August 14 is set to be an extraordinary day for South Korea’s business landscape, with a cluster of high-stakes events unfolding simultaneously across South Korea and the United States, signaling significant implications for global business and industry dynamics.

Bill Gates, chairman of the Gates Foundation, returns to South Korea after a one-year hiatus to discuss strengthening cooperation on small modular reactors (SMRs) with government officials and top business leaders. On the same day, the nine-year divorce saga between SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won and Art Center Nabi Director Noh So-young reaches its final appeal deadline, drawing attention to whether the protracted legal battle will finally conclude. In the United States, LG Group Chairman Koo Kwang-mo is expected to meet Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang to advance collaboration on manufacturing AI and humanoid robotics — what the industry calls “physical AI.” With potential shareholder return policy announcements from Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, plus the semi-annual report filing deadline for major listed companies, August 14 is poised to be the pinnacle of what can only be described as a “super week” for South Korean business.

Gates is scheduled to arrive in South Korea on August 14 and meet with Prime Minister Han Sung-sook. The prime ministerial meeting was reportedly proposed by Gates’s side, with SK Group — a major shareholder in TerraPower — coordinating the detailed agenda and attendee list. The core agenda centers on SMR cooperation through TerraPower, the next-generation nuclear power company Gates founded in 2008 and where he currently serves as board chairman. During his visit, Gates plans to hold successive meetings with executives from South Korean companies including SK Group and HD Hyundai. With TerraPower now moving full-speed ahead on constructing next-generation nuclear plants in the United States, expanding South Korean companies’ participation in the supply chain is expected to be a key topic.

TerraPower’s fourth-generation reactor, dubbed “Natrium,” is a sodium-cooled fast reactor (SFR) that uses liquid sodium instead of water for cooling. The 345 MW reactor is combined with molten salt thermal storage, allowing output to be boosted to 500 MW when needed — a design praised for its ability to compensate for the intermittency of variable renewable energy sources. During his previous visit to South Korea in August last year, Gates emphasized that “SMRs can be an effective answer to the power demand driven by AI and the semiconductor industry.”

In the year since, discussions have translated into concrete business achievements. In March, TerraPower received construction approval from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) for its Kemmerer Unit 1 in Wyoming — the first time a commercial-scale next-generation nuclear plant has received a construction permit in the United States. South Korean companies are also accelerating their involvement. Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP) acquired $40 million worth of TerraPower shares previously held by SK Innovation in January. In May, HD Hyundai Heavy Industries was selected as the preferred bidder to supply the Reactor Enclosure System (RES), a core component of the Natrium reactor, while Doosan Enerbility has been contracted to manufacture and supply key parts including the core barrel and guard vessel.

Gates’s visit is drawing heightened attention as it coincides with the South Korean government’s aggressive push to foster the SMR industry. Global data center electricity consumption is projected to more than double from 415 TWh in 2024 to 945 TWh by 2030. Domestically, a mega-project is underway to build AI data centers totaling 18.4 GW of capacity by 2035. The government recently unveiled its “Next-Generation SMR Development Promotion Direction,” announcing a pan-governmental support framework spanning development, demonstration, licensing, and commercialization. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Science and ICT Lee Jong-ho said at a press briefing marking his first anniversary in office last month, “Power is critically important for operating AI data centers,” adding, “We are seriously considering how to accelerate our existing SMR procurement plans.”

Beyond Prime Minister Han, Gates is also scheduled to meet with National Assembly Speaker Cho Jung-sik. The business community is also closely watching whether a meeting will materialize with Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong, with whom Gates has maintained a long-standing relationship.

On the same day, the divorce case between Chairman Chey Tae-won and Director Noh So-young reaches a critical juncture. August 14 marks the deadline for both parties to appeal the appellate court’s retrial ruling. On July 24, the Seoul High Court ordered Chey to pay Noh ₩944 billion (approximately $666.2 million) in property division and ₩2 billion (approximately $1.4 million) in alimony. This represents a reduction of approximately ₩430 billion (approximately $303.5 million) from the ₩1.38 trillion (approximately $974.5 million) property division amount recognized in the second trial.

The business community is leaning toward the view that neither party will file a further appeal. The ruling allows Chey to retain his SK Inc. shares without direct division, preserving his control over the group. Noh, for her part, is seen as having secured a substantial level of property division as a spouse. This is why analysts argue neither side has much practical benefit in seeking a Supreme Court review. However, a counter-view exists that Chey, facing the immediate challenge of raising ₩944 billion in cash, could use an appeal to buy time. If neither party appeals, the legal battle that began in 2017 — spanning more than nine years — will effectively come to an end.

Should the ruling be finalized, how Chey raises the funds will also be a subject of keen interest. Industry observers have raised the possibility of Chey taking out loans collateralized by his SK Inc. shares or leveraging his roughly 29% stake in SK Siltron. However, some within SK suggest he may be able to secure the funds without disposing of his holdings.

In the United States, a meeting between Chairman Koo Kwang-mo and CEO Jensen Huang appears highly likely. Koo is scheduled to visit Nvidia’s headquarters in Santa Clara, California, on August 14 (local time) to meet with Huang — roughly two months after their first official meeting at LG Twin Towers in Seoul in June. The upcoming talks are expected to focus on collaboration in manufacturing AI and humanoid robotics under the “physical AI” umbrella.

LG operates diverse manufacturing sites spanning home appliances, batteries, and chemicals. Nvidia, for its part, is expanding AI beyond data centers into real industrial settings such as factories and robotics, making the potential for concrete cooperation between the two companies a focal point of attention.

Whether Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix announce shareholder return policies is also drawing market interest. With the AI memory boom significantly improving both companies’ earnings and cash generation, expectations are rising for shareholder return measures including expanded dividends. Samsung Electronics is reportedly considering a special dividend of at least ₩1,500 per share, while SK Hynix is said to be reviewing shareholder return policies in the range of ₩50 trillion (approximately $35.3 billion) or more.

August 14 is also the deadline for major listed companies to submit their semi-annual reports. Beyond first-half earnings and business updates, these reports must include compensation details for executives and employees earning ₩500 million (approximately $352,886) or more. Accordingly, the first-half compensation figures for major conglomerate heads and CEOs will be disclosed en masse on that day.