Shinsegae Inc. Chairman Chung Yong-jin has been noticed strengthening ties with Donald Trump Jr., underscoring the South Korean retail tycoon’s unusually shut entry to the US president’s inside circle.
In line with individuals conversant in the matter, Chung was seen eating with Trump Jr. at a luxurious resort in Spain in current days.
Additionally current on the dinner was Omeed Malik, who co-founded enterprise capital agency 1789 Capital with Trump Jr. and has turn into a key determine in conservative finance circles.
The newest encounter builds on a 15-year relationship between Chung and Trump Jr.
The 2 first met at a Korean media occasion in 2010 and shortly bonded over shared pursuits and private convictions, based on associates.
Their ties continued even throughout Donald Trump’s years out of workplace, when Trump Jr. remained energetic in enterprise and politics.
Chung traveled to the US final December at Trump Jr.’s invitation and have become the primary senior determine from Korea’s political and enterprise neighborhood to safe a gathering with the then president-elect.
Trump Jr. later made a reciprocal journey to Seoul to fulfill Korean entrepreneurs at Chung’s invitation.
CHUNG: UNOFFICIAL ENVOY FOR CORPORATE KOREA
In Might, when President Trump launched into a Center East tour, Chung was the one Korean enterprise chief to attend the state banquet hosted in Doha by Qatar’s emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, successfully serving as an unofficial envoy from company Korea.
Malik’s presence on the dinner in Spain has fueled hypothesis that Chung is exploring broader collaboration linked to 1789 Capital, which champions a staunchly conservative, anti-ESG funding philosophy.
Chung and Malik are understood to have grown shut by means of the Rockbridge Community, a US political fundraising group.
Chung serves because the group’s newly appointed Asia chairman, a task by means of which the preliminary blueprint for 1789 Capital’s enlargement into the area is alleged to have taken form.
Trade executives say the more and more public relationship between Chung and Trump Jr. indicators a strategic alignment that would affect Korean company engagement with the US administration, whereas giving Shinsegae uncommon entry to a robust and polarizing political household.
