Korea Celebrates Women Entrepreneurs at WEW 2026

By: Women Entrepreneurs Review Team | Wednesday, 1 July 2026

Innovative women entrepreneurs keenly capture everyday inconveniences and the trends of the times, and solve those problems with technology such as AI. We recognize today the strength of Korea's women entrepreneurs, and look forward to a larger future.

With an opening address by Park Chang-suk, head of the Korean Women Entrepreneurs Association, the 5th Women Entrepreneurs Week kicked off on the 1st at the Shilla Hotel in Seoul.

This is the fifth year of the largest festival and official event to celebrate women entrepreneurs who have played an important role in the economic development of the country – Women Entrepreneurs Week (WEW). Co-organized by five major women's economic groups under the Ministry of SMEs and Startup, such as Korea Women Entrepreneurs Association, Korea Women Venture Association, Korea Women Inventors Association, Korea IT Women Entrepreneurs Association and Korea Federation of Women's Science and Technology Associations.

More than 500 people attended the opening ceremony, with women business leaders from all over the country, representative organizations of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, officials of SMEs associations and groups and key personalities from the political and business world, affirming the ambition and desire of the women entrepreneurs to promote innovation and growth.

Key Highlights:

• 5th Women Entrepreneurs Week opened in Seoul
• AI and femtech innovations were showcased
• Outstanding women entrepreneurs received national awards

Deputy speaker of the National Assembly Cho Jeong-sik, Nam In-soon, and the lawmakers Na Kyung-won, Lee In-seon, Oh Se-hee, Park Sung-joon and Park So-young attended the National Assembly. In attendance with the government representatives were Lee Byeong-gweon, second vice minister of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups (MSS), Lee Dal-gon, chairperson of the Korea Commission for Corporate Partnership and Kim Jin-oh, vice chairperson of the Presidential Committee on Ageing Society and Population Policy.

Samsung Electronics President Park Seunghee was one of the attendees from the business community. Samsung Electronics, a large corporate member of the Korea Commission for Corporate Partnership, has been implementing different win-win programs such as providing support for establishing a smart factory based on its partners.

In the meantime, when Park is in attendance at the Women Entrepreneurs Week event, it will be interesting to see whether Samsung Electronics can continue their current win-win programs and further strengthen their partnerships with women entrepreneurs and the co-prosperity ecosystem.

Special speeches by women entrepreneurs who were the first to tap into new markets and develop and launch innovative technologies like AI were the highlight of the opening ceremony.

Shin Hyun-jin, the CEO of AI dubbing solution company HudsonAI, provided examples of how AI dubbing can be used to produce more K-content abroad, as well as technological innovations that will solve the language barrier in the content industry. The CEO of Innercia, a start-up in the female technology sector, Kim Hyo-yi explained that the experience of women could be a new opportunity in future industries such as femtech, pointing out that the sanitary pad developed by Innercia had been three years in the making and is now sold 19.4 billion won a year.

Women entrepreneurs were also given awards for their exceptional performance. Kim Yeon-seon, president of Daehan OK Steel, was awarded the Order of Industrial Service Merit, Gold Tower, and Hanmandu Food CEO Nam Mi-kyung, an agricultural company, an Order of Industrial Service Merit, Silver Tower.

For his 47-year-long steel industry tenure, establishing manufacturing facilities and for his work in creating quality employment opportunities with knowledge about manufacturing and distribution of cold-rolled steel products, CEOKim Yeon-seon has been honored. Nam Mi-kyung, CEO of the company, won a high award for introducing new market segments for a traditional frozen dumpling market with unique products such as galbi dumplings and web-foot octopus dumplings, as well as developing a family friendly corporate environment.

Lee Byeong-gweon, the second vice minister at the Ministry of SMEs and Startups (MSS), said, "The more advanced technology becomes, the more the ability to read others' emotions carefully and communicate will become the final competitiveness of corporations," adding, "We will listen closely to voices on the ground and provide robust support so that women entrepreneurs with strong technological capabilities and empathetic leadership can lead new trends and realize their dreams."

The 5th Women Entrepreneurs Week will also see a policy forum, an awards ceremony for the women's startup competition and an MD consultation for improving market access capabilities of women entrepreneurs throughout the week during the opening ceremony. Additionally, an online joint recruitment centre for women entrepreneurs and an online win-win special exhibition for good products by women entrepreneurs will also be conducted in the month of July and Women Entrepreneurs Week will be continued by region.