Lee touts San Francisco AI Declaration as South Korea's 'irreplaceable' bid for global leadership

President Lee Jae Myung, on a tour of the United States and South America, visited San Francisco and met with CEOs of major tech companies, securing investment and cooperation commitments worth $950 billion from South Korean firms.

The trip also served to build momentum for the government's "Three Mega Projects," a set of nationally designated initiatives. At an AI summit, Lee announced the "San Francisco AI Declaration," saying South Korea "will emerge as a core nation in the global AI supply chain" and underscoring the country's commitment to building a national AI supply chain anchored in semiconductors and AI data centers.

On Sunday (local time), Lee chaired a senior presidential staff meeting via video link from Brazil, the second stop on his tour.

It was the second time Lee presided over such a meeting remotely while abroad, following a trip to Italy in June. The move signaled his intent to stay closely engaged with domestic affairs during his longest overseas trip since taking office — 11 days with seven nights away.

"The San Francisco AI Declaration is South Korea's national declaration of intent to rise as an irreplaceable leader in the age of artificial intelligence," Lee said.

He said the trip had "elevated partnerships with global big tech to the level of an AI alliance through large-scale supply, investment and cooperation," and that the foundation for collaboration with leading global venture capital firms had been further strengthened. He called on the government to "spare no effort in follow-up measures so that these achievements translate into a greater leap for our economy and a real improvement in people's lives."

Lee also said the government would "devote all its energy to leading the world not only in AI but also in other advanced industries and in culture."

Among the specific deals announced, Samsung Electronics and Broadcom signed an MOU to pursue $200 billion worth of cooperation in memory chips and foundry over the next five years. SK Group said it would pursue a long-term semiconductor supply partnership with Nvidia and others worth $750 billion over five years.

Naver agreed to build a $10 billion global AI factory through an investment agreement with Nvidia and a supply contract with Brookfield. Hyundai Motor Group said it would work with Nvidia to establish a standards-based platform for developing and validating AI robots, supporting robot development at universities and startups.

Industry observers called it unusual for private-sector investment projects of this scale — exceeding twice South Korea's annual national budget — to be unveiled all at once during a single two-day visit to San Francisco.

Kim Yong-beom, the presidential policy chief, also spoke Sunday morning from Brazil in a radio interview, describing the San Francisco AI Declaration as "the starting point for making South Korea the hub of Asia's AI supply chain and data centers."

Kim said the SK-Nvidia deal includes a long-term contract to supply HBM as well as priority access to Vera Rubin GPUs, Nvidia's next-generation AI system. He described Vera Rubin as "a product the whole world is lining up to get," adding that "Korea has been assigned the front-row seat."

Kim also said plans are underway to build AI data centers in South Korea with a combined capacity of 5 GW. Nvidia would lead a 2 GW project, while Anthropic would pursue a 1 GW project together with SK Telecom. Naver, backed by equity investment from Nvidia and funding from Brookfield, would build a $10 billion global AI factory. "Once South Korea has 5 GW of AI data center capacity, it will become one of Asia's most prominent AI hubs," Kim said.

The mood inside Cheong Wa Dae was upbeat. Ha Jun-kyung, the presidential economic affairs secretary, appeared on radio Sunday morning and called the outcome "enormous even by global standards," saying it showed that "big tech companies need Korea's memory chips and know they can only navigate their own future by working with Korean firms."

Ha added that the investment cooperation was connected to the Three Mega Projects announced from Cheong Wa Dae in late June, which include a Honam semiconductor initiative and a Yeongnam physical AI project.

"Our Three Mega Projects are not simply domestic in nature — they are the foundation for bringing about truly global change," Ha said. "Big tech companies recognize this, and you can see this as an attempt to work together to create that change on a global scale."

After concluding his San Francisco schedule, Lee arrived in Brasilia, the Brazilian capital, on Sunday (local time). He will carry out a state visit to Brazil through Wednesday at the invitation of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.