Chaebol chiefs gear up for APEC week of deals, diplomacy

Top executives from South Korea’s leading conglomerates are gearing up for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation week in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province, where they will engage in global networking and economic diplomacy to secure investment and identify new business opportunities.

The primary focus for the business community is the APEC CEO Summit, organized by the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the nation's largest business lobby. Running from Tuesday to Friday, the event will bring together over 1,700 global tycoons, tech leaders, senior economic leaders and renowned experts for discussion on artificial intelligence and digital innovation, as well as partnership opportunities.

SK Group Chair Chey Tae-won, who also heads the KCCI, is presiding over the CEO Summit. Other heads of the country’s largest chaebol, including Samsung Electronics Chair Lee Jae-yong, Hyundai Motor Group Executive Chair Chung Euisun, LG Group Chair Koo Kwang-mo, HD Hyundai Chair Chung Ki-sun, Hanwha Vice Chair Kim Dong-kwan, Lotte Group Chair Shin Dong-bin and Shinsegae Group Chair Chung Yong-jin, are also set to gather in Gyeongju for the summit and to engage in back-to-back meetings with global leaders and corporate executives on its sidelines.

Some of the leaders will deliver remarks at the main sessions and side events. SK's Chey will deliver the opening address, while other executives, including Posco Holdings Chair Chang In-hwa, Naver CEO Choi Soo-yeon, Dunamu CEO Oh Kyung-seok and SK Innovation CEO Choo Hyeong-wook, will give presentations. HD Hyundai’s Chung also delivered a keynote address Monday at a forum on future tech held on the sidelines of the CEO Summit.

According to industry sources, the chaebol chiefs may attend a dinner meeting hosted by US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick on Wednesday evening. Samsung’s Lee, SK’s Chey, Hyundai Motor Group’s Chung, LG’s Koo, HD Hyundai’s Chung and Hanwha’s Kim are expected to attend the dinner, which will take place after President Lee Jae Myung and US President Donald Trump hold their bilateral summit in Gyeongju.

The dinner with Lutnick, who is among Washington's key officials overseeing the ongoing tariff talks, is widely viewed as a symbolic gesture of support for trade negotiations between South Korea and the US, which remain deadlocked over key details of the accord. Chaebol leaders have played a behind-the-scenes role in backing Seoul's efforts to strike a deal that reduces tariff rates without pressuring the Korea's foreign exchange market.

There is speculation that Trump could make a brief appearance at the Gyeongju dinner.

Many of the same executives recently joined a golf event at Trump’s private Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, where Trump reportedly thanked them for their continued investment in the US and called for close partnerships.

Besides official programs, the chaebol chiefs are expected to hold a flurry of meetings with executives from global corporations in Gyeongju — both existing partners and potential new collaborators — to explore deeper cooperation and fresh business opportunities.

Another highlight of the week will be Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang’s visit to South Korea, his first in 15 years. Huang is set to deliver a keynote speech Friday and hold a press conference.

During his stay in Gyeongju, Huang may meet Samsung’s Lee, SK’s Chey, Hyundai Motor Group’s Chung and other conglomerate leaders. Both Samsung and SK are key partners in Nvidia’s AI chip supply chain. Discussions are expected to center on further cooperation in high-bandwidth memory chips, a crucial component of Nvidia’s graphics processing units that power generative AI systems like ChatGPT.