The 'traffic Olympics' opens Monday at Olympic Park and runs through Friday
Gangwon Special Self-Governing Province will operate a dedicated exhibition pavilion at the ITS World Congress, held Monday through Friday at Olympic Park in Gangneung, to promote the province's future vehicle industry achievements and its vision for next-generation mobility.
The Gangwon Future Mobility Pavilion will be run jointly by the province's Strategic Industries Division, Hoengseong-gun and Gangwon Technopark. It will give domestic and international participants and visitors a comprehensive overview of the province's policies for nurturing the future vehicle industry, its research and demonstration infrastructure, and its business support programs.
The pavilion will introduce to visitors from more than 90 countries the full-lifecycle future mobility support infrastructure built with backing from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, the Korean National Police Agency and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport — including the Hoengseong Future Mobility Research and Demonstration Complex, focused on finished vehicles, and the Gangwon Future Mobility Innovation Center in Wonju, focused on parts development.
The province will also present the development direction of a Gangwon-style future mobility industrial ecosystem — one that links the region's future vehicle manufacturing and parts industries with advanced intelligent transport system technologies, as seen in Gangneung, and with mobility services in the transportation and tourism sectors.
Through the pavilion, the province plans to highlight the growth potential of Gangwon's future mobility sector — particularly its capacity to expand from manufacturing and parts into actual mobility services — and to share its vision for building an ecosystem in which industry and transportation services develop together.
Gangwon Province intends to use the congress as an opportunity to deepen ties with future mobility companies and institutions at home and abroad, raise the profile of the province's competitiveness and investment appeal, and attract businesses and foster industrial cooperation.
The 2026 Gangneung ITS World Congress is the largest international event in the intelligent transport systems field and is often called the "traffic Olympics." About 60,000 experts and tourists are expected to visit Gangneung for the occasion.
The congress will bring together government officials, companies and experts from around the world to share ideas on future transportation technology and policy. Through high-level meetings, academic sessions, exhibitions, and technology demonstrations and site visits, it will chart the direction of future transportation advances, including autonomous driving and other cutting-edge traffic technologies.
"The Gangneung ITS World Congress is a valuable opportunity to showcase to the world the future vehicle industry foundation and growth potential the province has built up," said Han Yeong-seon, director of the Gangwon Special Self-Governing Province's Industry Bureau. "We will continue to strengthen our research and demonstration base centered on future vehicle manufacturing and parts, and expand the industrial ecosystem in connection with future transportation services."
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