Samsung chief set for talks with president as top office pushes for AI-powered regional growth

Samsung Electronics Executive Chairman Lee Jae-yong is set to meet with President Lee Jae Myung at the Blue House, following the president’s recent meeting with SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won.

The two are expected to meet on Thursday to discuss the development of the AI and semiconductor industries, related policy strategies and large-scale regional investment plans, according to business and political sources on Monday.

The two previously attended the Korea-Italy business roundtable in Rome on June 12 during President Lee’s visit to Italy for the Group of Seven summit. 

The talks come on the heels of President Lee's meeting with Chey at the Blue House on Friday, the day after returning from his European trip, where they reportedly discussed similar topics.

The president's series of meetings with business leaders is widely viewed as part of preparations for a gathering with the heads of major conglomerates at the Blue House on June 29.

“The benefits of growth should not remain concentrated in specific companies, regions or sectors,” President Lee said during a news conference marking one year in office on June 8.

“I will soon present to the public a large-scale investment project capable of bringing about a major transformation in our growth strategy.”

At the meeting, President Lee is expected to unveil plans related to AI development and regional balanced growth alongside executives from major technology companies.

This comes as President Lee believes that corporate investment outside the greater Seoul area is essential to achieving his administration’s regional development initiative, known as the “five poles and three specials” strategy, one of his key policy priorities.

The "five poles" refers to the capital area, the southeastern region, North Gyeongsang province and Daegu, the central region and the southwestern region, while "three specials" means the three special autonomous provinces — the island of Jeju, North Jeolla and Gangwon.

As a result, many in the business community expect the president’s meetings with leaders of major companies benefiting from the semiconductor boom to be linked to forthcoming investment plans in the Honam region, which encompasses Gwangju and the provinces of North and South Jeolla.

SK has recently reviewed plans to build additional large-scale AI data centers and new semiconductor manufacturing facilities. Samsung Electronics is also reportedly considering Gwangju as a potential site for future semiconductor-related investments.

The Samsung chairman also visited a high bandwidth memory (HBM) chip production facility in Cheonan, South Chungcheong, on Tuesday.

The facility is a key production hub for Samsung's HBM back-end processing and advanced packaging, serving as a cornerstone of the company's efforts to expand HBM output amid rising demand for AI chips.

After receiving a briefing on the facility's operations, production plans and technology development efforts, Chairman Lee put on a cleanroom suit and toured the HBM packaging production line to inspect the manufacturing process.

The visit comes as global demand for HBM continues to surge alongside the rapid expansion of the AI market. Chairman. It also reflects Samsung’s efforts to strengthen production capacity and ensure stable supply, the company said.

Its sixth-generation chip, the HBM4, which began mass production in February, generated more than $1 billion in cumulative sales within about four months of its launch, according to industry sources. It is also projected that cumulative sales will top $1.2 billion by the end of June.

Samsung is also reportedly planning to rapidly increase supply in a bid to generate more than $10 billion in sales by the end of the year.

BY RYU HYO-RIM, KIM JI-YE [[email protected]]