[EXPO BID D-100] Jet-setting business leaders stacking up the air miles

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[EXPO BID D-100] Jet-setting business leaders stacking up the air miles

Published: 22 Aug. 2023, 06:00 Updated: 23 Aug. 2023, 15:45

JIN EUN-SOO
jin.eunsoo@joongang.co.kr

1. Heads of eight Korean conglomerates in Paris, France 2. Samsung Electronics Executive Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong in the Netherlands 3. SK Inc. Chairman Chey Tae-won in Denmark 4. LG Corp. Chairman Koo Kwang-mo in Poland 5. Hyundai Motor Group Executive Chair Euisun Chung in Slovakia 6. Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Han Jong-hee in South Africa 7. Samsung’s Taekwondo class in Cambodia 8. Lee Jae-yong in Panama 9. SK Supex executives in Fiji 10. Euisun Chung in Washington D.C. 11. Hyundai Motor CEO Chang Jae-hoon in Bahama 12. SK Supex executive in Suriname 13. Posco Chairman Choi Jeong-woo in Argentina

Korea's business tycoons are putting in the legwork to promote the country's port city of Busan as the next destination of the World Expo 2030.

And by legwork, it means they are actually traveling across the globe to meet leaders and high-ranking officials of the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE) members to request their support for Busan in the final voting which is only three months away.

Heads of 10 conglomerates in Korea, including Samsung, Hyundai, LG and Lotte, have traveled to at least 84 countries during the past year for the expo, covering some 2.58 million kilometers (1.6 million miles) which translates to circumnavigating the Earth 64.5 times, according to Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) statistics.

And there are good reasons for their laborious work.

"There are no other countries globally that have a business structure like Korea where conglomerates' business portfolio spans so wide from chips to petrochemical to shipbuilding. It will have multiple points of interest for other countries," said Suh Yong-gu, a professor at Sookmyung Business School.

"Korea's strength, compared with rivals, is that Korean businesses can be highly effective and differentiated institutions and can directly negotiate with the leaders of member states."

The World Expo 2030 Busan Bid Committee designated each company with a list of countries where it should focus its promoting activities.

Samsung has been assigned with 31, including Nepal, South Africa and Laos, SK with 24 including Malta and Afghanistan, Hyundai Motor with 21 including Greece, the Bahamas and Chile and LG with 10 including Kenya, Somalia and Rwanda.

Samsung Electronics puts up advertisement board of the Busan expo at the Piccadilly Circus in London [SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS]

Becoming diplomats

SK Inc. Chairman Chey Tae-won, with a torn Achilles tendon, was seen carrying a pair of crutches with Busan expo logos attached to them when accompanying President Yoon Suk Yeol's trip to Paris in July where Yoon was to make a fourth presentation at the BIE general assembly.

Chey was among the busiest, carrying out three roles at the same time, co-chairing the World Expo 2030 Busan Bid Committee and serving as the chairman of the KCCI.

Chey, early this year, made a couple of stops in Europe as a special presidential envoy. He visited Portugal to meet Prime Minister António Costa to deliver President Yoon's letter asking for support for Busan's expo bid.

Samsung Electronics Executive Chairman Lee Jae-yong flew to Mexico and Panama last September, using his own Chuseok holiday to meet with each country's president to gather support for Busan's bid. Panama in particular has special meaning to Samsung as the Korean company established its first overseas corporation in the Central American country.

Lee also met with the Netherlands' Prime Minister Mark Rutte to emphasize the fact that Busan's hosting of the World Expo would provide opportunities for the Netherlands and Korea to showcase their leading chip technology to the world. The Netherlands is home to ASML, a leading chip manufacturing equipment company, and has close business ties with Samsung.

The Netherlands, in fact, became the first country in western Europe to openly cast its vote for Busan early this year.

