Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang has been selected as this year's recipient of the Van Fleet Award, given annually to individuals who have contributed to strengthening U.S.-Korea relations. Huang was recognized for solidifying the U.S.-Korea artificial intelligence (AI) semiconductor cooperation ecosystem alongside Samsung Electronics (005930.KS), SK hynix (000660.KS), Hyundai Motor (005380.KS), and Naver (035420.KS).
Abraham Kim, president of the Korea Society, a U.S.-based nonprofit promoting U.S.-Korea friendship, announced the selection during a meeting with Korean correspondents at the organization's Manhattan office on Wednesday. The Korea Society said it chose Huang in recognition of Nvidia's important partnerships with Korean companies within the global AI innovation ecosystem.
Nvidia currently receives high-bandwidth memory (HBM) products, which are used in its flagship AI graphics processing units (GPUs), from suppliers including Samsung Electronics and SK hynix. The company further strengthened bilateral ties in late October last year, when it announced at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) CEO Summit that it would supply a total of 260,000 GPUs to the Korean government, Samsung Electronics, SK Group, Hyundai Motor Group, and Naver Cloud. At the time, Huang appeared on stage alongside Samsung Electronics Chairman Jay Y. Lee and Hyundai Motor Group Executive Chairman Euisun Chung at a 25th anniversary event for Nvidia's GeForce GPU held at Seoul's COEX, and later gathered for beers at a chicken restaurant in Seoul's Samseong-dong. The award ceremony for Huang will be held alongside the Korea Society's annual dinner in New York on September 28.
"Huang accepted the award with great honor and expressed his intention to attend the ceremony, given the importance of his relationship with Korea," Kim said. "The cooperation between Nvidia and Korean companies is strengthening U.S.-Korea AI capabilities and global technology leadership."
The Van Fleet Award was established in 1995 to honor General James Van Fleet, who served as commander of the U.S. Eighth Army during the Korean War and founded the Korea Society in 1957. Past recipients include former U.S. Presidents Jimmy Carter and George H.W. Bush, former Korean President Kim Dae-jung, late Samsung Chairman Lee Kun-hee, Hyundai Motor Group Honorary Chairman Chung Mong-koo, SK Group Chairman Tae-won Choi, POSCO Chairman Chang In-hwa, and BTS.
