1,500 Overseas Korean Businessmen
to Gather for 4th WKBC
Aim to cement a global network of Korean businessmen

The 4th World Korean Business Convention (WKBC) will be held at KINTEX, north of Seoul, on Sept. 13-Sept. 15 with 2,500 businesspeople, including 1,500 overseas Korean businessmen, participating. The Convention is an international business convention organized to further strengthen a global network of Korean businessmen, or called Hansang in Korean and expand the influence of Korean enterprises, thus helping realize the goal of developing Korea as an economic hub of Northeast Asia and raising the per capita national income to $20,000.
Lee Kwang-kyu, chairman of the Overseas Koreans Foundation (OKF) and also the organizer of the 4th WKBC, said, "The 4th WKBC is building a global network of Korean businessmen and women from around the world, and the convention, changing and growing with each year, now stands at the true 'international business convention'and acts as the catalyst to further improve your business." "I sincerely hope that the 4th WKBC will serve as an opportunity to show and lead you into the bright future that lies ahead of Korean businesses,
which now stand in the center of the world. Your continuous support and cooperation will undoubtedly make our future all the more promising,"he said.
The 4th WKBE will be officially opened during an opening ceremony, to be held in the morning of Sept. 14, which be followed by a special business textile fair where 'Hansang Textile Belt,'a network of Koreans in the global textile industry, will be launched. It is designed to present the vision of an exemplary Hansang that proactively responds to the changes of the industry. Participants will be offered a seminar on BRICS, short for the emerging markets, Brazil, Russia, India and China -about how to enter the markets and set up strategies on Sept. 15. Hansang Fashion Show and Gala Dinner will be held from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. on the same day.
Prior to the opening ceremony, the participants will participate in the Leading CEO Forum and Future Business Leaders Forum, to be held on Sept. 13.
Among the programs of WKBC will be the One-on-One Business Meetings, a more professional and specific format called 'Meetings by Industries.'They aim to maximize the synergy effects among the participants.
The OKF has strived to consolidate a foundation for overseas Korean communities. To this end, the foundation holds the annual World Korean Business Convention every year since 2002.
The purpose of the "Hansang" network is to build up integrated networks of Korean economy in such sectors as commerce, trade, IT, venture and science and technology by connecting among the networks of ethnic Koreans and between overseas and domestic networks, through which overseas and local businessmen expand market presence by exchanging information on markets and services.
Overseas Korean businessmen suffered difficulties in the process of preparing the First World Korean Business Convention in 2002, but the inaugural Convention turned out to be a success with an overwhelming participation and concern on the part of overseas and local Korean businessmen.
The First World Korean Business Convention, held in the Lotte Hotel in downtown Seoul between Oct. 8 and Oct. 10, 2002, attracted 968 businessmen from 28 countries, including 116 businessmen from Korea. Overseas Koreans negotiated domestic investments worth $30 million.
An issue of building up the Hansang network among overseas Koreans was raised by Rep. Shin Gye-ryun during the National Assembly Unification, Foreign Affairs and Trade Committee's inspection on the OKT.
Overseas Koreans marked last year the 140th anniversary of their immigration to Russia, the 101st anniversary to the United States and 99th anniversary. Korean immigrants had to endure the disgrace of forfeiture of national sovereignty through so much in the last century or earlier. nw

Lee Kwang-kyu, chairman of the Overseas Koreans Foundation (OKF) and also the organizer of the 4th WKBC
(Left) The 3rd World Korean Business Convention (WKBC) held in Jeju last year.
(Right) The poster of the 4th World Korean Business Convention (WKBC), slated for Sept. 13-15 at KINTEX.