This Year, South Korean Government Expo Emerges as a Leading Candidate for Gwangju Venue

Diplejeongwi - Ministry of the Interior and Safety Hosted Event
Expected Participation from Numerous Companies and Organizations
"Breaking Away from the Capital Region... Balanced Development of Yeongho and Nam"

A large-scale event expected to unveil the concept of the ‘Digital Platform Government,’ which connects the public and the government in a one-stop manner, is anticipated to be held in Gwangju.

Exhibition space of Kakao participating in the '2023 Republic of Korea Government Expo'
[Photo by Kakao]

According to the Digital Platform Government Committee (DPLG Committee) under the direct control of the President on the 12th, Gwangju City is being strongly considered as the host city for the ‘2024 Korea Government Expo’ scheduled for the second half of this year.

The Government Expo, an annual event hosted by the DPLG Committee and the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, was held over three days from November 23 last year at BEXCO in Busan. The event saw full participation from central government ministries, local governments, public institutions, and private companies, with a total of 99 organizations and companies taking part. Leading IT companies such as Naver, Kakao, SK Telecom, KT, and LG AI Research opened booths to showcase their artificial intelligence (AI) technologies.

The Government Expo was organized with the aim of integrating private digital technologies into government administrative tasks and public services to achieve innovation and enhance convenience for the public. The implementation of the Digital Platform Government, which integrates and links diverse data to solve social problems, is a core national agenda of the Yoon Suk-yeol administration, with the budget allocated to each ministry approaching 1 trillion won this year.

Last November, at the '2023 Korea Government Expo' held at BEXCO in Busan, government officials including Lee Sang-min, Minister of the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, and Ko Jin, Chairman of the Digital Platform Government Committee, are viewing the Naver exhibition booth.
[Photo by Naver]

The plan to hold the event in Gwangju this year, following Busan last year, is intended to balance the Yeongnam and Honam regions. A DPLG Committee official said, "Considering that the expo was held at BEXCO in Busan last year, we are considering the Kim Dae-jung Convention Center in Gwangju this year to balance the Yeongnam and Honam regions," adding, "We are moving away from the Seoul metropolitan area focus and, while searching for a venue capable of hosting the exhibition, Gwangju has emerged as a strong candidate."

In March, the DPLG Committee and Gwangju City signed a memorandum of understanding to cooperate in specialized business areas based on AI and data. Kang Gi-jung, Mayor of Gwangju, expressed the commitment of both organizations to collaborate and make citizens' lives more convenient through digital innovation.