Ahn Cheol-soo to visit US for talks with chairmen of MS, Google

Ahn Cheol-soo, dean of Seoul National University`s Graduate School of Convergence Science and Technology, will depart for the U.S. Sunday to meet Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates and Google Chairman Eric Schmidt. Ahn will hold talks with Schmidt and Gates on Monday and Tuesday next week, respectively, said the anti-PC virus company AhnLab, which he founded.

The purpose of his U.S. trip is to recruit faculty to his graduate school. He will interview professors and students at major American universities such as Stanford and the University of California in Berkeley. Part of his itinerary has nothing to do with the recruitment, however.

In his meeting with Gates, Ahn will ask for advice on the operation of a charity to be founded with shares Ahn donated. The Korean donated in November last year half of his 37.1-percent stake in AhnLab worth about 300 billion won (261 million U.S. dollars). The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the world`s largest charity organization in assets with a mammoth 37.1 billion U.S. dollars in funds, has financed campaigns to eradicate poverty and diseases such as AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria.

Ahn will discuss with Google Chairman Schmidt issues such as growing security threats stemming from the widespread use of smartphones. AhnLab said, “Ahn will discuss issues related to the establishment of a charity with Gates and the state of the global IT industry with Schmidt."

Given that Ahn is considered a presidential hopeful, some say his trip to the U.S. is related to the presidential election in Korea this year, adding that asking for Gates` advice on setting up a charity organization is Ahn`s attempt to further boost his surging popularity.

Ahn denied this interpretation, however. An AhnLab source said, “The purpose of Ahn`s trip to the U.S. is to hire professors,” adding, “He will interview Korean students and professors at universities known for IT convergence such as the University of California in Berkeley and Stanford."

light@donga.com