Zuckerberg Visits Korea... Opens Path for 'Rama' Use in a Busy 3-Day Trip

Meeting with LG Jo Joo-wan to Discuss Cooperation
Two-Hour Meal with Samsung Lee Jae-yong
Private Meeting with President Yoon
Proposing AI Government Support and Regulatory Improvements

Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of global big tech company Meta, is concluding his three-day visit to South Korea on the 29th with a private meeting with President Yoon Suk-yeol. He will depart for India, another key partner country, later that afternoon.

On the 28th, LG Electronics held strategic discussions to strengthen the partnership in the XR (Extended Reality) business with global big tech Meta at the LG Twin Towers in Yeouido, Seoul. (From left in the photo) Attending the meeting were Jo Joo-wan, CEO of LG Electronics; Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta; and Kwon Bong-seok, COO of LG Corp., posing for a commemorative photo. Photo by LG Electronics

He arrived in South Korea on the 27th and followed a tightly packed schedule. On the 28th, a day filled with consecutive meetings with key figures, he moved briskly by car across Yeouido, Yeoksam-dong, and Hannam-dong. During this visit, Zuckerberg reportedly focused on the utilization of Meta’s next-generation language model (LLM), ‘LLaMA.’ He reviewed the current usage of LLaMA, which has been released up to Season 2, through on-site personnel and discussed the direction for the ongoing development of Season 3 in the rapidly evolving artificial intelligence (AI) market.

Commercialization of XR Devices Next Year, Semiconductor Collaboration

Zuckerberg’s first stop in South Korea was LG Electronics, which analysts interpret as a sign of his intention, confidence, and commitment to deliver results soon. The day before, at LG Twin Towers in Yeouido, Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul, Zuckerberg had lunch with LG Electronics CEO Jo Joo-wan and others, sharing dishes like bibimbap and noodles while discussing cooperation plans for about an hour and a half. They reportedly reached a fairly concrete consensus, including proposals to embed LLaMA 3 AI into over 500 million LG Electronics devices worldwide. In particular, it is known that they drafted a blueprint to commercialize ‘LG-Meta’ XR devices equipped with LLaMA 3 AI in smart TVs with webOS and XR headsets next year, aiming to compete with Apple’s ‘Vision Pro.’ Zuckerberg, who believes that electronic devices combining extended reality (XR) and AI technologies will lead changes in daily life, appears to have identified LG Electronics as a key partner to realize this vision.

Following this, Zuckerberg met with representatives and developers of domestic AI and XR startups at Meta Korea in Centerfield, Yeoksam-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul. According to attendees, Zuckerberg focused on verifying how well LLaMA 2 is being used in South Korea during this meeting.

After about an hour-long discussion, Zuckerberg visited Seungjiwon, Samsung’s guesthouse, where he dined with Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong. The meal, which lasted approximately two hours and twenty minutes, is believed to have involved broad discussions on potential collaboration in the AI market, including Meta’s development of its own AI chips. According to U.S. media, Meta plans to install its self-developed AI chips in data centers within this year to reduce dependence on Nvidia. In May last year, Meta unveiled two types of first-generation AI chips designed in-house, produced using TSMC’s 7nm process. If Meta expands its next-generation AI chip development, Samsung Electronics’ foundry (semiconductor contract manufacturing) could become a potential client.

Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta, is arriving in Seoul through the Seoul Gimpo Business Aviation Center in Gangseo-gu on the 27th. Visiting Korea for the first time in 10 years, CEO Zuckerberg is expected to meet President Yoon Suk-yeol and discuss AI semiconductor cooperation plans with Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong and LG Electronics CEO Cho Joo-wan during his 1-night, 2-day stay. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

Proposals to President Yoon on Investment and Regulatory Improvements

Zuckerberg is known in the industry as a CEO who fully understands the necessity of government cooperation for technology development and business operations. When visiting key partner countries, he always meets with government officials. During his visit to South Korea in 2013, he also met with former President Park Geun-hye.

After visiting Japan on the 27th and meeting Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, Zuckerberg’s meeting with President Yoon is also expected to focus on urging bold government investment support and regulatory improvements for AI technology. The South Korean government recently decided to expand facility investment and R&D tax credits for national strategic industries such as semiconductors and announced a plan to establish a semiconductor mega cluster last month.

There is also a possibility that President Yoon and Zuckerberg will discuss concrete plans for investment and cooperation in future technologies. Additionally, amid recent concerns about risks such as privacy violations related to AI, this meeting is expected to provide reassurance regarding the safety of Meta’s technology. Previously, in September 2022, South Korea’s Personal Information Protection Commission imposed a fine of 30.8 billion won on Meta for illegally collecting user information and using it for advertising purposes.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.