Lee to embark on trip to San Francisco, 3 South American countries

President Lee Jae Myung is set to embark on an 11-day overseas trip on Friday that will include meetings with the chiefs of global tech giants in San Francisco and summit talks with the presidents of Brazil, Chile and Argentina.

During a two-day visit to San Francisco from Friday, the president will meet with the heads of four global tech giants, including OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Nvidia chief Jensen Huang, to discuss investment and cooperation plans. The other tech firms are Anthropic and Broadcom.

In a high-level event on AI later in the day, the president plans to issue a "San Francisco AI declaration," outlining Korea's vision for advancing the AI industry and enhancing global cooperation, according to presidential officials.

From Sunday through Wednesday, Lee will pay a state visit to Brazil as part of broader efforts to expand Korea's diplomatic and economic outreach in South America.

The trip will include a summit with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in the capital, Brasilia, and a business roundtable involving Korean and Brazilian companies in Sao Paulo.

On Thursday and Friday, the Korean president will visit Chile and Argentina, respectively, for summit talks with Chilean President Jose Antonio Kast and Argentine President Javier Milei.

The planned engagements with the three South American countries, which are rich in natural resources, are expected to help establish economic and security partnerships, National Security Adviser Wi Sung-lac said earlier.

On Sunday, the president will make a stopover in Frankfurt, Germany, where he will meet with Korean residents there before returning home the following day.

Yonhap