Why it matters. South Korea makes the high-bandwidth memory that nearly every advanced AI chip needs, so Huang's supply-chain talks here directly shape how fast the global AI build-out can scale.
Background. Samsung Electronics and SK hynix are the world's dominant HBM suppliers, and 'chaebol' conglomerates like SK, LG and Hyundai wield outsized influence over Korea's economy. The informal pork-belly-and-soju dinner Huang is attending reflects a Korean business custom in which major deals and relationships are cemented over food and drink rather than only in boardrooms.
What to watch next. Watch for whether NVIDIA confirms Korean firms as lead HBM suppliers for next year and what the teased 'surprise' announcements turn out to be.
NVIDIA chief executive Jensen Huang arrived at Seoul’s Gimpo Airport by private jet around 1:20 p.m. on June 5, beginning a multi-day visit to South Korea aimed chiefly at coordinating the supply chain for memory chips and other hardware behind the global build-out of artificial-intelligence infrastructure. It is his first trip to the country in roughly seven months, since late October of last year.
Greeting reporters as he left the terminal, Huang struck a relaxed and affectionate tone, joking that he had “missed Korean fried chicken.” But he quickly framed the visit in strategic terms, calling South Korea “a global manufacturing hub” where “robotics and physical AI can be applied,” and saying he had come to thank the company’s partners and customers.
Why Korea, and Why Now
Huang said the central purpose of the trip was to align NVIDIA’s supply chain with its Korean partners, citing DRAM, high-bandwidth memory (HBM) and chips as the components at stake. HBM is the specialized, stacked memory that AI accelerators depend on, and South Korean firms Samsung Electronics and SK hynix are the world’s leading suppliers.
He described demand as accelerating sharply, predicting that the second half of this year would be “much bigger” than the first and that next year would see “tremendous” growth. He pointed to NVIDIA’s current Grace Blackwell systems performing well and said the next-generation architecture, Vera Rubin, had entered full-scale mass production. Asked what he had brought for Korea, Huang quipped that he had brought “a lot of business,” then added that “a few surprise gifts” were prepared — declining to reveal them, since “then they wouldn’t be surprises.” On whether Korean memory makers would be lead HBM suppliers next year, he said the plans were not yet finalized and would be announced when set.
The breaking-news coverage from Kyunghyang Shinmun emphasized these airport remarks on market size and the teased “gifts,” while the outlet’s fuller question-and-answer write-up drew out more detail — including Huang’s promotion of the newly announced “RTX AI PC,” which he billed as the first complete redesign of the personal computer in 40 years, built to support on-device AI “agents.”
A Packed Itinerary, On and Off the Clock
Huang said he had scheduled “many meetings” with major Korean companies, naming Hyundai Motor, LG, SK, Samsung and Naver (the country’s dominant search and internet firm). The headline event on his first evening is an informal pork-belly-and-soju dinner — Korean media dubbed it the “sam-so” gathering, after samgyeopsal (grilled pork belly) and soju — with SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won, LG Group Chairman Koo Kwang-mo and Naver Chairman Lee Hae-jin, where wide-ranging cooperation is expected to be discussed.
His schedule then turns notably public-facing, a side that Kyunghyang’s photo and itinerary coverage highlighted. Over the weekend Huang is set to appear on the popular tvN talk show You Quiz on the Block and to throw the ceremonial first pitch at a Doosan Bears home game at Seoul’s Jamsil Baseball Stadium. On June 7 he is scheduled to meet NCsoft CEO Kim Taek-jin to discuss cooperation in gaming and AI, and on the final day, June 8, he will hold a closed-door session with executives from leading domestic AI and robotics startups.
Asked about his well-documented enthusiasm for Korean food, Huang offered an emphatic endorsement: he loves Korean barbecue, likes Korean fried chicken and rates samgyetang (a ginseng-and-chicken soup) as excellent — adding that, in his view, all Korean food is delicious.
