Incheon to Host Inaugural World Korean Week for Global Diaspora
Thousands of overseas Koreans, businesspeople and community leaders will gather in Incheon for a new five-day program combining leadership, commerce and cultural exchange.
South Korea will open its inaugural World Korean Week in Incheon on Sunday, bringing together overseas Korean leaders, entrepreneurs and younger-generation representatives for five days of meetings, business activity and cultural exchange.
The program will take place in the Songdo district of the western port city and is intended to connect events that had previously been organized separately. Around 2,000 overseas Koreans are expected to participate in the World Korean Leaders Convention, the World Korean Business Convention and related programs, according to the Overseas Koreans Agency.
Agency chief Kim Kyung-hyup said the combined format is designed to create stronger links between South Korea and a global Korean diaspora estimated at 7 million people. By placing leadership discussions, commercial networking and public events within one week, organizers aim to help participants share experience and build relationships across regions and generations.
Business will be a major part of the schedule. The business convention, which runs through Wednesday, will include about 340 exhibition booths as well as meetings between Korean companies and 152 overseas buyers. Organizers expect approximately 3,000 businesspeople from South Korea and abroad to attend, giving domestic firms an opportunity to present products and develop international contacts.
The three-day leaders convention also begins Sunday. About 380 Korean community leaders from different parts of the world are due to discuss regional concerns and exchange examples of successful community initiatives. Celltrion Chairman Seo Jung-jin is scheduled to give a keynote address at the opening ceremony.
The week will also provide a channel for direct discussion of diaspora policy. A town hall is planned so participants can raise concerns and exchange views with government officials. A Korean Festival is expected to attract about 1,000 Korean and international residents, adding a public cultural component to the institutional and business meetings.
The launch reflects an effort to treat overseas Korean engagement as a connected agenda rather than a series of isolated gatherings. The mix of policy discussion, community leadership and commercial meetings gives the event a wider scope than a conventional conference. Its first edition will offer an early test of whether the combined format can produce lasting networks between communities abroad and institutions and companies in South Korea.