Event runs Thursday through Sunday at Sacheon Airbase in South Gyeongsang Province
Aerospace and defense industrial exhibition held for the first time, with 130 companies participating
Global aerospace firms including Lockheed Martin to converge on Sacheon
South Gyeongsang Province announced Friday that it will hold the inaugural Global Aerospace and Defense Exhibition, or GADEX, as part of the 2026 Sacheon Airshow, running Thursday through Sunday at Sacheon Airbase. The addition transforms the biennial airshow — traditionally focused on public displays and hands-on experiences — into a global aerospace business platform by incorporating industrial exhibitions and export consultation services.
The event will bring together global aerospace and defense companies, international buyers and foreign air force delegations to pursue business-to-business export consultations and government-to-business defense cooperation, with a focus on generating tangible export and procurement results.
A total of 130 companies and institutions — 108 domestic and 22 foreign — will participate in GADEX, which runs Thursday through Sunday, setting up 283 booths to showcase advanced technologies and industrial capabilities.
Domestic participants include Korea Aerospace Industries, Hanwha Aerospace, Hyundai Rotem, Hyundai Wia and LIG DNH, along with the Korea AeroSpace Administration, the Korea Aerospace Research Institute, the Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute, the Korea Institute of Materials Science and Korea Testing Laboratory.
Thirty-four companies and institutions based in South Gyeongsang Province will participate, showcasing the region's technological strength and competitiveness in the aerospace and defense sectors. Provincial firms including Hankuk Carbon, Firstec, AST, Korea Air Service, Korea Non-Ferrous, Kencoa Aerospace, DK-Lok, Songwol Technology and CAS will seek cooperation opportunities and new contracts with global companies.
International participants include Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and Rolls-Royce, as well as the Netherlands Aerospace Centre, the Basque Trade and Investment agency of Spain and the Quebec Government Office in Korea, lending the exhibition greater international scale and prestige.
The industrial exhibition will cover a total of 7,250 square meters, including exhibition halls and an export consultation center. Hall 1 will feature 202 booths inside a large air dome spanning 3,600 square meters, while Hall 2 will house 81 booths in a 2,450-square-meter airbase maintenance hangar. A 1,200-square-meter export consultation center and seminar venue will also be set up, creating a one-stop business space for exhibitions, export consultations and technology and information exchange. On Saturday and Sunday, the exhibition will be open to all airshow visitors, who may enter freely without separate registration.
The exhibition goes beyond product and technology displays, with a strong emphasis on generating real export and procurement results. More than 20 global buyers will take part in one-on-one B2B export consultations with exhibiting companies. Ten dedicated consultation rooms will operate in the export center to support individual meetings, contract discussions and order placements, and KOTRA will organize a separate business consultation event for visiting global companies.
South Gyeongsang Province will set up a 140-square-meter regional aerospace industry pavilion inside Hall 1, spotlighting aerospace products manufactured in the province to demonstrate its technological capabilities and industrial competitiveness. The pavilion will be divided into three zones — space, aviation and corporate — and will combine physical exhibits with digital content to trace the development of the province's aerospace industry and present its future vision.
Government-to-business defense cooperation will also be pursued in conjunction with a World Air Chiefs Conference held alongside the airshow. The conference was organized to raise the international profile of the Sacheon Airshow and to boost exports of domestically produced aircraft and defense products while strengthening international defense cooperation. Air force delegations from more than 15 countries are expected to attend.
Sacheon Deputy Mayor Kim Je-hong said the inaugural GADEX would give companies in South Gyeongsang Province the chance to forge new business opportunities with world-class firms. "We will work to grow the Sacheon Airshow into a global aerospace business platform representing the Republic of Korea," he said.
ook967@heraldcorp.com