LG Electronics puts up advertisement board of the Busan expo at the Amundi Evian Championship, taking place in Evian, France. [LG ELECTRONICS]

Business and expo intertwined

Hyundai Motor Group Chair Euisun Chung early this year invited 12 ambassadors from Africa and the Caribbean such as Malawi, Mali, Mauritius, Burundi and Togo to the Embassy of the Republic of Korea in the United States in Washington D.C.

Chung emphasized Korea's role in acting as a mediator between advanced and emerging countries, as it is a nation that has pulled off strong short-term economic growth in the past and as such can relate to both groups.

Last year, Chung made visits to the Czech Republic and Slovakia in Europe where Hyundai Motor Group's global manufacturing plants are located. He met with the Czech Republic's Prime Minister Petr Fiala and Slovakia's Prime Minister Eduard Heger.

LG Corp. Chairman Koo Kwang-mo visited Poland last year and met with Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki to promote Busan's bid. LG affiliates including LG Electronics, LG Chem and LG Energy Solution operate eight corporations in the European country, five of which are dedicated to manufacturing.

Posco Chairman Choi Jeong-woo traveled to Argentina in March last year to meet with President Alberto Fernández to ask for his support on the Busan expo while talking business about secondary battery materials. Posco Holdings started construction on a 1 trillion won ($747 billion) lithium brine factory near Salar del Hombre Muerto, a salt pan in northern Argentina, in June.

Hyundai Motor operates its electric vehicles wrapped with Busan expo logo at the Bureau International des Expositions’ general assembly in Paris, France. [HYUNDAI MOTOR]

As much exposure as possible

Aside from business chiefs serving as diplomats, Korean companies are coming up with creative ways to expose the Busan expo to the world as much as possible.

Leveraging the launch effect of its latest Z Flip 5 and Z Fold 5 smartphones, Samsung Electronics set up a Galaxy studio in Busan with a special zone dedicated to the Busan expo. It invited some 40 overseas journalists who were visiting Korea to attend the Galaxy Unpacked event to look around the studio.

Hyundai Motor is letting loose its vehicles wrapped with the Busan expo logo and slogan.

After operating 58 vehicles with the special wrapping at the 2023 World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, in January, the Korean automaker also wrapped 10 of its vehicles, including the Ioniq 5 and Ioniq 6, with the Busan expo 2030 slogan "BUSAN is READY" at the BIE general assembly in Paris. They were driven by the Korean delegation team on site.

The Korean automaker also made a hit video promoting the Busan expo, starring Busan citizens and foreigners residing in Korea who speak of the charms of the port city in 15 languages. The video garnered more than 100 million views in three months after its release.

SK Inc.'s promotional video starring Korean musician AKMU, who time travels to 2030 when the Busan expo is being held, was also seen by more than 30 million people from 177 countries within the first 10 weeks of its release.

Posco also put up banners at the Argentinian capital Buenos Aires where there is a lot of foot traffic across parks, banks and airports. It also has put promotional posters up at bus stops in Mexico.

Posco puts up Busan expo promotional banner at a bus station it established in Mexico. [POSCO]

Aircrafts carry Busan expo hopes

SK painted Chey's business aircraft Airbus A319 with the logo and a slogan saying "World EXPO 2030 BUSAN, KOREA."

LG also set up a large-scale advertisement board supporting the Busan expo just outside of Paris' Charles de Gaulle international airport so that delegations from all over the world coming to participate in the BIE general assembly would be able to see it. It also installed 110 advertisement boards near Issy-les-Moulineaux where the meeting was actually held.

LG Electronics is utilizing electronics advertisement boards around the world, leveraging its top-notch technology in OLED (organic light-emitting diode) signage.

It played Busan expo promotional videos on electronic boards installed at New York's Times Square and London's Piccadilly Circus containing motifs of Korea's traditional painting material sumuk (ink).

Korean Air wrapped its Boeing 777-300ER aircraft carrying some 200 Korean delegation team flying over to Paris with popular K-pop group Blackpink next to a slogan reading "World Expo 2030 Busan, Korea." This aircraft will continue to be used on Korean Air's Incheon-Paris route until November.