President Lee Jae-myung met with Jensen Huang, CEO of NVIDIA, and other leaders from the US and South Korea's tech industries to discuss artificial intelligence (AI) collaboration during a dinner in San Francisco.
On July 24, local time, President Lee hosted a dinner at The Ramp restaurant with business leaders from both countries.
The group enjoyed mini burgers, fish and chips, fried squid, and clam chowder while sipping on Budweiser beer at an outdoor terrace table overlooking the San Francisco Bay.
President Lee jokingly remarked, recalling a previous meeting with domestic business leaders at a chicken restaurant, "We might need some chicken here."
Huang asked the President, "When was the last time you had a burger?" to which President Lee replied he couldn't quite remember.
In attendance were Huang, along with Hock Tan, President and CEO of Broadcom, and Rani Borkar, President of Microsoft Azure Hardware. From South Korea, Lee Jae-yong, Chairman of Samsung Electronics, Chey Tae-won, Chairman of SK Group, Chung Eui-sun, Chairman of Hyundai Motor Group, and Lee Hae-jin, Chairman of Naver's board, were present. Government officials included Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Science and ICT Lee Kyung-sook and Kim Yong-beom, Chief Policy Officer at the Blue House.
President Lee explained to Huang, "In our country, we refer to family as 'sikgu,' meaning those who share meals together." Huang responded in English, "So we are family," prompting President Lee to propose a toast, saying, "We are 'sikgu.' Sharing a meal is truly meaningful."
When Deputy Prime Minister Lee offered to cover the dinner bill, Huang playfully requested another beer. President Lee joked, "I can’t do that because I’m a public servant." Huang quipped back, "Korea is a wealthy country."
President Lee laughed and replied, "That’s true, but still, I can’t because I’m a public servant." After discussing South Korea's GDP, Huang asked about the country's growth forecast for the year. President Lee noted, "Last year was around 1%, but this year I expect it to exceed 3%. It could rise above our potential growth rate, which hasn’t happened in decades."
* This article has been translated by AI.
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