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SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won and Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang pose for a photo after signing an MOU on strategic AI factory and semiconductor cooperation between SK Hynix, SK Telecom, and Nvidia at the AI Summit held at The Midway in San Francisco, U.S., on July 24 (local time), with President Lee Jae-myung in attendance / Courtesy of Yonhap News

People Power Party leader Jang Dong-hyeok and Democratic Party of Korea spokesperson Park Kyeong-mee clashed over President Lee Jae-myung's San Francisco AI Declaration. PPP leader Jang disparaged the president's overseas trip as a leisurely excursion, while spokesperson Park countered that he has no right to disparage an achievement worth 1,375 trillion won ($950 billion).

In a social media post the previous day targeting the AI Summit Declaration announced in San Francisco on July 24 (local time), PPP leader Jang questioned why the president had to travel all the way to San Francisco to deliver such cliché remarks. He pointed out that sidecar trading halts were triggered for 10 consecutive trading days, stating that retail investors' accounts are melting away in a stock market gambling house created by the current administration. He further added that while barely holding on thanks to semiconductors, the administration always talks big, asking why the president is even visiting the U.S. when failing to handle a single tariff negotiation properly.

In a written briefing, spokesperson Park Kyeong-mee countered that PPP leader Jang, who returned from the U.S. empty-handed, has no right to disparage an achievement worth 1,375 trillion won. Spokesperson Park stated that the semiconductor and AI cooperation scaled between South Korean companies and global big tech firms through this trip reaches $950 billion, or roughly 1,375 trillion won. She noted that Samsung Electronics and Broadcom joined hands for a $200 billion long-term supply deal, while SK agreed on a $750 billion long-term supply deal with Nvidia and others, and Hyundai Motor decided to jointly establish a standard platform for robot development with Nvidia. She emphasized that these are wealth-generating contracts tied to South Korea's future growth drivers and jobs.

Spokesperson Park also targeted PPP leader Jang's past visit to the U.S. She stated that PPP leader Jang, who traveled to the U.S. ahead of the last local elections, failed to meet key figures and policy officials he should have met, only damaging national prestige with photo ops before returning. She added that it is embarrassing to watch someone who returned empty-handed without any decent achievements point fingers at a government fighting on the front lines of national interest.

On July 24 (local time), President Lee unveiled a vision at the San Francisco AI Summit to make South Korea an irreplaceable core nation in the global AI supply chain. The event was attended by Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, and Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, alongside South Korean business leaders including Samsung Electronics Chairman Jay Y. Lee, SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won, Hyundai Motor Group Executive Chair Euisun Chung, and Naver Global Investment Officer Lee Hae-jin.

                                                                                                             Shim Jun-bo