Lee Jae Myung Departs on 11-Day Trip Spanning San Francisco and South America

President Lee Jae Myung departed Friday on an 11-day overseas journey that begins in San Francisco and continues to three South American nations, marking his administration's first presidential visit to the region since he took office in June 2025.

During a two-day stop in San Francisco, Lee is scheduled to hold separate meetings with the leaders of four major U.S. technology companies, including OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Nvidia chief Jensen Huang, along with representatives from Anthropic and Broadcom, to discuss potential investment and cooperation projects. The talks are expected to touch on how South Korean firms and the tech giants can deepen ties in artificial intelligence and semiconductor supply chains.

Later the same day, Lee plans to attend a high-level AI event where he will unveil what officials are calling a "San Francisco AI declaration," laying out Seoul's roadmap for growing its domestic AI industry and expanding international collaboration in the sector.

From Sunday to Wednesday, the president will make a state visit to Brazil, holding summit talks with President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in the capital Brasilia and joining a business roundtable connecting Korean and Brazilian companies in Sao Paulo.

Lee is then set to travel to Chile and Argentina on Thursday and Friday, respectively, for summits with Chilean President Jose Antonio Kast and Argentine President Javier Milei. National Security Adviser Wi Sung-lac said the visits to the three resource-rich South American countries aim to build stronger economic and security partnerships for South Korea.

On the way home, Lee will make a brief stopover in Frankfurt, Germany, on Sunday to meet with members of the South Korean community before returning to Seoul the following day.