Samsung Electronics and SK hynix are expected to sign “very large-scale” supply contracts with major US technology companies during President Lee Jae-myung's upcoming trip to Silicon Valley, Kim Yong-beom, the presidential chief of staff for policy, said, according to semiconductor analyst Jukan. Kim, a career financial regulator who now leads the economic side of Lee's policy team, did not name which US companies are involved or specify whether the deals cover memory chips, foundry work, or both. The trip comes as Korea's two memory giants race to lock in customers for HBM4, the next generation of high-bandwidth memory that feeds AI accelerators. Samsung is still working to close a definitive supply agreement with AMD, while SK hynix is defending its position as Nvidia's main HBM supplier. A presidential-level announcement would put Seoul's diplomatic weight behind commercial contracts that are normally negotiated privately between companies, a sign of how central memory chip exports have become to Korea's economic relationship with Washington.
Why it matters · A presidential visit turning into a corporate contract announcement would confirm memory chips are now treated as a matter of state, and it raises the stakes on whether Samsung finally lands a marquee customer beyond Nvidia.
Worth asking · If Samsung and SK hynix announce their deals alongside a presidential visit rather than through normal investor relations channels, does that change how much weight markets should put on the news?