Kkanbu Chicken orders spike, global interest in Korean fried chicken soars after surprise tech titan dinner
Published: 31 Oct. 2025, 15:25
Updated: 31 Oct. 2025, 16:23
![Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, right, Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong, left, and Hyundai Motor Group Executive Chair Euisun Chung share chicken and beer at a Kkanbu Chicken restaurant in Samseong-dong, southern Seoul, on Oct. 30. [YONHAP]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2025/10/31/c63bfbc4-93b7-4b58-8306-98097d6bec28.jpg)
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, right, Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong, left, and Hyundai Motor Group Executive Chair Euisun Chung share chicken and beer at a Kkanbu Chicken restaurant in Samseong-dong, southern Seoul, on Oct. 30. [YONHAP]
Interest in Korean fried chicken franchise Kkanbu Chicken is skyrocketing after the brand was named as the site of a surprise meeting between Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, Samsung Electronics Executive Chairman Lee Jae-yong and Hyundai Motor Group Executive Chair Euisun Chung.
The three business titans gathered Thursday evening at a Kkanbu Chicken restaurant in Samseong-dong, southern Seoul, for a casual dinner of “chimaek” — the Korean term for chicken and beer.
A Kkanbu Chicken head office official said Friday that the company had no prior knowledge of the meeting.
“There was no advance notice or scheduling. We only found out a few hours before, after seeing news reports,” the official said. “Even the reservation was made discreetly so that their identities wouldn’t be revealed.”
To prepare for the influx of people, the headquarters dispatched staff to the restaurant to assist with safety. CEO Kim Seung-il was also present and reportedly cleaned the store himself before the visit.
The visit had an immediate impact. Kkanbu Chicken became the most-searched term on Korea’s top delivery app Baemin on Friday.
“We ran out of ingredients early due to a spike in evening orders,” said a manager at another branch in Gangnam. “Our Thursday sales were double the usual. We open at 2 p.m. today, and we’re expecting even more orders.”
![Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang hands out chicken and French fries to customers during a dinner with Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong and Hyundai Motor Group Executive Chair Chung Euisun at a Kkanbu Chicken restaurant in Samseong-dong, southern Seoul, on Oct. 30. [YONHAP]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2025/10/31/755952ac-9993-4bec-a31d-ac46fd7f5e3d.jpg)
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang hands out chicken and French fries to customers during a dinner with Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong and Hyundai Motor Group Executive Chair Chung Euisun at a Kkanbu Chicken restaurant in Samseong-dong, southern Seoul, on Oct. 30. [YONHAP]
The company said it has not calculated the exact revenue from the event but acknowledged that “many locations seem to have benefited.”
Although Kkanbu Chicken is not a publicly traded company, online users were buzzing with posts like “Where can I buy Kkanbu Chicken stock?”
According to the company, Nvidia Korea selected the meeting venue. Some speculated that the choice was symbolic: Kkanbu is a Korean slang term for a close friend or partner, which gained popularity from the hit Netflix series “Squid Game" (2021), where a character says, “We’re kkanbu, right?” The franchise even launched a “Squid Chicken” menu item in response to the show’s popularity.
The dinner table reportedly featured one serving of boneless chicken, one serving of regular chicken, cheese balls and cheese sticks. The unexpected publicity has sparked speculation about a potential “AI Executive Set” or “Chaebol Set” being added to the menu.
“We don’t have any official plans yet, but we’ll consider it if franchisees are interested,” the official said.
![Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, right, Samsung Electronics Executive Chairman Lee Jae-yong, left, and Hyundai Motor Group Executive Chair Euisun Chung hold up glasses at a meeting at a Kkanbu Chicken store in Gangnam District, southern Seoul, on Oct. 30. [NEWS1]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2025/10/31/49e427ab-cfaf-4cdc-86ab-f55f066629bd.jpg)
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, right, Samsung Electronics Executive Chairman Lee Jae-yong, left, and Hyundai Motor Group Executive Chair Euisun Chung hold up glasses at a meeting at a Kkanbu Chicken store in Gangnam District, southern Seoul, on Oct. 30. [NEWS1]
According to reports, Huang declared, “Everybody, dinner is free!” and rang the restaurant’s "golden bell" — a tradition for covering the entire tab. It was actually Samsung’s Lee who picked up the 2.5 million won ($1,750) bill.
Kkanbu Chicken was founded by Kim Seung-il in 2006, with franchise operations beginning in 2008. As of 2024, it operates 162 locations, with annual revenue of 29.2 billion won and operating profit of 4.9 billion won.
Industry insiders expect the dinner to further elevate the global profile of Korean fried chicken, with some calling it a milestone moment for Korean chicken.
While Kkanbu Chicken is not publicly listed, the only K-chicken company on the Korea Exchange — Kyochon F&B — saw its stock price surge on Friday, rising 23.3 percent in early trading to 4,900 won. Although Kyochon has no direct connection to the meeting, analysts say it benefited from being the sole listed player in the Korean fried chicken industry.
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY LIM SUN-YOUNG [[email protected]]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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