In the first weekend of June 2026, all eyes in South Korea's semiconductor industry were on one person: Jensen Huang, CEO of NVIDIA. After presenting a vision for the future of the global AI industry at the Computex event in Taiwan, he quickly traveled to South Korea. The media closely followed his every move, including meetings with executives from LG Electronics, Naver, and SK Hynix, as well as a dinner featuring samgyeopsal and soju. However, the global semiconductor industry is a place where cold calculations often lie behind smiling faces. While friendships exist in international business, the direction of the industry is ultimately determined by interests, supply chains, and market logic. In this regard, Huang's visit to South Korea was more of a strategic trip to assess the global supply chain for the AI era and to design future cooperation than a friendly visit.
During his stay, Huang reportedly engaged in intensive discussions with major partners, including Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, regarding next-generation HBM supply plans, AI data center expansions, and forecasts for future AI server market demand. While the media focused on the dinner of samgyeopsal and soju, the truly significant discussions took place behind closed doors in meeting rooms. What was discussed there was not just a meal but the future AI industry's supply chain worth tens of trillions of won.
Many people today understand the AI revolution as a GPU revolution, which is not entirely incorrect. However, within the AI industry, there are already discussions about something even more critical than GPUs: HBM, or high-bandwidth memory. No matter how advanced a GPU is, if it cannot supply data in a timely manner, the overall performance of the AI system will inevitably decline. If the AI industry is a vast highway, the GPU is the engine of a car, and HBM is the key system that supplies fuel to that engine. In this market, South Korean companies have secured world-class competitiveness. In particular, SK Hynix is currently leading the global HBM market, while Samsung Electronics is launching a significant counteroffensive centered on next-generation HBM4.
However, there is a trap that South Korea must be wary of: becoming complacent with its current position as the world's number one in HBM. Looking back at history, the winners of technological revolutions were not the countries that made specific components best but those that dominated the entire ecosystem. Britain invented the steam engine, but the United States emerged as the ultimate victor of the Industrial Revolution. Japan dominated the DRAM market, but South Korea took the lead in the memory semiconductor era. Similarly, while South Korea is currently a powerhouse in HBM, it cannot yet be called an AI powerhouse. In the current global AI ecosystem, design is handled by NVIDIA, cutting-edge production is managed by TSMC, and cloud and platform services are dominated by U.S. tech giants. South Korea stands at a crucial point in the supply chain but does not yet hold a position to design or dominate the entire system.
Therefore, South Korea's goal should not be to remain a leader in HBM but to leap to become a leader in AI infrastructure. The AI industry is no longer just about semiconductors. It is evolving into a massive national infrastructure industry that combines data centers, power grids, cooling systems, communication networks, and cloud services. In the future, global AI competitiveness will likely be determined not only by semiconductor production capacity but also by how much power can be reliably supplied and how efficient data centers can be built. In fact, the United States and China have already entered a competition to build massive AI data centers, and some experts predict that the biggest bottleneck in the future AI industry may not be a shortage of semiconductors but a shortage of power.
South Korea has significant potential amid these changes. It possesses a world-class semiconductor industry, as well as communication infrastructure, nuclear power technology, battery industry capabilities, and experience in power grid operations. The issue is that these industries have not yet been integrated into a cohesive national strategy. Now is the time for a comprehensive strategy that connects semiconductors, energy, communications, data centers, manufacturing, and AI. Only then can South Korea leap beyond being a mere semiconductor supplier to become a leader in AI infrastructure.
An even more critical concept emerges here: Physical AI. Many still understand AI as conversational services like ChatGPT, but the area that Jensen Huang has recently emphasized most is robotics, autonomous driving, smart factories, and humanoid industries. In other words, we are entering an era where AI is stepping out of computer screens and into the real world. At this juncture, South Korea could find itself in a more advantageous position than any other country. South Korea has a world-class manufacturing base in shipbuilding, automobiles, steel, batteries, machinery, and semiconductors. When AI and manufacturing combine, South Korea can rise to become a central player in the future industrial revolution, not just an IT powerhouse. The era of Physical AI, where factories make autonomous decisions, robots move independently, and logistics systems are optimized in real-time, could become a stage where Korean-style manufacturing demonstrates its greatest competitiveness.
Another reality we must confront is that South Korea's true competitor in the semiconductor industry is not China but Taiwan. While South Korean society often focuses on U.S.-China competition, the strongest competitor in the semiconductor industry is Taiwan. The semiconductor ecosystem built around TSMC is not just a production facility; it is a vast industrial platform where design, production, packaging, and supply chains are interconnected. This is also why Jensen Huang effectively utilizes Taiwan as his second base. Today, the AI supply chain connecting the U.S. and Taiwan is arguably the backbone of the global AI industry.
Ultimately, the message Jensen Huang's visit sends to South Korea is simple: being number one in HBM is just a starting point, not the destination. South Korea must now grow beyond being a memory powerhouse to become a leader in AI infrastructure and evolve from a semiconductor supplier to a key player in the AI ecosystem. Furthermore, it must establish a national strategy that connects semiconductors, data centers, power grids, robotics, manufacturing, and Physical AI. Only then can South Korea become a co-designer of a new industrial civilization, rather than merely a subcontractor in the AI empire.
