From Pork Belly to Cold Noodles β Jensen Huang Is Eating His Way Through Seoul
So here's the thing about Jensen Huang's visit to South Korea this week β it wasn't just about AI chips and billion-dollar business deals. The NVIDIA CEO turned his trip into what can only be described as the most high-profile K-food tour in recent memory, and the internet absolutely loved every bite of it.
Huang arrived in Seoul on June 5, 2026, and almost immediately, he made one thing crystal clear. When reporters at Gimpo Airport asked if he was looking forward to Korean barbecue, he didn't hesitate: "I really love Korean barbecue, fried chicken, and samgyetang β everything is delicious." For context, samgyetang is a traditional Korean dish of whole chicken stuffed with glutinous rice, ginseng, garlic, and jujube, slow-simmered into a nourishing soup. It's a dish deeply rooted in Korean food culture, and the fact that Huang name-dropped it at the airport set the tone for everything that followed.
The "Samso" Dinner β Korea's Most Famous Power Meal
The evening of June 5th was where things really kicked off. Huang sat down at a grilled pork belly restaurant near Hongdae β one of Seoul's most vibrant youth culture districts β for what Koreans are already calling the "Samso (μΌμ) Summit." The word is a mashup of samgyeopsal (grilled pork belly) and soju (Korea's iconic distilled spirit), and the guest list was frankly staggering.
Joining him were Chey Tae-won, chairman of SK Group; Koo Kwang-mo, chairman of LG Group; and Ha Hyun-jin (known publicly as Lee Hae-jin), chairman of the board at Naver β essentially a gathering of some of the most powerful figures in Korean tech and industry, all over a plate of pork belly.
What's really interesting is the drinks menu. The group reportedly enjoyed "Tesla" β not the car, but a Korean mixed drink made by combining Terra beer (from Hite Jinro) and Chamisul soju (also from Hite Jinro). The nickname is a portmanteau of Terra and soju, and it's a wildly popular order at Korean grilling restaurants. They also had Cass, a flagship beer brand from OB Beer. Think of it as the Korean equivalent of a beer-and-shot combo, except with beloved national brands.
Second Round at BBQ, and Snacks for the Crowd
The dinner didn't stop there. After the pork belly session, the group moved on to a second gathering at a BBQ fried chicken restaurant near Hongdae station β a chain called BBQ, which currently operates over 700 locations across 57 countries including the United States, China, and Japan. Eight orders of BBQ's signature Golden Olive Chicken were reportedly placed, along with draft beer and BBQ's own sparkling lemon soda, Sparkling Lemon Boy.
But here's the moment that really captured the public's imagination. Before heading to the chicken restaurant, Huang stepped outside to the crowd of citizens that had gathered around Hongdae and handed out snacks β specifically, Binggrae's iconic Banana Flavored Milk (a sweet, banana-flavored drink that has been a Korean convenience store staple since 1974) and "Seven Select Honey Banana Flavored HBM Chips," a limited-edition snack released by convenience store chain 7-Eleven in collaboration with SK Hynix, NVIDIA's key supplier of High Bandwidth Memory semiconductors.
The HBM Chips β named after the very chip technology at the center of the NVIDIA-SK Hynix business relationship β became an instant sensation. According to 7-Eleven, daily sales of the snack surged 766% the day after Huang handed them out, compared to the same day the previous week. Banana Flavored Milk and Paldo's Birak Sikhye (a traditional fermented rice drink) also saw sales rise by 12% and 13% respectively over the same period.
Knife-Cut Noodles, Samgyetang, and Traditional Seoul Dining
On June 6th, Huang visited Namdaemun Market β one of Seoul's oldest and most iconic traditional markets β specifically to explore its famous Kalguksu Alley. Kalguksu is a hand-made knife-cut noodle soup, a comfort food staple that couldn't be further from the glitzy world of AI semiconductors, and yet here was the CEO of the world's most valuable chip company slurping noodles in a market alley. He also stopped by Tosokchon, a well-known samgyetang restaurant in the Jongno district of Seoul. He and his party reportedly ordered samgyetang, whole roasted chicken, and pajeon (savory green onion pancakes), along with ginseng liquor to wash it all down.
Pyongyang Cold Noodles with Hyundai's Chairman
On June 7th, the K-food journey continued at Woo Rae Ok, a legendary restaurant in Seoul's Euljiro district famous for Pyongyang-style naengmyeon β cold buckwheat noodles with a subtle, icy broth that originated in North Korea's capital before the peninsula's division. It's the kind of place that has queues out the door and a reputation that spans generations. Huang was there for lunch with Chung Eui-sun, chairman of Hyundai Motor Group, in what the business press is calling a "physical AI alliance" reaffirmation between the two companies.
Returning to Kkanbu Chicken β And the Business Behind the Bites
That same evening, Huang's food itinerary brought him back to a spot he first visited in October 2025: Kkanbu Chicken's Samseong location in Gangnam. This time, he was meeting with Chey Tae-won of SK Group β their seventh publicly documented meeting, and their fourth in the span of just one week, following encounters in Taiwan at the GTC Taipei 2026 and Computex 2026 events, and of course the Hongdae samso dinner two days earlier. Discussions were expected to cover SK Hynix's HBM chip supply, AI data center cooperation, and NVIDIA's push into the PC market.
Earlier that day, Huang had also thrown a ceremonial first pitch at Jamsil Baseball Stadium during a Korea Baseball Organization game between the Doosan Bears and the Kiwoom Heroes. He wore jersey number 93, representing NVIDIA's founding year, while Doosan Group chairman Park Jeong-won wore number 96 for Doosan's founding year and took the ceremonial first swing.
The "Jensen Effect" on Korean Food Brands
The food and beverage industry in Korea is watching all of this very closely β and for good reason. Last year, when Huang visited Kkanbu Chicken with Samsung's Lee Jae-yong and Hyundai's Chung Eui-sun for a chimaek (fried chicken and beer) session, sales at the chain jumped noticeably not just at the visited location but at franchise stores nationwide.
"When Jensen Huang visited last year, the products he ate and drank became big talking points and saw real increases in recognition. We're expecting the same effect this year and watching closely to see what he enjoys," said an industry insider.
This year, the ripple effect appears to be even broader, touching everything from convenience store snack brands to traditional restaurant chains. BBQ, in particular, stands to benefit given its active international expansion β the brand now operates in 57 countries, making Huang's very public endorsement potentially more valuable than any advertising campaign.
Why This Matters Beyond the Menu
It would be easy to write all of this off as fun celebrity food content β and it certainly is that. But there's a bigger picture here. Jensen Huang is arguably the most influential person in the global AI industry right now, and his genuine affection for Korean food culture, combined with his deep business ties to Korean conglomerates like SK, LG, Hyundai, and Naver, makes each restaurant visit a soft power moment for Korea's cultural exports.
K-food has been riding a wave of global interest for years, fueled in part by the broader Hallyu (Korean Wave) cultural phenomenon. But having someone of Huang's stature enthusiastically working through a personal bucket list of traditional Korean dishes β from kalguksu in a market alley to Pyongyang cold noodles in Euljiro β sends a message that resonates far beyond tech circles. It says Korean food is worth traveling for, worth seeking out, worth writing home about.
And judging by those HBM Chip sales numbers? The market agrees.
This article is based on reports from Newsis, Metroseoul, News.
