[AP/Yonhap News Photo]
The head of South Korea's SM Group will likely attend Donald Trump's inauguration ceremony set to be held early next year, sources in Seoul said Thursday.
The source said Woo Oh-heun will soon receive his official invitation to the January 20 inauguration ceremony in Washington. SM Group is a mid-size conglomerate that has the country's No. 2 bulk carrier Korea Line Corp. under its wing.
The invitation reportedly follows a recommendation from the ROK-US Alliance Friendship Association, which is headed by Woo's younger brother. ROK stands for South Korea's official name, the Republic of Korea, and Woo, 63, is said to be an adviser to the association.
"I decided to attend the inauguration ceremony after receiving the official invitation as I have been invited by the president-elect and his transition team," Woo told Yonhap News Agency.'
Woo is said to have been an active member of the Korea-US association, also maintaining a close relationship with many US officials, including former US Ambassador to South Korea Kathleen Stephens.
He also helped build a statue of Walton H. Walker, the first US general to head American forces and the United Nations Command in South Korea, according to the sources. Woo is one of a few South Koreans to have been invited to the inauguration of the new US president.
Kim Seung-youn, chairman of Hanwha Group, has been invited at the recommendation by Edwin Feulner, a co-founder of the US think tank Heritage Foundation, which is said to have played a major role in forming Trump's transition team. Others include Kang Ho-gap, head of the Association of High Potential Enterprises of Korea, and Kim Chong-in, a lawmaker and former interim head of the main opposition Democratic Party.
(Yonhap)
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com
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