Korean and Italian business leaders turned a state-visit photo opportunity into a handful of signed commercial arrangements on Friday, even as Samsung Electronics (005930.KS) Chairman Lee Jae-yong—the highest-profile Korean attendee—stopped short of announcing any new Samsung deal of his own.
The Korea-Italy Business Roundtable was held June 12 (local time) at the Westin Excelsior Hotel in Rome, co-hosted by the Federation of Korean Industries (FKI, Korea's largest business lobby) and Confindustria (the General Confederation of Italian Industry), according to Seoul Economic Daily. The event drew 42 political and business figures from both countries and coincided with President Lee Jae-myung's state visit to Italy.
What actually got signed
For investors parsing diplomacy from commerce, three concrete agreements stood out, per Seoul Economic Daily:
- Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI), Korea's sole fixed-wing aircraft manufacturer, agreed with Thales Alenia Space Italia (the Italian space-systems venture of France's Thales and Italy's Leonardo) to jointly develop satellites and to localize the power-transmission system of the Surion, Korea's homegrown utility helicopter.
- LS Group (a Korean cable and energy conglomerate) won an €80 million (about $86 million, at roughly €1 = $1.08) overhead transmission-line project.
- Cureverse (a Korean biotech) showcased its existing $360 million technology-export pact with Angelini Pharma (an Italian drugmaker), originally signed in October 2024, for brain-disease drug development.
Those deals span exactly the sectors the two governments framed as priorities—strategic industries (semiconductors, AI, defense), energy infrastructure, and bio/lifestyle, per Seoul Economic Daily. Other Korean firms in attendance included Hyundai Motor, LG Chem, Naver, Hyosung Group, HD Construction Equipment and Samyang Foods; Italian participants included shipbuilder Fincantieri and Ferrari.
Samsung's role: existing ties, no new contract
Lee Jae-yong used the platform to underline relationships Samsung already holds rather than to unveil a new one. "[Italy is] a special country to Samsung… we can expand various cooperation," he said, per Maeil Business Newspaper, which also quoted Ferrari CEO Benedetto Vigna pointing to "collaboration with Korea including joint R&D."
The substance behind Lee's framing is a supply chain Samsung has built up over years. Samsung Display exclusively supplies the OLED panels in Ferrari's electric sports car, the Ferrari Elettrica, and the driver binnacle of Ferrari's new "Luce," according to Seoul Economic Daily. Samsung's foundry produces automotive microcontrollers on its 18-nanometer process for STMicroelectronics, with power semiconductors a possible area for expansion, the same outlet reported. Separately, Samsung SDI runs a U.S.-based battery joint venture, StarPlus Energy, with Stellantis (the Netherlands-incorporated automaker whose heritage includes Fiat and Chrysler) at plants in Kokomo, Indiana—though Stellantis was reported in February 2026 to be weighing an exit from that venture. Asked about overseas manufacturing, Lee said only, "We should be working harder."
The visit also reflects an unusual cadence: it was Lee's second trip to Italy in the first half of 2026, coming roughly four months after he attended the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics in February, per Seoul Economic Daily—a marker of how much weight Samsung's leadership is putting on the relationship even without a fresh contract to show for it.
The diplomatic frame
At the leader level, Presidents Lee Jae-myung and Sergio Mattarella agreed to elevate bilateral ties to a "special strategic partnership," with President Lee calling the two countries "optimal partners"—"Italy being a powerhouse in basic science with creative engineering and design capabilities, while South Korea is a powerhouse in advanced manufacturing," he said, per The Korea Herald. The two sides flagged semiconductors and AI as areas to expand.
What to watch next
The open question is conversion: whether the KAI-Thales satellite and Surion helicopter agreements harden into binding, priced contracts, and whether Samsung's hints about deeper STMicroelectronics power-semiconductor work produce a disclosed deal. Samsung's next quarterly results—due in July for Q2 2026—will be the first scheduled checkpoint for any commercial follow-through; KAI and LS contract filings are the cleaner near-term confirmations.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice. Figures and quotes are attributed to the cited sources; readers should verify against primary disclosures before making any decisions.
