First Day of New York Visit for UN General Assembly, President Lee Meets with BlackRock Chairman Larry Fink
Korean Government and BlackRock Sign MOU, Form Task Force to Gradually Develop Investment Portfolio and Implementation Plan
Fink: "Korean Sto
During his visit to New York for the United Nations General Assembly, President Lee Jaemyung met with Larry Fink, Chairman of the World Economic Forum and Chairman of BlackRock, on September 22 (local time). They discussed artificial intelligence (AI) and the energy transition, and agreed to actively cooperate in making Korea the "AI capital" of the Asia-Pacific region. In line with this, the government signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with BlackRock and decided to form a task force to gradually establish an investment portfolio and implementation plan.
At the meeting, Chairman Fink stated, "We will actively cooperate by linking funds to help Korea become the AI capital of the Asia-Pacific region," according to Ha Jungwoo, Senior Presidential Secretary for AI Future Planning, in a briefing. President Lee welcomed the collaboration to establish Korea as the AI capital of the Asia-Pacific and emphasized the need to achieve tangible results. He also invited Chairman Fink to visit Korea. BlackRock is the world's largest asset management company, with assets under management totaling 12.5 trillion US dollars (approximately 17,000 trillion Korean won).
On the same day, the government and BlackRock also signed an MOU for global cooperation in the AI industry. The MOU includes provisions to discuss cooperation in domestic AI and renewable energy-related infrastructure, and to jointly seek an integrated approach to address future AI demand. It also contains plans to establish an "Asia-Pacific AI Hub" in Korea and to set up AI data centers based on renewable energy within the country.
Senior Secretary Ha explained, "BlackRock, together with Microsoft and Nvidia, is forming AI infrastructure partnerships and leading global investments in AI and renewable energy infrastructure." He added, "The MOU also specifies that over the next five years, we will jointly prepare for large-scale investments needed for the AI-driven renewable energy transition in the Asia-Pacific region."
He further stated, "This discussion signifies that Korea is taking the lead in infrastructure hub discussions and is establishing itself as a key base country through cooperation with global capital." He added, "We expect this will not only attract investment but also act as a magnet to bring high value-added industries such as advanced research and development (R&D) to Korea."
He also noted that the decision by the world’s largest asset management company to directly cooperate with Korea in AI and renewable energy demonstrates that Korea is recognized as a trustworthy investment destination. Senior Secretary Ha emphasized, "This proves that the Korean market is regarded as a reliable investment destination within the international financial ecosystem," and added, "It will serve as a signal for the market to attract even more diverse global capital in the future."
Meanwhile, Senior Secretary Ha reported that, in addition to discussing AI and renewable energy cooperation, Chairman Fink expressed his expectations for Korea’s economic development, noting that under President Lee’s leadership, the Korean stock market has reached an all-time high and the political and economic situation is stabilizing rapidly. The meeting was attended by Chairman Fink, Adebayo Ogunlesi, Chairman of BlackRock subsidiary Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), and Kim Yong, former President of the World Bank.
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