SK Chairman Chey Tae-won (최태원) underscored the need for cooperation among South Korea, the United States and Japan as the world enters a major shift driven by artificial intelligence. Chey said AI is fundamentally changing industrial structures worldwide, and he suggested the three countries should seek solutions together in response.

The Chey Jong-hyun Academy said it held the Trans-Pacific Dialogue (TPD) 2026 event on Feb. 20 to 21 at the Salamander Hotel in Washington. TPD is a collective intelligence platform launched in 2021 and marks its fifth edition this year. Current and former senior officials, scholars, think tanks and business figures from South Korea, the United States and Japan, numbering about 90, attended and discussed issues in Northeast Asia and the Pacific region.

In welcoming remarks, Chey said, "The change we are facing now is not a simple challenge but a structural reality that will determine the survival of us all," and added, "How South Korea, the United States and Japan cooperate in this transition will determine the order ahead." He added, "New technologies may become new solutions, but at the same time they bring enormous volatility that can bring everything down."

Chey said AI is also having a major impact on energy and finance. He said, "If we fail to meet power demand needed for AI in a timely manner, society as a whole could face a major crisis," and added, "We must build an environmentally friendly and stable energy supply system through new technologies and systems." He also said having the capital and resources to shoulder the huge costs of AI infrastructure would enable countries to secure AI solutions and become leaders in competition.

The event focused on themes including shifts in the global order and trilateral cooperation, competition for AI leadership and industrial change, reshaping the financial order, next-generation nuclear power plants and energy cooperation, and security alliances in an era of tensions. The global order session on the first day included Stephen Walt of Harvard University, John Ikenberry of Princeton University and Jeon Jae-sung of Seoul National University. The AI session opened with a keynote presentation by Choi Ye-jin of Stanford University, also a senior director of AI research at Nvidia, followed by participants from Google, NTT, SK Telecom and Twelve Labs, and South Korean lawmaker Cha Ji-ho of the Democratic Party, who addressed issues of AI competition and governance.

On the second day, a China special session was held with Victor Cha, head of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, and Choi Jong-kun of Yonsei University. In the finance session, Jeffrey Frankel of Harvard University and Barry Eichengreen of the University of California, Berkeley discussed dollar dominance and changes in the global financial order.

The energy session included Dan Poneman, former U.S. deputy energy secretary, Tadashi Maeda, governor of the Japan Bank for International Cooperation, and Lim Seung-yeol, head of the business development division at Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power, who discussed next-generation nuclear power plants and energy cooperation. In the security session, Patrick Cronin, chair for Asia-Pacific security at the Hudson Institute, Jimbo Ken of Keio University and South Korean lawmaker Kim Kun of the People Power Party discussed changing patterns of deterrence.

Kim Yoo-suk (김유석), head of the Chey Jong-hyun Academy, said, "Marking the fifth anniversary of TPD, we were able to take stock again of the strategic meaning of South Korea-U.S.-Japan cooperation amid a rapidly changing global order," adding, "We will continue to provide a forum for discussion to seek practical solutions in key areas such as AI and energy that will determine national competitiveness."