Event G20 Seoul Summit
Venue Coex
Attendees 33 world leaders, 4,000 delegates and 4,500 media
Date November 11-12
 


The brief
The G20 Seoul Summit brought together world leaders to discuss economic issues and solutions over a two-day event, which was held at Coex Seoul.
 
Challenges
Logistics were the biggest challenge. After being selected as the venue, a team of 12 Coex employees worked exclusively on the G20 preparation for the 10 months leading up to the event. More people were added as the summit approached.
 
Coex was not only the host venue, but also one of the main PCOs for the G20 summit. It planned, organised and constructed the interior of all four exhibition halls, as well as running all operational procedures for the press and broadcast centres.
 
Construction in Hall D, where the summit was held, involved complex planning for security, exits and entries, and allowances for all meetings and meals without downtime. This meant that in addition to the plenary summit hall, there were several other 33-seat halls prepared and built. There was also a large leaders’ lounge, and even the bathrooms were renovated to meet the leaders’ security needs.
 
Security received much publicity, with an oft-quoted number of 50,000 police being brought in from around the country. Most of these forces were not at Coex itself, but spread around the city, guarding various hotels and roadways. All security was organised by the Korean government.
 
Multiple security drills were held in the months preceding the summit, including fire drills, large-scale anti-disaster equipment training, and high-intensity physical drills, where security teams scaled Coex’s outer walls. To keep the venue as safe as possible, three lines of fences were erected to monitor foot traffic around Coex and the surrounding districts.
 
Execution
Delegates arrived on November 11 and joined a welcome reception followed by a working dinner. November 12 began with three morning sessions, followed by two separate working lunches. A group photo was taken during this time. The afternoon featured a further two sessions followed by a summary event, and then a press conference.
 
Comment
“The G20 was a huge success for Seoul because it proved to both the domestic and international community that Seoul had the capacity and the ability to host such a high-profile event of that size,” says Samuel Koo, president and CEO of Seoul Tourism Organization.

“COEX exemplified the level of professional service and state-of-the-art conference facilities Seoul has to offer international meetings, while the city’s key business hotels demonstrated the local hospitality industry’s commitment. Seoul also showed it can provide high-level security for international events.”