[Edaily Reporters Lee So-hyun and Song Jae-min] Jensen Huang, CEO of NVIDIA, is visiting South Korea on the 5th and will meet with Lee Hae-jin, Chairman of Naver (#NAVER), Choi Tae-won, Chairman of SK Group, and Koo Kwang-mo, Chairman of LG Group, at 7 p.m. at "Hyungnim Jeyo," a barbecue restaurant near Hongdae in Mapo-gu, Seoul.

This comes seven months after their chicken-and-beer gathering at “Ganbu Chicken” last October drew significant attention. This time, it’s pork belly and soju. Once again, the restaurant’s name is anything but ordinary. “Ganbu” meant an equal partnership and a relationship of sharing. “Hyungnim Jeoyo” carries the nuance of the one who reaches out first or takes the initiative. Whether Jensen Huang intended it or not, it reads like a message to Korea: “I came first.”

The members have changed, and so have the agenda

The key figures at the previous “Kanbu Meeting” were Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong and Hyundai Motor Group Chairman Chung Eui-sun. This time, the seats are filled by Naver Chairman Lee Hae-jin, SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won, and LG Group Chairman Koo Kwang-mo.

The change in members reflects a shift in the agenda. While the previous “Kanbu Meeting” broadly covered semiconductors and mobility alongside Samsung and Hyundai Motor, this “Hyungnim Meeting” appears to be more focused on the expansion of physical AI, robotics, and the cloud ecosystem. Naver has significant overlap with NVIDIA in the areas of sovereign AI and cloud infrastructure. SK is a key player in the HBM supply chain and a multifaceted partner spanning AI data centers and energy infrastructure, while LG is a partner with whom collaboration can be expanded in home appliances and robotics.

There has also been a change of venue. The previous meeting at Ganbu Chicken in Samseong-dong was located in the heart of the business district, surrounded by major corporations and financial institutions. This time, Hongdae is a hub of cultural consumption popular with young people and a familiar face of Seoul to foreign tourists. This is seen as a signal that Jensen Huang is treating this visit to Korea not merely as a B2B (business-to-business) negotiation, but as a diplomatic gesture aimed at Korean society as a whole.

His upcoming schedule is also noteworthy. On the 7th, he is scheduled to meet with executives from major domestic game companies, including NCSoft CEO Kim Taek-jin and Krafton Chairman Jang Byung-gyu. On the same day, he will throw the first pitch at a Doosan Bears home game at Jamsil Baseball Stadium. He plans to discuss collaboration on robotics and physical AI with Doosan Group Chairman and team owner Park Jung-won.

On the 8th, he is scheduled to visit the LG Group headquarters in Yeouido, Seoul, followed by a tour of the Seoul National University AI Research Institute and Robotics Research Institute. A visit to Naver’s second headquarters, 1784, is also on the agenda. This building serves as a space where robotics, cloud, and digital twin technologies are actually implemented, and the visit is expected to provide a firsthand look at the “future of physical AI” envisioned by NVIDIA.

An appearance on the variety talk show “You Quiz” is also scheduled. These moves go beyond mere promotional events; they are intended to strengthen NVIDIA’s brand equity in Korea by building public rapport and to elevate partnership relationships into trust-based relationships that go beyond simple contracts.

The Significance of His Return Visit After Just 7 Months

It is not common for a global Big Tech CEO to visit a single country twice in less than a year. Currently, NVIDIA GPU-based AI infrastructure is deployed throughout South Korea in Sovereign Cloud and industrial AI factories.

In particular, South Korea is a rare market where the HBM supply chain, demand for manufacturing, mobility, and platforms, and the robotics ecosystem coexist within a single country. From NVIDIA’s perspective, it is both the optimal test bed for deploying AI infrastructure into actual industrial settings and a sales platform for further expanding that ecosystem.