Two Korean entrepreneurs have been invited to speak at an event hosted by former U.S. President Donald Trump for holders of his meme coin, Official Trump ($TRUMP).
Following the announcement of Song Chi-hyung, chairman of Dunamu (Upbit’s operator), as a speaker, another Korean has been added to the lineup. The new addition is Lee Seung-yoon, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Story.
Among the attendees, 29 top coin holders will have the exclusive opportunity to join a very important person (VIP) luncheon with Trump and 18 prominent figures from the virtual asset industry. Both Lee and Song have secured spots among these 18 VIP guests.
Two Koreans Among 18 Speakers… Trump Camp Unveils Lee Seung-yoon Following Song Chi-hyung
According to the Official Trump team on Tuesday, the former president will host a dinner and conference for the top 297 meme coin holders at his Mar-a-Lago Lizzo in Florida on April 25. A separate VIP program has also been arranged for the top 29 holders.
This marks the second such event, following last year’s gathering. The key difference this year is the event’s transformation from a simple dinner into a conference format. As a result, additional speakers have been added to the lineup alongside Trump, who will deliver the keynote address.
On the event’s promotional page, the Official Trump team is advertising the participation of 18 global heavyweights. These individuals will serve as speakers, with their identities being gradually revealed by the organizers.
Last month, they introduced Song as the billionaire founder of Upbit, Korea’s largest cryptocurrency exchange. Now, they’ve unveiled Lee.
The Official Trump team’s website describes Lee as a serial entrepreneur who has built infrastructure for the data economy.
They also noted his role as the founder of Poseidon and Story Protocol. Poseidon, incubated at Story, is a data infrastructure project that connects the entire process of collecting, processing, and rewarding data used for artificial intelligence (AI) learning.
Story is a blockchain-based project that tokenizes intellectual property (IP), having secured investments from firms like Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) and Samsung Next. The company has raised a total of 140 million USD, with an initial valuation exceeding 3 trillion KRW (about 2.03 billion USD) in its first funding round.
Serial Entrepreneur Born in the 90s Who Bet Early on IP Innovation… Also Scored a 500 Billion KRW Jackpot
Lee’s background has also been drawing significant attention.
The Official Trump team highlights Lee as a serial entrepreneur because he launched his first startup immediately after graduating from the University of Oxford and has continued on this path ever since. Despite being only 33 years old, he has accumulated diverse startup experiences focused on media and IP innovation.
His most notable achievement was founding the web novel platform Radish, which he sold to Kakao for 500 billion KRW (approximately 338 million USD). Radish, dubbed the Netflix of web novels, commanded a high valuation in 2021 during the boom of webtoon and web novel IPs. At the time, such a substantial exit by a young Korean entrepreneur was considered exceptional.
Prior to Radish, Lee founded a media startup called Byline. This platform created personalized newspapers using crowdfunding, indicating that his entrepreneurial ideas around media and IP innovation have been in development for quite some time.
This innovative vision has continued to shine through in Story Protocol, founded in 2024. From its inception, Story gained recognition with a 3 trillion KRW (about 2.03 billion USD) valuation in Silicon Valley, the global hub of innovation. This attracted interest from various venture capital firms, including a16z. Asia’s largest blockchain investment firm, Hashed, along with Bang Si-hyuk of HYBE, also participated in the investment round.
Lee expressed that he’s honored to be invited as a Korean entrepreneur to this gathering where former President Trump and global leaders will discuss the future of AI and data infrastructure.
He added that this invitation signals that the vision for programmable IP infrastructure and AI data sovereignty that Story has developed is becoming a key agenda item for global technology and finance leaders.
