Shinsegae Group said on the 14th that Chairman Chung Yong-jin attended a Christmas dinner hosted by U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance and met Vance in person. Chung also visited the White House and discussed ways to cooperate on the U.S. artificial intelligence (AI) export program.
Chung attended the Christmas dinner held on the 12th (local time) at the vice president's residence in Washington, D.C. The event drew key members of the U.S. administration, including Commerce Minister Howard Lutnick, Defense Minister Pete Hegseth, White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, and White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller. Major corporate figures, including former Google CEO Eric Schmidt and Palantir Chief Operating Officer Siamak Sankar, also attended.
Before the dinner, Chung visited the White House and held a meeting with White House Office of Science and Technology Policy Director Michael Kratsios. During the first Trump administration, Kratsios served as the U.S. chief technology officer (CTO) and Vice Minister for research and engineering at the Ministry of National Defense, and in the second Trump administration he is overseeing the U.S. government's artificial intelligence (AI) strategy. He is also known as a key figure in the circle of PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel, having previously served as chief operating officer at Thiel Capital.
At the meeting that day, Chung discussed potential cooperation related to the U.S. artificial intelligence export program. In October, the U.S. Department of Commerce formalized the implementation of the "America AI Exports Program" and is pursuing a plan to bundle AI technology systems into a single package for supply to the global market.
In the same month, Korea and the United States signed the "2025 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit" week's "Technology Prosperity Deal (TPD)," expanding the scope of cooperation to include exports of U.S. AI technology systems. Chung was said to have conveyed interest in introducing advanced technology to upgrade the retail industry.
Meanwhile, Christopher Buskirk, chief investment officer (CIO) of 1789 Capital and co-founder of Rockbridge Network, attended the Christmas dinner with Vice President Vance. Buskirk is scheduled to visit Korea next month to meet with Rockbridge Network Korea members and formally join the board.
Rockbridge Network launched in the United States and then in Korea, and establishment procedures are underway in major Asian countries such as Japan and Taiwan. Chung serves as Rockbridge Network's Asia chairman and also sits on the board of Rockbridge Network Korea, which officially launched as a think tank in October last year.
In addition to Chung, board members of Rockbridge Network Korea include former Democratic Party of Korea Supreme Council member Kim Hae-young, former Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum, former Ministry of Economy and Finance Minister Bahk Jae-wan, Hanyang University President Kim Woo-seung, 1789 Partners CEO Park Byung-eun, and Richard Tsai, chairman of Taiwan's Fubon Group.