While the samgyeopsal and soju will remain a memory of the day, the questions raised by this visit could determine the future of South Korea's economy for decades to come. Will South Korea be satisfied with its current success, or will it leap to become a central nation in the AI era? History always grants opportunities to only a few countries at decisive moments. Now is the time for South Korea to seize that opportunity.
During his stay, Huang reportedly engaged in intensive discussions with major partners, including Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, regarding next-generation HBM supply plans, AI data center expansions, and forecasts for future AI server market demand. While the media focused on the dinner of samgyeopsal and soju, the truly significant discussions took place behind closed doors in meeting rooms. What was discussed there was not just a meal but the future AI industry's supply chain worth tens of trillions of won.
Many people today understand the AI revolution as a GPU revolution, which is not entirely incorrect. However, within the AI industry, there are already discussions about something even more critical than GPUs: HBM, or high-bandwidth memory. No matter how advanced a GPU is, if it cannot supply data in a timely manner, the overall performance of the AI system will inevitably decline. If the AI industry is a vast highway, the GPU is the engine of a car, and HBM is the key system that supplies fuel to that engine. In this market, South Korean companies have secured world-class competitiveness. In particular, SK Hynix is currently leading the global HBM market, while Samsung Electronics is launching a significant counteroffensive centered on next-generation HBM4.
However, there is a trap that South Korea must be wary of: becoming complacent with its current position as the world's number one in HBM. Looking back at history, the winners of technological revolutions were not the countries that made specific components best but those that dominated the entire ecosystem. Britain invented the steam engine, but the United States emerged as the ultimate victor of the Industrial Revolution. Japan dominated the DRAM market, but South Korea took the lead in the memory semiconductor era. Similarly, while South Korea is currently a powerhouse in HBM, it cannot yet be called an AI powerhouse. In the current global AI ecosystem, design is handled by NVIDIA, cutting-edge production is managed by TSMC, and cloud and platform services are dominated by U.S. tech giants. South Korea stands at a crucial point in the supply chain but does not yet hold a position to design or dominate the entire system.
Therefore, South Korea's goal should not be to remain a leader in HBM but to leap to become a leader in AI infrastructure. The AI industry is no longer just about semiconductors. It is evolving into a massive national infrastructure industry that combines data centers, power grids, cooling systems, communication networks, and cloud services. In the future, global AI competitiveness will likely be determined not only by semiconductor production capacity but also by how much power can be reliably supplied and how efficient data centers can be built. In fact, the United States and China have already entered a competition to build massive AI data centers, and some experts predict that the biggest bottleneck in the future AI industry may not be a shortage of semiconductors but a shortage of power.
South Korea has significant potential amid these changes. It possesses a world-class semiconductor industry, as well as communication infrastructure, nuclear power technology, battery industry capabilities, and experience in power grid operations. The issue is that these industries have not yet been integrated into a cohesive national strategy. Now is the time for a comprehensive strategy that connects semiconductors, energy, communications, data centers, manufacturing, and AI. Only then can South Korea leap beyond being a mere semiconductor supplier to become a leader in AI infrastructure.
An even more critical concept emerges here: Physical AI. Many still understand AI as conversational services like ChatGPT, but the area that Jensen Huang has recently emphasized most is robotics, autonomous driving, smart factories, and humanoid industries. In other words, we are entering an era where AI is stepping out of computer screens and into the real world. At this juncture, South Korea could find itself in a more advantageous position than any other country. South Korea has a world-class manufacturing base in shipbuilding, automobiles, steel, batteries, machinery, and semiconductors. When AI and manufacturing combine, South Korea can rise to become a central player in the future industrial revolution, not just an IT powerhouse. The era of Physical AI, where factories make autonomous decisions, robots move independently, and logistics systems are optimized in real-time, could become a stage where Korean-style manufacturing demonstrates its greatest competitiveness.
Another reality we must confront is that South Korea's true competitor in the semiconductor industry is not China but Taiwan. While South Korean society often focuses on U.S.-China competition, the strongest competitor in the semiconductor industry is Taiwan. The semiconductor ecosystem built around TSMC is not just a production facility; it is a vast industrial platform where design, production, packaging, and supply chains are interconnected. This is also why Jensen Huang effectively utilizes Taiwan as his second base. Today, the AI supply chain connecting the U.S. and Taiwan is arguably the backbone of the global AI industry.
Ultimately, the message Jensen Huang's visit sends to South Korea is simple: being number one in HBM is just a starting point, not the destination. South Korea must now grow beyond being a memory powerhouse to become a leader in AI infrastructure and evolve from a semiconductor supplier to a key player in the AI ecosystem. Furthermore, it must establish a national strategy that connects semiconductors, data centers, power grids, robotics, manufacturing, and Physical AI. Only then can South Korea become a co-designer of a new industrial civilization, rather than merely a subcontractor in the AI empire.
While the samgyeopsal and soju will remain a memory of the day, the questions raised by this visit could determine the future of South Korea's economy for decades to come. Will South Korea be satisfied with its current success, or will it leap to become a central nation in the AI era? History always grants opportunities to only a few countries at decisive moments. Now is the time for South Korea to seize that opportunity.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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