Lee Jae-yong and Chung Eui-sun Make Surprise Appearance at Nvidia Event... “Jensen Huang, a Leader I Respect”

On the evening of the 30th, Lee Jae-yong of Samsung Electronics and Chung Eui-sun of Hyundai Motor Group met with Jensen Huang, CEO of Nvidia, for chicken and beer in Samseong-dong, Seoul. They then showcased their friendship by attending Nvidia’s 25th anniversary event for the GeForce graphics card, held nearby at COEX.
Lee and Chung joined Huang on stage, energizing the festive atmosphere. Lee remarked, “I’m here because Jensen is my friend. He’s a leader I truly respect, but more importantly, he’s a genuinely warm and human person. He’s full of dreams, courage, and kindness.” Lee referred to Huang as 'Jensen'.
Lee congratulated Nvidia on hosting the Korean event for the 25th anniversary of GeForce, recalling, “Twenty-five years ago, Nvidia launched the GeForce 256 using Samsung Electronics’ Graphics Double Data Rate (GDDR) memory.” He continued, “That marked the beginning of our collaboration and my friendship with Jensen. There have been ups and downs, but Nvidia remains a vital client and strategic partner for Samsung.” This was one of the rare occasions Lee delivered such an extended speech to the general public.

Born in 1968, Lee is five years younger than Huang, who was born in 1963. Both sides recalled the late Lee Kun-hee’s letter to Huang, highlighting the long-standing relationship between the two companies. Huang responded, “That’s why I came to Korea,” expressing his agreement.
Chung Eui-sun humorously referred to Lee and Huang as his 'older brothers.' He added, “In the future, we’ll deepen our collaboration with Nvidia. I hope that soon, people will be able to play more games in their cars.”
During the earlier dinner, Huang mentioned, “Tomorrow (the 31st), I look forward to meeting President Lee Jae-myung,” and announced that a major partnership related to robotics and AI would be revealed. Industry observers believe that an 'AI technology alliance' involving Nvidia, Samsung, and Hyundai Motor Group is taking shape, with an official announcement expected soon.
On the 31st, the three leaders will travel to Gyeongju for the 2025 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit and CEO meeting, where they are scheduled to meet with President Lee and participate in related events.
ehcho@fnnews.com Jo Eun-hyo, Koo Ja-yoon, Kwon Jun-ho Reporter