8,000 Lung Cancer Experts from Around the World Gather in Seoul, Proving It Is Asia’s No. 1 MICE City

[Financial News] More than 8,000 leading scholars and experts in lung cancer from around the world will visit Seoul. The world’s largest international conference on lung cancer will be held in Seoul for the first time in 19 years, underscoring the city’s competitiveness as Asia’s leading MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions) destination. Seoul Metropolitan Government and Seoul Tourism Organization (STO) announced on the 9th that they will host the IASLC 2026 World Conference on Lung Cancer (WCLC 2026) at COEX for four days, from the 12th to the 15th. WCLC is the world’s largest academic conference on lung cancer, where experts from around the world share the latest research findings and treatments while building research and cooperation networks.
Since the event is returning to Seoul for the first time in 19 years after 2007, Seoul Metropolitan Government and STO have provided support throughout the entire process, from bidding for the conference to preparing for its opening. During the event, they will operate a “Seoul Experience Booth” featuring hanbok experiences, mother-of-pearl wind chime and Hangul bead-bracelet workshops, and photo zones. They will provide Seoul tourism information and merchandise, while also offering personalized travel itineraries through bleisure consultations that combine business and leisure. The plan is to encourage participants to stay longer in Seoul before and after the conference, generating local spending on accommodation, dining, shopping and tourism.
In August, Seoul Metropolitan Government also succeeded in winning the bid to host APSIC 2030, a leading international conference on infection control in the Asia-Pacific region. The event, scheduled to take place in Seoul in 2030, is expected to attract about 1,500 infection-control experts and medical professionals from around 10 Asia-Pacific countries, including Singapore, Japan and Australia. It will be the first time APSIC is held in South Korea.
Seoul Metropolitan Government and STO, together with Korea Tourism Organization (KTO), supported the overall bidding process, including preliminary consultations, sending letters of support and preparing the proposal.
Seoul Metropolitan Government explained that the successive arrival of major international medical conferences is attributable not only to the city’s world-class medical professionals and institutions, but also to its international-conference infrastructure, including transportation and accommodation, as well as its cultural and tourism offerings.
According to the 2025 international-conference statistics released by the Union of International Associations (UIA), Seoul ranked third worldwide and first in Asia with 216 events. It also ranked ninth worldwide under the International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA) criteria, remaining among the world’s top 10 for the third consecutive year. Seoul has also been named one of the “Best MICE Cities” selected by Global Traveler, a U.S. business-travel publication, for 11 consecutive years.
Cho Sung-ho, director of Seoul Metropolitan Government’s Tourism and Sports Bureau, said, “Hosting WCLC 2026 and winning the bid for APSIC 2030—the first such event to be held in South Korea—are the results of Seoul’s systematic MICE support system and cooperation among academic societies and industry. We will expand international conference participants’ stays and tourism activities so that they lead to the revitalization of local tourism and the economy.”
[email protected] Reporter Cho Rong-seong Reporter