Jensen Huang bonds with Korean business chiefs over samgyeopsal and soju in Hongdae

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang's visit to South Korea brought together some of the country's most powerful business leaders for a disarmingly casual evening of grilled pork belly and soju in the Hongdae neighborhood of Seoul — a gathering that quickly captured public attention.

SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won, LG Group Chairman Koo Kwang-mo and Naver Chairman Lee Hae-jin joined Huang on Friday evening at "Hyeongnim Jeoyo," a samgyeopsal restaurant near Hongdae station in Mapo-gu, for what observers described as a neighborhood-style night out.

Chey, the eldest of the group, took the lead in breaking the ice and setting the relaxed tone for the evening.

Born in 1960, Chey is three years older than Huang, who was born in 1963. Lee was born in 1967, and Koo — the youngest of the four — is 18 years Chey's junior.

Friday's dinner was at least the sixth publicly known meeting between Chey and Huang since the two first met at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Gyeongju last October. Huang repeatedly called Chey by his English name, Tony, throughout the evening. When reporters asked Chey how much Huang could drink, he laughed and said, "He drinks better than I do."

Chey was seen introducing Koo to Huang during the dinner — the first time Huang and Koo are known to have shared a meal together.

Koo, the youngest of the group, arrived first and was spotted setting the table, grilling the meat and cutting it himself. Speaking to reporters immediately after the gathering, he said, "I eat samgyeopsal often, but it had been a while since I actually grilled it myself."

The evening appeared to bring Koo and Huang noticeably closer. As Koo chatted with reporters and handed out doughnuts, Huang walked over, put his arm around Koo's shoulder and said, "He's such a nice guy."

Lee, who is rarely seen in public and is often described as a reclusive executive, was notably engaged throughout the evening. Early in the dinner, when the mood was still a little stiff, he showed Huang how to wrap meat in a perilla leaf — a classic Korean dining ritual.

Lee also used the occasion to quietly promote his own company's technology: he paid the entire bill for all the diners at the restaurant using Naver Pay's facial-recognition payment service, Face Sign, making a low-key but unmistakable statement as a CEO.

The group moved on to a BBQ fried chicken restaurant for a second round, where Huang and the three Korean executives were met with a steady stream of selfie and autograph requests from members of the public — and obliged as much as they could.

Even after the group left, the excitement in Hongdae did not die down quickly: fans continued to seek selfies and autographs from Madison Huang, an Nvidia director and Jensen Huang's eldest daughter, who had also been present.