K-Print, Korea’s largest exhibition for printing companies, has been pushed back to 12-15 November, 2020.
Originally planned to take place 2-5 September, 2020, the event’s organisers had claimed it would be, ‘the world’s first printing and packaging exhibition to be held post-COVID-19.’
Until recently, it had been hoped to take place as planned, with South Korea widely lauded for its work to manage and contain the coronavirus that has caused widespread and costly damage to economies, societies and families the world over. However, a recent surge in cases in the East Asian country has seen restrictions re-imposed, including on large gatherings. With the intended open date for K-Print 2020 now only one week away, the organisers of the event have decided to delay the exhibition until November.
The biennial show is co-organised by Korea E&Ex and the Korean Printers Association, and sees six exhibitions held at once under one roof, with KIPES, K-Label, K-Pack, K-DigiPrint, K-Textile and K-Sign&AD zones making up the K-Print event. This is noted as being in line with the trend of expansion and convergence in the print industry.
K-Print takes place over four days at the Ilsan Kintex Exhibition Center in Goyang on the outskirts of Seoul. Elements of the event will also be streamed live online, while seminars and webinars will provide additional online/offline content in alongside the exhibiting companies.
At the 2018 event, digital label and package printing had a strong presence, particularly through inkjet vendors. Korea’s own Dilli, Valloy and Anytron (Bitek) were present at K-Print 2018, as were inkjet printing systems from AstroNova, Domino, Durst, InkTec Europe, Konica Minolta and Screen.
At K-Print 2020, the organisers are promising that both domestic and foreign companies from across the print industry will be showcasing their latest technologies and products.
Print and/or packaging events all over the world planned for this year have largely been postponed and rescheduled, such as drupa and Labelexpo Americas, both of which will take place early next year. Others, such as Printing United and EFI Connect – EFI Engage in 2021 – have gone virtual. Packaging Innovations & Luxury Packaging London has now been delayed from September to December 2020, following the UK government green-lighting the UK event industry to return in the autumn, dependent on the completion of successful trials. These have been delayed owing to ongoing coronavirus-related developments. Printing Expo, a virtual exhibition for the print industry, will go live shortly.
As such, the delay to November will mean K-Print is still likely to be one of the first printing and packaging exhibitions to take place, and will be viewed by many as a test case of how exhibitions can operate now and in the future..
K-Print 2020 is a prominent exhibition as selected by South Korea’s Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, and is sponsored by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Gyeonggido, and the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA). The government will be funding the lodging expenses for foreign buyers and exhibitors whose visits had been suppressed by COVID-19.
Korea E&Ex reiterated that exhibitions in Korea, which had been put on hold due to COVID-19, have been resuming since May with the decreased number of confirmed cases in the country. The country’s exhibition industry has recorded zero confirmed cases since May.
‘As this year’s K-Print encompasses the six different exhibitions that will open up a new future for the printing industry, it is the perfect opportunity to gain the competitiveness needed to face the challenges of the new market as well as see what’s in store for the future,’ the organisers said in a statement confirming their hopes for K-Print 2020.
