It has been confirmed that the delay of OpenAI CEO Sam Altman (샘 알트먼)'s visit to South Korea was due to the birth of his second daughter.

The CEO was scheduled to visit South Korea on a two-day, one-night trip on June 14 to 15, but cancelled as it coincided with the timing of his second daughter's birth, according to the relevant industry on Wednesday. Planned visits to Japan and Europe were also cancelled.

Altman's side is known to have sent an email to domestic partner companies saying the delay would not affect cooperation in South Korea. OpenAI said in an official statement on June 12, "Korea is a very important country and a strategic partner for OpenAI," and added, "Cooperation under way with domestic partners will continue as planned." It did not disclose the specific reason for the cancellation or any future plan to visit South Korea.

Altman had planned to visit Samsung Electronics' Suwon Digital City on June 15 to give a lecture for employees in its DX division titled "DX Insight Talk" and to meet executives including Vice Chairman Young-hyun Jun (전영현), head of the DS division, and President Tae-moon Roh (노태문), head of the DX division. He was also set to discuss cooperation plans with Kakao CEO Shina Chung (정신아) at Kakao's Pangyo Agit the same day, and to hold a separate meeting with Naver CEO Sooyeon Choi (최수연). As OpenAI and Naver have had no official business ties so far, the meeting was drawing attention as likely to be their first official encounter.

Two senior executives including Chief Research Officer Mark Chen attended an OpenAI developer event held on June 15 as scheduled. There were no separate meetings with Samsung Electronics during their stay in South Korea.

During a visit to South Korea in October last year, Altman met Samsung Electronics Chairman Jay Y. Lee (이재용) and SK Group Chairman Tae-won Chey (최태원) in succession and agreed on cooperation to supply memory for the Stargate project. With the latest delay, a schedule for follow-up cooperation talks has not yet been set.