Moon heads to Vietnam with Korea Inc. in tow

President Moon Jae-in is taking an entourage along with him as he sets off today to Vietnam and the United Arab Emirates in his first overseas trip of the year.

Park Yong-maan, chairman of the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI), Koo Ja-yeol, chairman of LS Cable and System, and Chung Yong-jin, vice chairman of Shinsegae, are set to join President Moon in Vietnam, his first destination.

Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Yoon Boo-keun is also taking part, along with President Chung Jin-haeng from Hyundai Motor, according to the KCCI, which is in charge of Moon’s trip to the Southeast Asian country.

SK Vice President Park Young-choon, the head of LG Electronics’ vehicle component division Lee Woo-jong, and executives from GS, Doosan, Posco Daewoo and Hanwha are also part of the delegation.

“We picked the enterprises to be members of the delegation after taking into account whether they do business in Vietnam,” said an official from the KCCI.

For LS, established in the 1990s as a cable and power generator producer, Vietnam is a major production base. Shinsegae also has ties with Vietnam, and opened its first Vietnamese branch of its Emart discount chain in Ho Chi Minh City in December 2015.

Following the trip to Vietnam, Moon will fly directly to the UAE on March 24. The trip’s business delegation will be led by the Korea International Trade Association (KITA). KITA Chairman Kim Young-joo, Samsung Vice Chairman Yoon Boo-keun, LG Chem Vice Chairman Park Jin-soo and SK Innovation President Kim Jun will travel along with Moon on the trip, which is scheduled to wrap up on March 28.

Korea is trying to gain orders for nuclear power plants in the Middle Eastern country. Paik Un-gyu, the minister of trade, industry and energy, will also visit the country during Moon’s stay. Top executives of major construction companies will be joining, according to KITA.

BY SEO JI-EUN [seo.jieun@joongang.co.kr]