Seoul set to host 100 international conferences

Seoul is scheduled to host nearly 100 international conferences between 2012 and 2018, 31 of them large-scale events that are expected to bring more than 2,000 participants each, including next year’s Nuclear Security Summit.

According to the Seoul Metropolitan Government yesterday, the Korean Society of Critical Care Medicine on Wednesday won its bid to host the World Federation of Societies of Intensive and Critical Care Medicine Congress here in Seoul in 2015. Approximately 8,000 people are expected to attend the conference.

Overall, 32 Korean organizations this year won the right to host international conferences in Seoul. On Oct. 30, in Santiago, Chile, the Korean Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons got the bid to host the International Conference on Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery in Seoul in 2017, beating out five other places, such as Singapore. The association grabbed the attention of the 21-member judging panel with a 100-page proposal, with the judges unanimously voting for Seoul, according to the Seoul Metropolitan Government.

Many of the Korean organizations had participated in a city-run program that teaches conference organizers how to give English presentations effectively in making bids for international conferences.

“We launched the clinic in 2008 for people in which native English speakers correct their pronunciation and expressions and presentation skills,” said Ha Myeong-hui from the city government’s Tourism Division. “We also offer a seminar once a year where those who succeeded in getting bids pass on their know-how.”

The city said that organizations that want to host international conferences in Seoul can enroll in the program free of charge.

By Kim Hee-jin [heejin@joongang.co.kr]