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Shinsegae Chairman refuses to disclose details of meeting with Trump

Published: 22 Dec. 2024, 14:30

Shinsegae Group Chairman Chung Yong-jin stands at the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport on Dec. 21. The chairperson met with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago in Florida during his stay that began on Dec. 16. [KANG TAE-HWA]

Shinsegae Group Chairman Chung Yong-jin said he'd had “in-depth conversations” with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump during his stay at Mar-a-Lago.

He was the first Korean among influential business leaders and government officials to meet with Trump following the November election, and his visit follows those of a string of tech CEOS, such as those of Google, Meta and OpenAI who recently spoke with the President-elect at the Florida resort. The visits from the U.S. executives followed Trump's praise of and threats to the companies’ business practices and concluded with a number of them, including Amazon's Jeff Bezos, pledging to donate to his inaugural fund, as the Wall Street Journal first reported.

Chung stayed at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago for six days, starting on Dec. 16. He told the JoongAng Ilbo, an affiliate of the Korea JoongAng Daily, at the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport that he had “shared a meal with President-elect Trump at Mar-a-Lago” and that they “held in-depth conversations about various topics in separate meetings.”

Trump has referred to Korea as a “money machine” and has said that under his leadership, the nation would pay $10 billion annually to host U.S. troops. He has also pushed for higher tariffs, having floated the possibility of collecting 10 to 20 percent on all U.S. imports. The politician has also not mentioned Korea since President Yoon Suk Yeol declared martial law and was later impeached, leading to concerns that he is turning a blind eye to the country.

Chung did not reply to the JoongAng Ilbo's questions regarding the situation above. He said there had been “nothing separately made” when asked if he'd received a message from the Korean government to pass on to Trump before leaving for the United States.

Chung also refused to answer the question of whether he'd been invited to Trump’s inauguration, which will take place on Jan. 20, but said he was “willing to attend as a member, should the Korean government set up a delegation.”

Following is the JoongAng Ilbo's conversation with Chairman Chung.

Q. Did you have a separate meeting with President-elect Trump?

A. I had a meal with President-elect Trump during my visit. There were also other opportunities to casually meet with him. We had an in-depth conversation about various topics for 10 to 15 minutes in a separate meeting. I don’t think, however, that it is appropriate to share the conversation I had with President-elect Trump.

What did President-elect Trump have to say about Korea?

He didn’t specifically mention it. [He] asked me a lot of questions, but I don’t think I should share any details.

Shinsegae Group Chairman Chung Yong-jin talks with a reporter from the JoongAng Ilbo, an affiliate of the Korea JoongAng Daily, at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport on Dec. 21 (U.S. time). The chairperson met with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump at the politician’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida during his six-day stay from Dec. 16. [KANG TAE-HWA]

Some think you could work as a bridge between President-elect Trump.

How am I qualified for that? Even if President-elect Trump asks me about [political matters], I am not qualified to answer them. During the visit, I discussed many business ideas with [Donald] Trump Jr. as a businessperson. We share the same religion, so we talked about religion too.

Did you talk with other key people close to Trump?

I did. However, I cannot tell you specifically who I met with or what I talked about with them.

BY KANG TAE-HWA,KIM JU-YEON [[email protected]]