech firms will be signed, and President Lee will announce the 'San Francisco AI Declaration' and participate in discussions.
Later, President Lee will host a dinner with representatives from domestic and big tech companies. In the afternoon, he will attend a 'Silicon Valley Venture Investment Meetup,' meeting with representatives from six leading venture capital firms, including Andreessen Horowitz, General Catalyst, Sequoia Capital, Khosla Ventures, Lightspeed Venture Partners, and New Enterprise Associates.
Following a signing ceremony for an MOU between the National Pension Service and these VCs, a roundtable will be held to discuss cooperation in the Korea-U.S. venture ecosystem.
On July 26, President Lee will make a state visit to Brazil, arriving in Brasília for a welcome reception hosted by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and his wife.
The next day, an official welcome ceremony will take place, followed by a summit at the Palácio da Alvorada, an MOU signing ceremony, a joint press conference, and a state luncheon. Afterward, President Lee will travel to São Paulo for a luncheon with expatriates and a 'Korea-Brazil Business Roundtable' on July 28.
On July 29, President Lee will begin his official visit to Chile with a dinner for expatriates. On July 30, he will lay a wreath at the statue of national hero O'Higgins, followed by an official welcome ceremony at the Palacio de La Moneda, a summit, an MOU signing ceremony, a joint press conference, and an official luncheon. In the afternoon, he will attend a 'Korea-Chile Business Roundtable.'
That night, President Lee will arrive in Buenos Aires to commence his official visit to Argentina. On July 31, he will honor the national hero at Plaza San Martín, followed by an official welcome event at the Casa Rosada and a summit with President Javier Milei, concluding with a dinner for expatriates.
On August 2, President Lee will stop in Frankfurt, Germany, for a meeting with expatriates before returning home.
National Security Office Director Wi Seong-lak stated, 'Brazil, as the fifth largest country by area and seventh by population, leads the regional order in South America and demonstrates active leadership in the UN and G20. This South America tour will solidify international cooperation with these nations.'
* This article has been translated by AI.
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