The 24th World Hansang Global Convention, to be held in Incheon this September, marks a major change in its operation style since its launch in 2002. For the first time, a private steering committee will lead the convention, which will be held as the core event of the "World Korean Week," linking major overseas Korean events that were previously held separately.

While maintaining the basic framework of the existing convention—corporate exhibitions, one-on-one business consultations, and the Hansang network—the key features of this year's convention are placing private Hansangs' participation in operations front and center, and expanding points of contact between AI startups, global venture capital (VC), overseas buyers, and domestic SMEs.

The 24th World Hansang Global Convention will take place for three days from September 28 to 30 at Songdo Convensia in Incheon. According to the Overseas Koreans Agency, a total of 3,000 participants are expected, including 1,000 overseas businesspeople and 2,000 domestic businesspeople. It is co-hosted by the World Hansang Committee (Chairman Hwang Byung-goo) and the Overseas Koreans Agency (Commissioner Kim Kyung-hyup), and co-organized by the World Hansang Committee, Overseas Koreans Agency, Maekyung Media Group, Incheon Metropolitan City, and the Korea SMEs and Startups Agency (Korea SME and Startup Distribution Center).

The Biggest Change: The "Operating System"

The most noticeable change in this year's convention is the operating system.

The official brochure also explicitly specifies this convention as an "event led for the first time by a private steering committee." Since the World Hansang Convention started in 2002 with 968 participants from 28 countries, it faces a shift in its operating system at its 24th convention.

At the center of the private operation system is the World Hansang Committee. Hwang Byung-goo, President of the Federation of Korean American Chambers of Commerce, served as the Steering Committee Chairman of the World Hansang Committee. Ha Kyung-seo, Chairman of CAISA Group in El Salvador, is the Chairman of the World Hansang General Assembly, and Yoon Deok-chang, Chairman of the Asia-Pacific Korean Food Importers Federation, is the Organizing Committee Chairman.

The World Hansang Convention Steering Committee, opening on September 28, will deliberate key issues of the convention and establish operation plans for the next convention. In particular, it will vote on the selection proposal for the "25th World Hansang Convention Host Location." The steering committee is composed of about 40 overseas Korean businesspeople.

This convention differs from previous ones in that while maintaining the existing participation framework of government and public sectors, the private steering committee steps to the forefront of convention operations.

Separately Held Overseas Korean Events Bound into "World Korean Week"

The second change is that the Hansang convention is linked with the newly established "World Korean Week" this year.

World Korean Week will be held from September 27 to October 1 around Songdo Convensia and Central Park in Incheon. Major overseas Korean events that were previously held separately—including the World Hansang Convention, the World Korean Association Presidents Convention, the World Korean Next-Generation Convention, and the Korean Festival—will be held in conjunction.

Looking at the specific schedule, the World Korean Week Joint Opening Ceremony and the World Korean Day Commemorative Ceremony will be held on September 28. Alongside the Hansang corporate exhibition, a permanent overseas Korean promotion hall will also be operated.

If the existing Hansang convention focused on economic events connecting overseas Korean businesspeople and domestic companies, this year's scope has expanded by being linked with other overseas Korean events within World Korean Week.

Corporate Exhibition & 1-on-1 Consultations Maintained… AI and VC Points of Contact Expanded

Corporate exhibitions and one-on-one business consultations continue this year as core programs of the existing Hansang convention.

This year's corporate exhibition will feature around 300 booths focusing on domestic SME products, with about 300 buyers participating. The corporate exhibition and one-on-one business consultation meetings will run from September 28 to 30.

Instead, in the program composition, settings directly connecting startups and investors stand out.

On September 29, the "Global AI Startup & VC Forum" will be held. Prominent domestic startups will present innovative technologies and commercialization plans in the presence of global venture capitalists.

The "IR Stage Buyer Luncheon," which creates direct contact points between overseas buyers and domestic SMEs, will also be held on September 28–29. It is a networking session bringing together global buyers and domestic SME sellers, providing domestic companies with an opportunity to pitch their products directly. The goal is to create practical export contract opportunities through this.

Hansang Internal Generation- and Role-Specific Networks Activated

Generation- and role-specific programs within the Hansang network also continue.

The YBLN & F Opening Ceremony and Forum for young business leaders will feature networking between next-generation and existing Hansangs, exchanges of regional business information, and a youth forum.

At the YBLN General Assembly and Future Innovation Committee, next-generation promising businesspeople will discuss ways to expand future growth engines of the Hansang network.

At the Leading CEO General Assembly and Hansang Advisory Committee, Hansang leaders will share global market business information and discuss the mid-to-long-term vision of the Hansang network. The World Hansang Forum hosted by Maekyung Media will also be arranged.

On the final day of the convention, September 30, an Incheon City investment attraction briefing and luncheon will be held. It is an event introducing Incheon's investment environment and incentives to overseas Korean businesspeople from around the world to seek investment and business partnerships.

The First Report Card of "Private-Led"... Ultimately Business Results

The World Hansang Convention was launched in 2002 with the aim of promoting overseas expansion of domestic SMEs and expanding domestic and international business networks for overseas Korean businesspeople.

The benchmark for the success or failure of the first private-led convention will ultimately be practical business performance. Looking at the business consultation figures of recent conventions: ▲ 17,230 cases at the 21st convention held in Anaheim, USA in 2003 [Note: 2023] ▲ 20,810 cases at the 22nd convention held in Jeonbuk in 2024 ▲ 13,730 cases at the 23rd convention held in Atlanta, USA last year. In particular, last year's convention saw 12,930 corporate exhibition consultations, 627 one-on-one business meetings, and 58 overseas export consultations, while 115 Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs) were signed.

This year, two changes—the first leadership of the private steering committee and the linkage of World Korean Week—have been added on top of these existing business functions.

In particular, attention is focused on what kind of differences the system, in which the private steering committee deliberates key issues and participates in the selection of the next convention operation plan and host location, will make in actual convention operations and business performance.

Celebrating its 24th edition since its launch in 2002, the World Hansang Convention is expected to serve as the report card of the first private-steering-committee-led convention by seeing how much it can connect Hansangs' global networks to the export and investment performance of domestic SMEs, rather than simply changing the signboard of the operating entity.

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