Chung Yong-jin, chairman of Shinsegae Group, and Bom Kim, chairman of Coupang Inc., will attend the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump.
According to the industry on the 20th, Chung Yong-jin, chairman of Shinsegae Group, and Bom Kim, chairman of Coupang, are expected to attend the indoor inauguration ceremony for President-elect Trump held on that day (local time). They are also reported to attend a ball featuring President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump after the ceremony.
The inauguration ceremony, which was originally planned to be held outdoors at the Capitol, was moved inside to the rotunda due to a polar vortex. This marks the first time in 40 years since Ronald Reagan's inauguration in 1985 that the U.S. presidential inauguration will occur indoors.
As space has been reduced, the number of attendees has decreased from 250,000 to 20,000. Accordingly, in Korea, representatives of the government, including Cho Hyun-dong, the Korean ambassador to the U.S., Chung Yong-jin, chairman of Shinsegae, and Bom Kim, the founder of Coupang, will attend the indoor inauguration ceremony.
Industry sources report that Korean corporations arriving in Washington, D.C., for the inauguration ceremony are meeting with U.S. political and business figures, as well as officials from Trump's second cabinet.
On the 17th (local time), Chairman Bom Kim attended a private reception hosted by President Trump's eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., where he met one-on-one with nominees for key cabinet positions in Trump's second administration, including Marco Rubio, nominee for Secretary of State, Howard Rutnik, nominee for Secretary of Commerce, and Scott Vincent, nominee for Secretary of the Treasury.
Chairman Kim attended a dinner on the 18th hosted by Vice President-elect J.D. Vance at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, where prominent global CEOs, including Mark Zuckerberg, chief executive officer of Meta, Andy Jassy, CEO of Amazon, and Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, were reportedly in attendance, along with key cabinet figures from the next U.S. administration.
Chairman Chung Yong-jin also appears to be continuing individual meetings with influential figures through Donald Trump Jr., the eldest son of President Trump.
On the 17th, chairman Chung met with reporters in New York and, when asked about the importance of meeting major figures, noted, "I expect Trump Jr. to make many introductions," adding, "As a businessman, it is important to establish various channels in the large U.S. market. I hope the channels to the U.S. improve soon."
Both will attend a ball that will follow the indoor inauguration ceremony. The presidential inauguration ball, which will see only a select few VIPs from both home and abroad in attendance, is divided into three events: the Commander in Chief Ball, the Liberty Inaugural Ball, and the Starlight Ball. Chairman Chung and Chairman Kim are expected to attend the Starlight Ball, which gathers powerful political and business figures from around the world.
The Starlight Ball, with over 5,000 attendees, is reportedly a social gathering that invites individuals with connections to the Trump family. Attendees will have the opportunity for one-on-one interactions with President Trump, who will also attend the ball with his wife, Melania Trump. It is known that chairman Chung will be accompanied by his wife, Han Ji-hee.
There are expectations within and outside the business community that meetings between Trump and domestic business figures will help facilitate communication between South Korea and the U.S. in economic and industrial sectors.
Meanwhile, the entry status of Liu Jin, chairman of Poongsan Group (president of The Federation of Korean Industries), Woo Oh-hyun, chairman of SM Group, Huh Young-in, chairman of SPC Group, and Choi Jun-ho, vice-chairman of Fashion Group Hyungji, who received invitations to the inauguration ceremony from the Trump administration, remains uncertain regarding the Capital One Arena.