Chey Tae-won, chairman of the SK conglomerate and president of the Korean Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI), here in Seoul in April 2023. Ahn Young-joon/AP
ENCOUNTER – On a visit to Paris to defend Busan’s candidacy for the 2030 World Expo, the president of SK Group, the second Korean chaebol, explains how he is adapting his strategy to this new cold war.
Correspondent in Asia
He enjoyed Novak Djokovic’s victory at Roland-Garros, with the eye of a connoisseur and the frustration of a wounded beast. Under the blond wood of the table enthroned in his spacious office on the 34th floor of the SK tower, overlooking the skyscrs of Seoul, Chey Tae-won hides a stiff leg, encased in a brace, but displays the pugnacity of a boxer .
This tennis fan injured himself on the court, but his crutches do not dampen the determination of the chairman of South Korea’s second largest chaebol to make the trip to Paris on Tuesday to defend Busan’s candidacy for Expo 2030, facing Mohammed Bin Salman (MBS), the Saudi Crown Prince. “Ask President Macron why he chose to support Riyadh. He didn’t need to declare himself so early.” ignites the boss of the sprawling conglomerate weighing 246 billion dollars, the world’s second largest producer of memory chips and champion of electric batteries, during an interview…