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President Lee Jae-myung (center) poses with BlackRock Chairman Larry Fink (left) and Science and ICT Minister Kim Jung-gwan after signing an MOU on global cooperation in the AI industry in New York on September 22. / Source: Yonhap News

President Lee Jae-myung met with Larry Fink, chairman of BlackRock and the World Economic Forum (WEF), in New York on September 22 (local time), agreeing to cooperate on building an Asia-Pacific artificial intelligence (AI) hub in Korea and expanding renewable energy infrastructure.

During the meeting, Fink pledged strong backing for Korea’s ambitions: “We will mobilize global capital to make Korea the AI capital of Asia,” he said. Given BlackRock’s history of investing tens of trillions of won in large-scale projects worldwide, expectations are rising that Korea could attract similar-sized investments, drawing further participation from global AI leaders and enhancing the country’s leadership in the sector.

The agreement was formalized through a memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed between the Korean government and BlackRock, joined by Adebayo Ogunlesi, chairman of BlackRock subsidiary Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), and former World Bank President Jim Yong Kim.

Lee welcomed the deal, saying, “I look forward to working together to realize Korea’s vision as the AI capital of the Asia-Pacific, and let us continue our discussions closely so that this partnership leads to tangible results.” He also extended a personal invitation for Fink to visit Korea.

According to Ha Jung-woo, presidential secretary for AI future planning, the MOU establishes three areas of cooperation: building Korea’s AI and renewable energy infrastructure, developing an Asia-Pacific AI hub within Korea, and creating a framework for global collaboration. While no specific investment timeline or scale has been set, officials noted that a joint task force will be launched immediately.

Cha Ji-ho, a lawmaker accompanying the delegation, explained that once the task force begins work, the two sides will outline a joint investment portfolio and announce the overall investment scale. He added that pilot projects worth at least several trillion won are expected to begin in the near term.

Fink and his delegation praised Korea’s political and economic stabilization under President Lee, noting record-high stock market performance since his inauguration, and expressed confidence in the country’s long-term growth. They also highlighted Korea’s proactive policies in AI and energy as reasons for their strong interest in future investments.