World's largest women's invention event runs Thursday through Saturday at COEX, featuring domestic and international exhibits, AI experiences and pre-registration prize draws
The 2026 Women Inventors EXPO, where visitors can explore innovative ideas and inventions from women inventors around the world, opens Thursday at COEX in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, running through Saturday.
The expo combines the Korea Women's Invention Exhibition and the World Women Invention Contest under one roof, showcasing outstanding women's inventions from home and abroad — making it the largest women's invention event in the world.
Now in its 26th edition, the Korea Women's Invention Exhibition will feature innovative products from 54 domestic women-led invention companies spanning living, beauty, industrial, tech and food categories. Visitors can try and purchase products on the spot. A live-commerce segment running throughout the event will offer select women's inventions at discounts of up to 50 percent.
Running alongside it, the 19th World Women Invention Contest has drawn a record 595 entries from 21 countries. Submissions will be judged, and a grand prize — the Grand Prix — along with main and special awards will be presented at a ceremony on Saturday.
On Friday, the Global Women IP Leadership Academy will hold a series of lectures on three topics: the keys to building a successful global brand in the AI era (Son Dong-jin, CEO of Dexter Crema); technology commercialization strategies for IP-based companies in the AI era (Choi In-gyeong, CEO of Tanalysis); and invention and entrepreneurship as told by women inventors (Kim Hyo-ryeong, CEO of La Therapia, and Zenan Al-Shehab, CEO of Kuwait Electrodis Tech). The sessions will share growth strategies and hands-on experience in intellectual property, branding and technology commercialization for women-led invention companies.
A range of AI-powered experience programs will also be on offer, including AI Magic Sketch, which transforms hand-drawn doodles into finished artworks, AI Caricature, which generates instant caricatures from facial recognition, and a custom keyring-making activity. Visitors who complete a booth-tour verification event will be eligible for a hologram bag, given out to the first 100 participants each day.
Kim Yong-seon, commissioner of the Korea Intellectual Property Office, said the Women Inventors EXPO is "a leading global women's invention festival that showcases the innovation and technological prowess of women inventors worldwide and creates new opportunities for growth." He added that the office would "provide full support so that women's refined and fresh everyday ideas can be commercialized as patented products and advance into global markets."
Admission to the expo is free and open to all. Visitors who pre-register on the event website and attend in person will be entered into a prize draw for items including a retro mini refrigerator, a wireless fan and beauty devices.
kwonhl@heraldcorp.com
