Samsung leader Lee’s latest role: Special envoy for World Expo 2030 bid

As South Korea is serious about hosting the World Expo 2030, the country’s top business leaders will be given new roles: Leading the government’s promotional pitches as special envoys or in other capacities.

Samsung Group’s de facto leader, Vice Chairman Jay Y. Lee, will soon be named a presidential special envoy and visit European countries, as well as the UK, next week before the Korean Thanksgiving holiday, according to government and industry sources.

In the UK, Lee will meet with Liz Truss, who is set to take office as the next British prime minister on Sept. 5, to ask for her support in Korea’s bid to hold the international fair in Busan, Korea’s largest port city.

UK is one of the member countries of the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE) body that votes on the World Expo host city.

SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won could also be named a special envoy to promote Korea’s expo bid, the sources said.

Chey is a co-chairman of Korea’s Busan Expo Bidding Committee alongside Prime Minister Han Duck-soo.

The SK Group leader is expected to visit Tokyo and Osaka after Korean Thanksgiving Day, or Chuseok, to drum up support from Japanese politicians.

In Tokyo, he will meet with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida to ask for his support. Osaka is the host city of the World Expo 2025.

Leaders of other conglomerates, including Hyundai, LG and Lotte, will also join Korea’s efforts to host the expo.

While Hyundai Motor Co. Chairman Chung Euisun will visit the US and Europe before the end of this month, LG Group chief Koo Kwang-mo will travel to Poland. Lotte Group Chairman Shin Dong-bin is expected to go to Japan and Vietnam later this month.

“We have formed the biggest dream team ever (for Korea’s bid for the expo),” Prime Minister Han said in his Facebook post.

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Using their overseas networks, chief executives of Samsung Group affiliates are also working to bring the World Expo 2030 to Busan.

Korea is competing with Saudi Arabia's Riyadh and Italy's Rome to host the 2030 expo. The winner will be decided by a vote of the BIE member countries in November 2023.

Samsung is said to be seeking support from 31 countries, including Nepal and Lesotho. SK is in charge of 24 countries, including Malta and Armenia, while Hyundai Motor Group is handling 20 countries, including the Bahamas, Peru and Chile, industry officials said. LG is seeking support from 10 countries, including Somalia, Rwanda and Kenya, and POSCO is in charge of seven countries, including Uzbekistan.

“Our bid to host the expo in Busan will be a tough challenge. But we have experience overcoming difficulties to host big international events such as the World Cup games in 2002 and the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics in 2018,” said SK’s Chey.

In July, Korea’s boyband sensation BTS was named Busan's official ambassador for its World Expo 2030 bid.

The group is scheduled to hold a concert in the port city to promote Korea’s bid on Oct. 15.

Write to Sang-eun Lucia Lee and Ji-Eun Jeong at selee@hankyung.com
In-Soo Nam edited this article.