INCHEON — Incheon has stepped up its diplomatic campaign to host the 2028 Group of 20 summit, asking ambassadors from 16 countries who attended an international event in Songdo to support the city's bid, the metropolitan government said on Oct. 12.
At a reception for the 2026 First Global Challenge, held at Gyeongwonjae Ambassador Incheon by Walkerhill in Songdo, city officials met with the diplomatic corps and promoted Incheon's capacity to stage the summit. The city pointed to its experience running a large-scale event drawing 4,500 young people from 185 countries as evidence of its ability to manage a major international gathering. Officials highlighted the city's access to Incheon International Airport and its MICE infrastructure centered on Songdo Convensia as core strengths of its candidacy.
The city also argues that its industrial base aligns with the G20's main agenda items. Artificial intelligence, clean energy and global supply chains — all central to G20 discussions — can be observed firsthand at Incheon airport, Incheon Port and the Songdo bio cluster, officials said. That makes the city an ideal venue where global economic issues debated in conference rooms can be verified immediately at industrial sites, they said.
Following the World Korean Business Convention, the city is running an online and offline petition campaign involving 7 million overseas Koreans and 3.05 million residents to build momentum for the bid. "We will make full use of various opportunities for international exchange to promote Incheon's strengths and broaden our base of international support," the mayor said. "Incheon is the best-prepared city and the one that shares the most benefits with other regions. We will leave nothing undone in our application and in the on-site inspection."
Alongside the diplomatic effort, the city is weighing a strategy of "super-regional cooperation and distributed hosting" with other local governments. Incheon Mayor Park Chan-dae outlined the idea in a meeting with reporters marking the first 100 days of his term, saying he does not envision Incheon hosting the G20 on its own. Under the plan, the roughly 100 ministerial and working-level meetings held over the year surrounding the summit would be distributed among neighboring local governments along the west coast, including the Chungcheong and Jeonbuk regions.
The cooperation plan is designed to confront the disadvantage facing the Seoul metropolitan area as the city competes with Busan and Jeju Special Self-Governing Province, both mentioned as rival candidates. With government-funded projects often excluding the capital region, the city aims to secure a national rationale by presenting a model of shared growth with neighboring jurisdictions. Incheon plans to hold working-level talks with local governments along the west coast belt to develop a concrete joint approach.