World FoodTech Council co-chairman Lee Ki-won and North Gyeongsang Technopark President Ha In-sung (right). [North Gyeongsang Technopark]
World FoodTech Council co-chairman Lee Ki-won and North Gyeongsang Technopark President Ha In-sung (right). [North Gyeongsang Technopark]

North Gyeongsang Technopark received a merit award at the World FoodTech 2026 ConfEx, held at KINTEX Hall 2, the organization announced Thursday.

The WFT26 ConfEx is a global knowledge-sharing event co-hosted by the World FoodTech Council, the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and Seoul National University. It features 100 awards, 100 exhibitions and 100 sessions, drawing more than 30,000 participants from over 30 countries.

The opening ceremony on June 9 was led by Kang Keum-sil, chair of the WFT26 ConfEx organizing committee and former Minister of Justice, who presided over a large-scale awards presentation.

At the ceremony, North Gyeongsang Technopark President Ha In-sung received the merit award from World FoodTech Council co-chairman Lee Ki-won in recognition of his contributions to advancing the foodtech and biotech convergence industry in the region.

The awards ceremony also spotlighted companies participating in the "Cell-Cultured Food Regulatory Free Zone," a special zone backed by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, Uiseong-gun and North Gyeongsang Technopark.

Zone company Seaweed claimed both the Young Prize and the Special Prize — awarded by the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry — making it a double winner at the event.

Microdigital and Ratbio each took a Best Prize, further demonstrating that the special zone ecosystem in North Gyeongsang Province is driving the growth of promising companies and delivering tangible results.

"We will continue to provide comprehensive infrastructure and commercialization support so that companies within the special zone can perform on the global stage, with the North Gyeongsang foodtech innovation cluster at the center of those efforts," Ha said.


kbj7653@heraldcorp.com