South Korea Daily Briefing

LG Group Chairman Koo Kwang-mo met NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang in California, signing a partnership to produce next-generation humanoid robots combining NVIDIA's AI software with LG's hardware manufacturing — joint Q1 2027 unveiling planned, with a large AI factory in Korea by H1 2028, per Dong-A Ilbo. For KOSPI investors, this is NVIDIA's validation of LG Electronics and LG Innotek's hardware ecosystem — directly competing with Tesla Optimus and Unitree Robotics in physical AI. LG Innotek (camera modules, sensors) and LG Electronics (actuators, robotics platform) are the primary names to watch as the partnership details emerge.

Bill Gates, TerraPower chairman, met with SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won and HD Hyundai Group Chairman Jung Ki-sun to discuss Small Modular Reactor deployment and AI data center power supply agreements, per Dong-A Ilbo. Korea Electric Power (KEP) +1.91% today reflects this narrative directly — AI data centers require stable 24/7 power that intermittent renewables cannot provide at cost, making SMR the structural beneficiary of the AI infrastructure buildout cycle. SK Innovation's next-generation SMR programme and HD Hyundai's reactor engineering capabilities are the two Korean-listed plays positioned to benefit from US-Korea nuclear cooperation formalisation.

The Trump administration announced 100% tariffs on foreign drone components, effectively targeting Chinese firms led by DJI which holds the largest global drone market share — with Korea facing only a 15% tariff rate under the same order, per Dong-A Ilbo. The 85 percentage-point tariff gap creates an immediate cost advantage for Korean component suppliers: LG Innotek and Samsung Electro-Mechanics (camera modules, sensors, PCBs for drones) can undercut Chinese-sourced components in the US commercial and defence market. This is the rare trade policy win that has sector-specific, name-specific implications for KOSDAQ-listed drone parts names.