Korean business leaders barred from Trump inauguration after ceremony moved indoors

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Korean business leaders barred from Trump inauguration after ceremony moved indoors

Shinsegae Group Chairman Chung Yong-jin and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio [SHINSEGAE GROUP]

Shinsegae Group Chairman Chung Yong-jin and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio [SHINSEGAE GROUP]

 
Despite the fanfare surrounding their invitations, at least three of the Korean business leaders invited to Donald Trump's second inauguration did not make it into the official ceremony held at the Rotunda building inside the Capitol. 
 
Shinsegae Group confirmed to the Korea JoongAng Daily that Chairman Chung Yong-jin was left with no choice but to watch Tuesday's inauguration through a livestream at Capital One Arena after the official ceremony was moved indoors, with significantly reduced capacity, due to cold weather and a winter storm in Washington. The chairman, a confidant of Donald Trump Jr., had told reporters on Sunday that he was set to meet with political and financial leaders at the swearing-in ceremony.
 

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Fashion conglomerate Hyungji also said that its vice chairman, Choi Joon-ho, had been relegated to the livestream, in a press release. 
 
 
SPC Group confirmed to the Korea JoongAng Daily that Chairman Hur Young-in had been denied entry to the ceremony on Capitol Hill but declined to comment on whether he'd attended the livestream. The bakery giant had announced on Jan. 8 that Hur would be present at the inauguration.
 
 
Coupang, which had announced Thursday that Coupang Inc. CEO Bom Kim would attend the inauguration on official invitation, declined to comment on whether the executive had been admitted to either the livestream or the indoor ceremony.
 
U.S. Big Tech figures, including Meta's Mark Zuckerberg, Apple's Tim Cook, Google's Sundar Pichai and Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla and SpaceX who was appointed chief of the Department of Government Efficiency, attended the inauguration ceremony at the Rotunda building. President Donald Trump visited Capital One Arena after his inauguration and signed multiple executive orders in front of the live audience.
 
Coupang founder and CEO Bom Kim talks to U.S. Commerce Secretary nominee Howard Lutnick on Jan. 18 [JOINT PRESS CORPS]

Coupang founder and CEO Bom Kim talks to U.S. Commerce Secretary nominee Howard Lutnick on Jan. 18 [JOINT PRESS CORPS]

 
The executives did, however, attend related events before and after the inauguration.
 
Kim attended a private dinner hosted by U.S. Vice President JD Vance on Saturday, meeting Donald Trump’s appointed cabinet members before the inauguration. 
 
The black-tie dinner took place at the National Gallery of Art in Washington and drew major donors, including such Trump cabinet picks as treasury secretary nominee Scott Bessent, Fox News host and defense secretary nominee Pete Hegseth, White House National Economic Council director pick Kevin Hassett and commerce secretary nominee Howard Lutnick. Kim reportedly met with Bassent on Friday at the reception hosted by Donald Trump Jr., the eldest son of the U.S. President.
 
Kim, a U.S. citizen, was recognized for Coupang's foreign direct investment in Korea as well as that of its Seattle-based parent company, Coupang Inc.
 
The Coupang chief also took a photo with Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI and Alexandr Wang, CEO of Scale AI at the Capitol Visitor Center's Emancipation Hall, where the overflow crowd was watching the event through a stream. 
 
Coupang founder and CEO Bom Kim met with Donald Trump Jr., the eldest son of U.S. President Donald Trump, on Jan. 17. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]

Coupang founder and CEO Bom Kim met with Donald Trump Jr., the eldest son of U.S. President Donald Trump, on Jan. 17. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]

 
 
Chung attended the inaugural Starlight Ball on Monday evening at Union Station, another event for prominent Trump donors, according to Shinsegae Group.
 
Chung, who has met Trump Jr. multiple times over the years and visited Mar-a-Lago in Florida, said he met with Federal Trade Commission Chair Andrew Ferguson, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and former PayPal executive David Sacks, who was appointed “White House AI & Crypto Czar” in December. It is unclear whether “czar” is an official title. 
 
Chung and Sacks discussed the retail industry's usage of AI, according to Shinsegae Group. 
 
“I'm interested in implementing AI and other new technology to improve the customer experience,” he told Sacks. 
 
Hur, meanwhile, met with “members of the U.S. Congress and other higher level officials of the Trump administration” and is set to host a meeting regarding the bakery company's upcoming factory in Texas, SPC Group told the Korea JoongAng Daily.

BY CHO YONG-JUN [[email protected]]
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