Google chairman Eric Schmidt said in Seoul on Wednesday that his discussions with Samsung Electronics executives about cooperation in IT were “good.”

He declined to elaborate on what they discussed and whether he met Samsung Electronics vice chairman Lee Jay-yong at the company’s Seocho office in southern Seoul. But he answered affirmatively to questions on whether he discussed ways for strengthening software competitiveness.

John Lagerling, Google’s director of Android Global Partnerships, added that the two partners are working on both software and hardware.

He evaded questions on Google’s thoughts toward the Chrome Operating System being developed by LG, saying he was “not allowed to talk about it officially.”

Schmidt was originally to stay in Korea for a two-day visit but pushed it up by a day and arrived on Tuesday.

As he had done in last year’s visit, the chairman knocked on Samsung’s doors to meet with the younger Lee and other Samsung Electronics executives.

This is Schmidt’s fourth visit here, and his insistence on meeting Samsung people is a demonstration of the strong partnership between the two sides, aides said, despite nagging doubts spurred by reports of Samsung’s wishes to wean itself off of Android.

On Wednesday, the Google leader held a press conference at the Hangeul Museum in Yongsan where the press specifically was asked questions only regarding the issue at hand ― Hangeul and Google’s support for Hallyu.

Later in the day, he attended the Big Tent 2013, a cultural event led by both Google and the Culture Ministry where the chairman talked about issues running the gamut from North Korea, creativity-promoting education and singer Psy’s “Gangnam Style.”

On Thursday, he is scheduled to speak at a lecture at Seoul National University on how to become a successful startup.

By Kim Young-won (wone0102@heraldcorp.com)