(News Focus) Lee advances S. Korea's AI chip hub vision with U.S. deals, S. America critical mineral cooperation

Lead

President Lee Jae Myung has returned from a two-week trip to San Francisco and three South American countries, where he outlined a vision to make South Korea a trusted manufacturing base for AI semiconductors and a reliable supply chain partner, according to reports from Yonhap News. During the San Francisco leg, South Korean and U.S. tech companies agreed to cooperation projects worth a combined $950 billion, including a long-term deal under which SK Group will supply $750 billion worth of high-performance chips to Nvidia and other firms.

Coverage comparison

Reporting from Yonhap News, South Korea's leading wire service, framed the president's trip as a major step toward cementing the country's position as a global AI semiconductor hub. The coverage emphasized the scale of the deals signed and the high-level meetings Lee held with executives from OpenAI, Nvidia, Anthropic and Broadcom, alongside leaders of South Korea's top conglomerates. A separate Yonhap article noted that Science Minister Bae Kyung-hoon plans a follow-up trip to Silicon Valley to promote investments in South Korean AI companies.

One Yonhap analysis described the San Francisco summit as "unprecedented in both its optics and content," reflecting the administration's political will to seize the semiconductor boom. The same piece cautioned that the signed memorandums of understanding should be clarified with specific figures to give further momentum to the president's AI declaration.

Key claims

• President Lee Jae Myung made a "San Francisco AI Declaration" during his visit to San Francisco on July 24-25, 2026, calling for Korea to become a trusted manufacturing base for AI semiconductors and a reliable supply chain partner, as reported by Yonhap.
• South Korean chipmakers SK hynix and Samsung Electronics currently produce 80% of the global market for high-bandwidth memory chips, according to the same report.
• Cooperation projects worth $950 billion were agreed upon during the San Francisco meetings, including a long-term deal under which SK Group will supply $750 billion worth of high-performance semiconductors to Nvidia and other tech companies, Yonhap reported.
• Science Minister Bae Kyung-hoon plans to promote investments in local companies from U.S. big tech firms during his trip to Silicon Valley, with discussions centering on AI cooperation, market expansion, AI data centers and semiconductors, according to Yonhap.
• President Lee also visited Brazil, Chile and Argentina, with the South America tour focused on strengthening cooperation in critical minerals and supply chains, Yonhap reported.

Perspectives

Lee administration's perspective: The president's office described the San Francisco AI Declaration as a bid to establish South Korea as an "irreplaceable leader" in the AI era. At a meeting with U.S. and South Korean tech leaders, Lee said South Korea would become a "trustworthy AI chip production base and supply chain partner" based on its world-class memory semiconductor competitiveness. The administration also emphasized the need for deregulation, including allowing exemptions to the 52-hour workweek for researchers in cutting-edge tech sectors, and accelerating construction of electricity, water and transmission systems for three megaprojects.

U.S. tech industry perspective: CEOs of OpenAI, Nvidia, Anthropic and Broadcom attended the summit in San Francisco alongside South Korean conglomerate leaders. The agreements reached include a long-term chip supply deal between SK Group and Nvidia, and a memorandum of understanding between Samsung Electronics and Broadcom. The gatherings were described as moving toward a "chip alliance."