Shares of several South Korean technology companies rose strongly on Monday following reports that Jensen Huang, chief executive of Nvidia, is expected to visit South Korea later this week and hold discussions with senior Korean executives. The prospect of meetings has heightened investor expectations for potential collaborations in AI and robotics.
Sources said Huang is scheduled to meet LG Group Chairman Koo Kwang-mo and other Korean business leaders, while Nvidia will also host a "Korean Partner Night" event on the sidelines of the COMPUTEX trade show in Taipei on Monday. The partner event will be attended by Jensen and executives from chipmakers including Samsung and SK Hynix, along with representatives from other companies.
Market moves were pronounced. Samsung Electronics shares climbed 9.5%, pushing the company’s market value above 2,000 trillion won, equivalent to about $1.32 trillion. LG Electronics, which manufactures home appliances and televisions and is expanding into robotics, surged 28%.
Analysts noted the importance of the potential visits. "Jensen’s visit to Korea has a major implication. Nvidia needs Korea," said Jeff Kim, an analyst at KB Securities.
The firms involved already have substantive ties. Nvidia said last year it will supply more than 260,000 of its most advanced AI chips to South Korea’s government and some of the country’s largest companies, including Samsung Electronics and Hyundai Motor Group.
Separately, Samsung Electronics announced on Friday that it has begun shipping samples of its latest high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chip to customers. The company said this move puts it ahead of rivals in distributing a new version of a product that is critical to AI data centers. Samsung lists major AI players, including Nvidia, among its customers.
Traders and market participants monitored the developments closely as discussions and product supply updates continued to influence sentiment across semiconductor, AI infrastructure and consumer electronics segments.
Note: Currency conversion implied in market capitalization was presented in reporting as $1 = 1,514.1400 won.