Anna Jiwon Park has been covering the politics at The Korea Times since the summer of 2024, when she joined the press pool for the Office of the President in Korea. Prior to that, she spent about five years reporting extensively on financial markets, regulatory authorities and the financial industry. She joined The Korea Times in 2019 after spending eight years as a broadcast journalist at Arirang TV, Korea’s leading global broadcaster, covering politics, defense and culture.
Seoul Fintech Week 2023 to be held from Oct. 4-6
Screen capture image of the Seoul Fintech Week official website
By Anna J. Park
Annual fintech festival presents latest fintech trends
The Seoul Metropolitan Government will host this year's Seoul Fintech Week from Oct. 4 to 6 at Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP) in Seoul.
Under the theme of "How Fintech Will Transform Our Lives," the annual event feature a total of eight programs, ranging from international conferences, challenge awards ceremony, innovation showcases, fintech investor relations (IR) pitch sessions jointly held by financial companies, promotional booth setups by promising fintech businesses, and to lectures by influencers.
On the first day of the three-day event, Toss founder and CEO Lee Seung-gun will deliver a keynote speech on how fintech businesses create social benefits. Toss is the country's first fintech business in Korea that achieved the unicorn status of valuation over $1 billion among other fintech venture companies.
A global conference jointly organized by the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) and the Seoul city government will also be held on the morning hours of the day. In the afternoon, an awards ceremony will be held, honoring a total of nine fintech startups that were selected by Shinhan Bank from fierce competition.
On Oct.5, Syuka, or a mega YouTube influencer on the economic issues with over 2.8 million subscribers, will give a lecture on artificial intellience (AI)'s impacts on fintech businesses. Syuka, who used to be a prop trader at major securities firms, is serving as a promotional ambassador for both the Seoul government and the FSS.
In the afternoon of the second day of the event, a global fintech insight forum will be jointly organized by the Seoul city government and the Korea Fintech Industry Association (KOFRIN), inviting experts from Singapore, Japan and Hong Kong.
On the last installment of the three-day event, "Fin Today -- the 2nd Seoul Fintech Lab" will be held to discover fintech companies with innovative and differentiated technologies and to provide opportunities for collaboration with financial companies and investment attraction. In addition, the "2023 Seoul Fintech Week Demo Day with Industrial Bank of Korea (IBK)," will also be held.
“Seoul Fintech Week 2023 is the fintech festival designed to develop a sustainable fintech industry by reviewing major trends in the finance and fintech industries and discovering promising fintech companies with innovative technologies," an official from the Seoul city government said. “We hope that many citizens interested in digital finance, as well as fintech companies, will participate and enjoy the festival of the fintech industry, which is Seoul’s key future industry,” he said.
Hosted by the Seoul government, the fintech week event is also supported by the FSS, Shinhan Bank, Industrial Bank of Korea (IBK), Shinhan Future's Lab, the KOFRIN, among others. Anyone interested in the event can join the venue.