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Goyang to complete Kintex Exhibition Center 3 by 2028, hotel by 2029

Published: 13 Oct. 2025, 14:58

A 3-D rendering image of Kintex exhibition centers 1, 2 and 3 after construction is completed in 2028 in Goyang, Gyeonggi [GOYANG CITY]

Goyang city announced on Monday that it will hold a groundbreaking ceremony on Oct. 23 for Kintex Exhibition Center 3 and begin full-scale construction in December. The project has a total budget of 672.6 billion won ($471 million).

Basic groundwork began in March, with completion targeted for 2028. Once finished, the new facilities will include Exhibition Hall 3A — covering 47,000 square meters (11.6 acres) and with four halls and six conference rooms — and Hall 3B, which will span 12,000 square meters and have two halls.

When the project is completed, Kintex will offer a total of 170,000 square meters of exhibition space across its three centers — nearly five times the size of Coex's Convention and Exhibition Center in southern Seoul, which measures 36,007 square meters (about 388,000 square feet). The expanded venue is expected to meet the scale required to host global mega events like CES in the United States, IFA in Germany and MWC in Spain.

The city projects that the third exhibition center will generate an annual economic impact of around 64.6 trillion won in production and create approximately 30,000 jobs. It is also expected to boost regional growth by linking with nearby development projects such as the Ilsan Techno Town, the Broadcasting and Media Valley and the free economic zone.

With the groundbreaking, the city is speeding up efforts to establish a “stay-and-meet” model for its MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions) sector — encompassing accommodations, transportation and other visitor services.

A 3-D rendering image of the Kintex exhibition center's parking building in Goyang, Gyeonggi [GOYANG CITY]

A 3-D rendering image of the anchor hotel near Kintex convention center in Goyang, Gyeonggi [GOYANG CITY]

A new anchor hotel, the four-star Novotel Ambassador Kintex, will be built near the venue. The 19-story hotel with approximately 300 rooms will begin preliminary construction in May and enter full construction in June, with completion expected in 2029. Once completed, the city will offer around 1,500 hotel rooms, including the existing Sono Calm’s 826 rooms and K-Tree’s 422 rooms — significantly improving conditions for international conference attendees, buyers and performance-goers.

In addition, a multiuse parking complex with a floor area of 41,844 square meters and space for approximately 1,000 vehicles will break ground in the first quarter of next year. An adjacent outdoor lot for 800 vehicles was completed on Oct. 1 near Hall 3B. When the parking complex is completed in the first half of 2028, Kintex will have parking capacity for about 7,400 vehicles. The venue will also be directly connected to Kintex Station on the GTX-A line, improving accessibility and visitor management.

The city has completed its “three-pronged foundation” — hardware (facilities), software (competitiveness) and systems (organization) — over the past three years, putting Goyang in position to emerge as a global MICE hub, according to Goyang Mayor Lee Dong-hwan.

“The groundbreaking of Kintex Exhibition Center 3 marks a new leap forward for Goyang’s MICE industry and a shift in the national MICE landscape,” said Lee. “We will organically link accommodations, transportation and industrial infrastructure to build a high-quality, stay-oriented MICE city.”

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY JEON ICK-JIN [[email protected]]