Rockbridge Network will host its first Seoul security seminar Sept. 30, bringing former U.S., Japanese and Korean officials together on trilateral defense cooperation.
Shinsegae Group Chairman Chung Yong-jin speaks during a press event in southern Seoul on May 26.
KIM KYOUNG-ROK
Rockbridge Network — closely tied to U.S. President Donald Trump’s Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement — will hold its first security seminar in Seoul later this month, according to multiple sources on Monday.
The network was founded by U.S. Vice President JD Vance. Its Asian operations are currently led by Korean retail giant Shinsegae Group Chairman Chung Yong-jin.
The seminar will bring in former U.S. Air Force Chief of Staff David Allvin and former Japanese Defense Minister Satoshi Morimoto as speakers for the seminar on Sept. 30. The occasion is titled “New Horizons for Korea-U.S.-Japan Security and Defense Cooperation” (translated).
Allvin led the U.S. Air Force during Operation Midnight Hammer, in which the U.S. military deployed B-2 stealth bombers to strike Iranian nuclear facilities in June last year.
Former Korean Foreign Minister Song Min-soon and former Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo are set to join talks on trilateral cooperation on next-generation air and space capabilities and defense supply chains.
Vance co-founded Rockbridge in 2019 as a political and donor network for the U.S. conservative movement. Its ties run deep among key figures in the MAGA movement, including Donald Trump Jr.
Chung’s role as Rockbridge’s Asia chairman includes expanding private-sector ties between Korea and the United States.
Rockbridge, along with figures from Yoido Full Gospel Church, reportedly helped arrange then-Prime Minister Kim Min-seok’s meetings with Vance during his first U.S. visit in January and with Trump during his second visit in March.
Donald Trump Jr., the eldest son of U.S. President Donald Trump, right, leaves a concert venue in southern Seoul after attending a flute recital by Han Ji-hee, wife of Shinsegae Group Chairman Chung Yong-jin, on April 29.
YONHAP
Chung traveled to Washington at Vance’s invitation on Thursday to attend the launch of the Foundry School, a talent development program created by the U.S. State Department and Stanford University for advanced industries. Among the attendees were prominent U.S. political figures, including Vance and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
Chung has leveraged his friendship with Trump Jr. to forge ties with key figures in the Trump administration. The two are said to have met around 2021, when an acquaintance arranged a meeting between Chung and Trump in New York. A change in Trump’s schedule sent Trump Jr. in his place, and the two have since become friends.
In December 2024, shortly after the Dec. 3 martial law declaration, Chung spent six days at Mar-a-Lago in Florida at Trump Jr.’s invitation. He spoke separately with Trump, then the president-elect. He also attended Trump’s inauguration early last year.
The relationship was on display again in late April, when Trump Jr. traveled to Seoul to attend a recital by Chung’s wife, flutist Han Ji-hee. The following reception drew political and business heavyweights from Korea and abroad, along with diplomats from major countries.
“It was an event on a whole different level,” one attendee said privately.
BY YOON JI-WON [lee.soojung1@joongang.co.kr]
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.