Opening of the Daejeon Pavilion at CES 2026
Daejeon City Operates Independent Pavilion for Three Consecutive Years
Focus on Matching Companies with Investors and Buyers
From the left, Moon Taek Lim, Director of Research and Development Special Zone Promotion Foundation, Inhwan Moon, Deputy Mayor of Jung-gu, Daehee Park, CEO of Daejeon Creative Economy Innovation Center, Choonggyu Choi, Mayor of Daedeok-gu, Yongrae Jung, Mayor of Yuseong-gu, Wonhui Cho, Chairman of Daejeon City Council, Seonga Choi, Deputy Mayor for Political, Economic and Scientific Affairs of Daejeon City, Victor Hoskins, Director of Fairfax County Economic Development Authority, Seungcheol Lee, President of Hannam University, Wooyeon Kim, Director of Daejeon Technopark, Chunhee Baek, Chairman of Daejeon Cultural Foundation (Photo by Daejeon City)
On January 6 at 10:30 a.m. local time, Daejeon City officially opened the 'Daejeon Pavilion' at CES 2026 (Consumer Electronics Show) in Las Vegas, USA, marking the beginning of a full-scale push for the global expansion of local innovative companies.
The opening ceremony was attended by Seonga Choi, Deputy Mayor for Political, Economic and Scientific Affairs of Daejeon City; Victor Hoskins, Director of Fairfax County Economic Development Authority; Wooyeon Kim, Director of Daejeon Technopark; Daehee Park, CEO of Daejeon Creative Economy Innovation Center; as well as representatives from participating companies and related organizations, who gathered to celebrate the launch of the Daejeon Pavilion.
This year, CES 2026 is being held under the slogan 'Innovators Show Up,' highlighting the role of innovators who drive real change in markets and society, going beyond technology alone.
In line with this trend, the Daejeon Pavilion is establishing itself as a 'practical innovation stage' that goes beyond simple technology exhibitions and provides validation in the global market.
In particular, since 2024, Daejeon City has established and operated the Daejeon Pavilion within Eureka Park at CES for three consecutive years. Eureka Park is a startup-exclusive zone within CES, open only to startups less than five years old, and is one of the exhibition areas with the strictest entry requirements. Only companies that pass rigorous screening focused on technological innovation and growth potential can meet global investors and buyers in this space.
At CES 2026, the Daejeon Pavilion is again located within Eureka Park, showcasing and supporting 17 startups. This demonstrates that Daejeon startups possess technological capabilities and business potential that meet global standards, even at the early technology company stage.
Furthermore, excluding Seoul, Daejeon is the only local government in Korea to operate its own pavilion independently within Eureka Park, drawing attention to the competitiveness of Daejeon's startup ecosystem.
Additionally, the city is supporting not only early-stage startups but also 10 companies that have entered the growth stage after more than five years in business, through the Daejeon Pavilion within the KOTRA Korea Pavilion. This broadens support for the global expansion of technology-based companies, especially those in Daejeon's six strategic industries.
For this year's CES, the city has focused on generating tangible results beyond technology exhibitions by collaborating with local U.S. partners even before the event, arranging pre-matched meetings with investors and buyers tailored to each company's technology and business stage.
During the exhibition, participating companies will hold on-site meetings with these pre-matched global investors and buyers, aiming not only for technology validation but also for attracting investment and achieving overseas market entry.
Meanwhile, five companies participating in CES 2026 from Daejeon have won CES Innovation Awards, proving their technological competitiveness.
The CES Innovation Awards, presented by the Consumer Technology Association (CTA), comprehensively evaluate technology, design, and innovation, and are regarded as an indicator of a company's growth potential in the global market.
The award-winning companies-Linsol, Everysim, Bluedevice, Libest, and Deepcentro-demonstrate that Daejeon possesses world-class technological capabilities across a range of advanced fields, including AI, semiconductors, smart homes, and energy.
Seonga Choi, Deputy Mayor for Political, Economic and Scientific Affairs, stated, "Operating the Daejeon Pavilion in Eureka Park for three consecutive years means that Daejeon startups are not just participating on a one-off basis, but are continuously pursuing global challenges and delivering results. Moving forward, we will strengthen performance-oriented support that goes beyond exhibition-focused assistance, so that it leads to tangible investment attraction and overseas market entry."
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