Choi Tae-won Visits Germany and Spain... Accelerates 'Global Story'

Accompanying Economic Delegation and Consecutive Attendance at Spain MWC for 2 Years
Series of Meetings with Major Global CEOs

Choi Tae-won, chairman of SK Group, will continue his global management by visiting advanced European countries such as Germany and Spain after the Lunar New Year holiday.

Choi Tae-won, Chairman of SK Group and the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

According to the business community on the 13th, Chairman Choi will accompany the German economic delegation on the 19th as the chairman of the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, which serves as the window for the delegation.

The German economic delegation plans to discover business opportunities for participating companies and establish cooperative relationships with German companies through forums and other events on-site. In particular, since Germany has strengths in the automobile and automotive electronics (electric and electronic equipment for automobiles) sectors, Chairman Choi and the Chamber of Commerce are expected to focus on strengthening cooperation between the two countries centered on these fields.

Chairman Choi will then attend the 'Mobile World Congress' (MWC), one of the world's top three electronics and IT exhibitions, held in Barcelona, Spain, from the 26th to the 29th, for the second consecutive year. It is also notable that he has attended two trade shows this year alone. Previously, Chairman Choi attended 'CES 2024' held in Las Vegas, USA, from the 9th to the 12th of last month.

More than 85,000 people from over 2,000 companies in more than 200 countries worldwide participate in MWC. In addition to Chairman Choi, key executives in the information and communication technology (ICT) sector, including Yoo Young-sang, president of SK Telecom, will also attend on behalf of SK.

At this MWC, Chairman Choi is expected to assess the competitive landscape of generative artificial intelligence (AI) triggered by ChatGPT and digital technologies, and discuss digital business with key executives in SK's ICT sector. In July last year, SK Telecom, along with leading global telecommunications companies, formed the 'Global Telco AI Alliance' to combine each company's capabilities and create a common AI platform. At that time, Chairman Choi attended the online signing ceremony of the memorandum of understanding (MOU) and agreed to meet offline at an appropriate time. Therefore, there is a possibility that he will meet again with CEOs of major participating companies at MWC, which gathers key players, after six months. Additionally, there are expectations within the business community that Chairman Choi will also focus on his role as a supporter of SK employees and Korean startups during the MWC event.

Since the beginning of the year, Chairman Choi has been strengthening global management by visiting major overseas countries and meeting influential figures. This appears to be a proactive move to respond to supply chain stabilization and relationship building amid ongoing global uncertainties. At the 'SK CEO Seminar' held in Paris, France, in October last year, he emphasized expanding global infrastructure at the group level to enhance business competitiveness and cooperation synergy between companies and countries. In December, he continued on-site management by visiting SK Hynix's Americas branch in San Jose, the heart of Silicon Valley, as well as affiliates and investment companies such as Gauss Labs and Luna Energy.

A business community official said, "Chairman Choi has been traveling by economic blocks since the end of last year to further solidify the global network he has worked hard to pioneer over the past two years," adding, "He will continue to broaden his scope to directly oversee key group business sites such as semiconductors, AI, and future energy, accelerating the global story."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.