Chicken and chips prove winning combination as tech titans join Nvidia’s GeForce festival in Seoul
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Just hours earlier, the three business leaders had shared a casual get-together, which also included some "somaek."
Lee nodded, saying, "That letter was from my father, the late (Samsung) Chair Lee Kun-hee."
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“These are my chimaek buddies!” Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang shouted with a wide grin as he stood on stage with Samsung Electronics Chair Lee Jae-yong and Hyundai Motor Group Executive Chair Chung Euisun at the GeForce Gamer Festival held at Coex’s K-pop Square in Seoul on Thursday.
The atmosphere at Coex quickly turned electric as the trio appeared before a packed crowd of gamers, fans and tech enthusiasts.
Just hours earlier, the three business leaders had shared a casual get-together, which also included some "somaek."
"Chimaek" is a combination of fried chicken and beer (maekju in Korean), while "somaek" refers to a drink made by mixing beer with soju. Both are popular, down-to-earth ways for Koreans to unwind.
On the GeForce stage, Huang, dressed in his trademark black leather jacket, expressed deep affection for Korea’s gaming scene.
“GeForce and Korea grew up together. You invented Esports. Nvidia GeForce was your gear. Without GeForce, without PC gaming, without PC bang (internet cafe in Korea), without PC, without Esports, there is no Nvidia today,” he said to roaring applause, before inviting his “chimaek friends” onto the stage.
As Lee and Chung appeared unannounced, the audience erupted in cheers, Nvidia’s neon-green light bracelets moving aloft as the crowd waved. Lee broke the ice with a joke that quickly went viral: “Thank you … but why are there so many iPhones here?”
Lee also spoke warmly of his friendship with Huang.
“It’s not just because Nvidia is our strategic partner,” he said. “The real reason I came tonight is because Jensen is my friend.”
Huang then shared a touching story about how a letter from a stranger nearly three decades ago influenced his company's journey with Korea.
“In 1996, I received a letter from Korea. ... It was my first letter from Korea in my whole life,” he said. He went on to explain that the beautifully written letter outlined the sender’s vision for broadband and gaming in Korea and asked for Nvidia’s support.
Lee nodded, saying, “That letter was from my father, the late (Samsung) Chair Lee Kun-hee.”
Chung, recalling his own connection to video games, said, “I played arcade games growing up, and my son loves League of Legends, which of course runs on an Nvidia GPU,” he said.
He went on to emphasize Kia's commitment to the gaming industry, adding, “We’ve been actively supporting gaming and will continue to do so.”
Kia is a subsidiary of Hyundai Motor Group.
As the evening drew to a close, Huang hinted at massive deals to come.
“I promised President Lee (Jae Myung) that I will not ruin the surprise, that he will have the opportunity to announce our big announcements tomorrow. But you will know that my announcement includes my friends and we are going to do amazing things for the future of Korea,” he said.
From the chimaek hangout, to the three linking arms and drinking together for what locals call a "love shot" and the unscripted onstage address by the usually media-shy Korean tycoons at GeForce, the trio created multiple moments that took the internet by storm.
One of the most talked-about questions, however, was: Who picked up the bill?
Huang rang out a verbal “golden bell,” announcing, “Everybody, dinner is free" to all the other tables at Kkanbu Chicken, where they were enjoying the chimaek.
In the end, it was Samsung’s Lee who covered the first round, while Hyundai’s Chung paid for the second.
As they walked out of the chicken joint, Lee summed up the mood of the evening: “It’s just good people sharing good food and a drink together. That’s happiness.”
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