The Korea Society announced on the 13th (local time) that it has selected Jensen Huang, CEO of Nvidia, as the recipient of the 2026 Van Fleet Award. The award ceremony will be held on September 28 at Cipriani South Street in New York.
“The U.S. has already given him nearly every honor possible in the fields of technology and AI, and he has also been recognized in Taiwan, but he has never received national-level recognition from Korea,” said Abraham Kim, president of The Korea Society, at a press briefing in Manhattan, New York. “Given the theme, timing, and importance of U.S.-Korea relations, this is the right moment.” Huang is also reported to have expressed his intention to attend the ceremony.
Established in 1995, the Van Fleet Award honors General James Van Fleet, who served as commander of the U.S. Eighth Army during the Korean War. Past recipients include former U.S. Presidents Jimmy Carter and George H.W. Bush, former South Korean President Kim Dae-jung, Samsung Group honorary chairman Lee Kun-hee, Hyundai Motor Group honorary chairman Chung Mong-koo, SK Group chairman Chey Tae-won, and BTS.
While the apparent reason for Huang’s award is his collaboration with Korean companies, the real substance lies in dependence on memory semiconductors.
According to Counterpoint Research, SK hynix maintained the No. 1 position in the HBM market with a 57% revenue share in the third quarter of 2025.
UBS projected that SK hynix’s share in the HBM4 market, which will be used in Nvidia’s next-generation “Rubin” platform, could reach 70 percent. Samsung Electronics also announced on February 12 that it had become the first in the industry to begin mass production shipments of HBM4.
There are also signs of cracks in what appears to be a solid alliance. On the 11th, SK hynix officially confirmed its adoption of Intel’s Embedded Multi-die Interconnect Bridge (EMIB) technology. It is a strategic move to reduce dependence on TSMC packaging. Even as Huang receives an award for cooperation with Korean companies, SK hynix itself is moving to diversify its supply chain.
China’s push is another variable. ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT) plans to raise about 600 billion won through an IPO and use the funds to expand its HBM production lines. It will also be backed by the third phase of China’s semiconductor national fund, worth 75 trillion won. UBS estimated that Chinese memory companies could account for nearly 10 percent of global supply in 2026.
Huang’s award highlights Korea’s standing in the global AI ecosystem, but it also exposes the limitation that this status remains rooted in component supply.
The solution lies within Korea itself. SK Group chairman Chey Tae-won expressed interest in considering an ADR listing at GTC 2026, signaling a willingness to join the global capital market.
The Korean government has allocated 420 billion won for the 2026 K-semiconductor national growth fund, and 62.2 trillion won will be invested in the Yongin mega-cluster through 2047.
Industry observers say the key challenge is execution of infrastructure. If government support such as expansion of the power transmission network does not keep pace, even the 622 trillion won blueprint could lose much of its effectiveness.
About four months remain until Huang’s award ceremony. What response will Korea’s industrial sector offer to take a step from being an “AI buddy” to becoming an “AI architect”? That is the assignment written on the back side of the Van Fleet Award’s honor.