Gangneung ITS World Congress holds volunteer launch ceremony; 117 set to welcome guests

【Financial News, Gangneung = Kim Gi-seop, staff writer】A 117-member citizen volunteer corps, including 40 foreign-language volunteers, will help welcome participants in the Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) World Congress and tourists arriving in Gangneung from around the world.
According to Gangneung City on the 12th, the launch ceremony for volunteers at the 2026 Gangneung ITS World Congress was held that day in the main conference room on the second floor of City Hall. The event, which will run for five days from the 19th through the 23rd at venues around Gangneung Olympic Park, is the world’s largest international event for intelligent transport systems (ITS). Around 60,000 people from some 90 countries worldwide will attend, with ministerial and academic conferences, exhibitions of advanced transport technologies, technology demonstrations and tours, cultural events and more.
The Gangneung ITS World Congress volunteer corps comprises 77 general volunteers and 40 foreign-language volunteers. During the congress, they will be stationed at side-event venues around Gangneung Olympic Park and at major tourist sites. At the side-event venues, they will help run the event by welcoming visitors, providing information about programs and routes, and maintaining order on site.
Those stationed at tourist sites will introduce the World Congress and its side events, provide tourism and transport information, and direct visitors to event venues. Foreign-language volunteers will assist foreign participants and tourists with event and tourism information and communication.
The launch ceremony proceeded with greetings from distinguished guests, the presentation of letters of appointment, the volunteer representative’s reading of a pledge, a performance wishing for the event’s success, and a commemorative photo. In their pledge, the volunteers vowed to contribute to the success of the congress through friendly and responsible service.
Immediately after the launch ceremony, volunteers also took part in preliminary training to strengthen their ability to respond on site. The training covered, in order, an overview of the World Congress and information about side events; volunteer orientation and activity guidance; and global etiquette for international events. The city said the training broadened the volunteers’ understanding of the congress as a whole and equipped them with the basic skills needed to welcome domestic and international participants.
Mayor Kim Jung-nam said, “The 117 volunteers who will be the first to meet overseas participants and visitors at venues in Olympic Park and throughout the tourist sites are the face of Gangneung. If they warmly welcome guests based on the global etiquette and on-site guidance skills they learned today, participants from around the world will remember Gangneung as a city they want to visit again.”

[email protected] Kim Gi-seop Reporter