South Korea announced a 5 trillion won ($3.52 billion) fund targeting chip materials, parts, equipment and fabless companies, while President Lee Jae Myung pushes for special legislation to fast-track semiconductor mega projects and the relocation of a military airbase by mid-2028 to make way for a chip cluster in Gwangju.
President Lee Jae Myung declared South Korea's deadly heatwave a national disaster after temperatures reached 42.5°C in Yangsan—the highest in 122 years of weather observations—and at least 19 people died. Seoul received its first-ever severe heatwave warning as authorities ordered emergency measures including halting outdoor work.
Hyundai Motor Group Executive Chair Euisun Chung presented the company's Physical AI roadmap at a San Francisco AI Summit and met with Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang to discuss collaboration on autonomous driving, robotics, and manufacturing AI. The meetings occurred as South Korean President Lee Jae Myung led a delegation of business leaders to deepen AI partnerships with global tech companies.
Seoul's Lee Jae Myung government is dropping its longstanding demand for North Korea's denuclearization as a precondition for dialogue, with Unification Minister Chung Dong-young announcing a shift to a "peace first" policy that prioritizes engagement and an initial nuclear freeze over immediate disarmament.
President Lee Jae-myung is scheduled to begin an 11-day tour on July 24, visiting San Francisco, Brazil, Chile, Argentina, and Germany. In San Francisco, he will hold separate meetings with Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, and Broadcom CEO Hock Tan and attend an AI summit. He will then hold summit talks in Brazil, Chile, and Argentina before stopping in Frankfurt to meet members of the Korean community and returning on August 3.
South Korean tech giants Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix plan to invest a combined $518 billion in a new computer chip manufacturing hub to capitalize on surging AI-driven demand. President Lee Jae Myung framed the initiative as critical to securing South Korea's dominance in the AI boom.
South Korean President Lee Jae Myung nominated SME and Startup Minister Han Seong-sook as prime minister, making her the country's first female prime minister in 20 years. The nomination is part of efforts to advance South Korea's AI ambitions.
