NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang is visiting South Korea this week to meet business leaders, including LG Group Chairman Koo Kwang-mo, to expand cooperation on AI and robotics applications [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]. The visit includes an informal dinner in Seoul on the evening of June 5, where Huang will discuss collaboration prospects with Korean executives [5].
Following news of Huang’s visit and expanding AI partnerships, LG Electronics shares surged nearly 30% over multiple trading sessions, continuing a strong 310% gain already seen in 2026 and a 520% rise over the past year from historic lows [1, 6, 3, 7, 8, 4, 9, 10]. Analysts attribute LG's rally to its broadening focus beyond home appliances into AI, robotics, and smart factory applications, boosting market expectations [1, 6, 3, 7, 8, 4]. A Kiwoom Securities analyst said, "Recent growth potential in AI and robotics businesses has boosted LG group stocks, pushing net asset value to historical highs" [3].
Samsung Electronics shares also rose sharply, hitting record highs as demand increased for high-bandwidth memory chips and AI server components supplied to NVIDIA [11, 2, 7, 9, 5]. Samsung's market capitalization topped 2,000 trillion Korean won (approximately $1.32 trillion) as of June 1 [2, 9]. The South Korean KOSPI index closed above 8,600 points – an all-time high driven by gains in AI and semiconductor stocks including Samsung, SK Hynix, and LG Electronics [11, 7, 8, 9, 5].
NVIDIA strengthened ties with Korean tech firms earlier this week at the "Korean Partner Night" event during COMPUTEX 2026 in Taipei, where executives from Samsung, SK Hynix, and LG attended. The event helped fuel investor optimism about AI collaborations [2, 9, 5]. Jeff Kim, a KB Securities analyst, said, "Huang’s visit to South Korea is very significant. NVIDIA needs Korea" [2]. Shawn Oh of NH Investment & Securities suggested cooperation could extend to LG subsidiaries including LG Innotek and LG Uplus [1].
Amundi, Europe’s largest asset manager with €2.4 trillion in assets, said despite soaring Asian tech stock valuations, there is no AI bubble yet. Amundi’s Alessia Berardi said, "We don’t see a bubble… these companies’ earnings expectations are very high. Relative to the earnings they are expected to deliver, valuations may still look fair" [11]. However, she cautioned the outlook depends heavily on the US investment cycle and Federal Reserve interest rate policy, which could impact Asia tech shares [12].
The AI investment surge is lifting stock markets across Asia. Japan’s SoftBank recently became the highest valued Japanese company due to its AI positioning. SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son called AI "50 times the size of the 2000 internet bubble" [5].
The visit and subsequent talks on June 5 in Seoul aim to deepen partnerships in physical AI applications like robotics, autonomous driving, and AI data centers [1, 2, 6, 3, 4]. Market watchers will look for concrete announcements following the meeting.
