Jensen Huang Says KOSPI Will Rise Again, Optimism Emerges at 'Beer Meeting' with President Lee

[Financial News] On the KOSPI, which has recently been under pressure, Jensen Huang, CEO of NVIDIA, offered an upbeat outlook, saying it "will rise again." The remark came during a dinner in San Francisco attended by President Lee Jae-myung, global big tech CEOs, and leaders of major Korean companies, alongside expectations for the Korean economy and the AI industry.
According to Yonhap News Agency and the Blue House on the 26th, President Lee, who was visiting San Francisco, attended a dinner on the 24th local time after the AI summit at a restaurant overlooking San Francisco Bay. He met with Huang and other global big tech executives, as well as heads of major Korean companies.
Those at the dinner included Huang; Hock Tan, CEO of Broadcom Inc.; Rani Borkar, President of Microsoft Azure Hardware; 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, Chair of Naver's board. Bae Kyung-hoon, Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Korea and Minister of Science and ICT, and Kim Yong-beom, Chief Presidential Secretary for Policy, also attended.
The dinner recalled last year's scene when Huang visited Korea and met Lee Jae-yong and Chung Eui-sun over what became known as a "chicken and beer" gathering. The menu included mini burgers, fish and chips, crab cakes, clam chowder, and fried calamari. Guests raised bottles of beer in a toast.
The dinner also turned to the recent volatility in the domestic stock market.
According to Kim Yong-beom, when President Lee said that Korean stock prices had recently been undergoing a correction, Huang replied, "It's going to go back up."
When Huang also referred to the semiconductor boom and said, "Korea so rich," President Lee joked back, "That's true, but I can't say that because I'm a public official," drawing laughter from the guests.
The conversation remained relaxed, with Bae offering to pay for the meal and Huang suggesting, "Can I have one more beer?" and "How about buying beer for the people in the restaurant too?"
At the dinner, President Lee also proposed a toast, saying, "In our country, family is called 'sikgu.' It means people who eat together. When I say 'we,' please shout 'sikgu.'"
Huang responded, "We are family," and the attendees toasted while chanting "We are" and "sikgu."
The closed-door dinner also included discussions about the AI industry. President Lee asked the business leaders to continue contributing to the development of Korea's industrial ecosystem, saying that the Korean economy had grown thanks to them.
The global CEOs in attendance said, "Korea already has the capability to challenge the global top three in AI. If Korea makes active investments, it will be able to build a world-class frontier AI model in a short period of time." They added, "It is important to use global AI models, but Korea also needs to develop its own AI model."
[email protected] Seo Yoon-kyung Reporter