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Maekyung Group’s 20th World Knowledge Forum kicks off in Seoul

[Photo by Han Joo-hyung]

The World Knowledge Forum, the largest annual business forum in Asia hosted by South Korea’s largest business media Maekyung Media Group, celebrated its 20th year conference Wednesday in central Seoul, with a mission to bring unity to the growingly fractured and protectionist world.

Since its launch in 2000, the forum has established itself as an intelligence hotbed through visionary discussions from a diverse range of people from all corners of the world. More than 250 leaders from political, economic, business and technology sectors are taking part at this year’s forum that will run under the theme of “Perspicacity towards Prosperity for All.”

Chang Dae-whan, chairman of Maekyung Media Group, in a keynote speech talked about the four major stages of “knowledge Big Bang” in human history: the human evolution to homo sapiens, the Agricultural Revolution, the Scientific Revolution sparked by the printing press, and the Industrial Revolution.

“We are now entering the Knowledge Revolution 5.0 era,” he said, adding that artificial intelligence, 5G, smart sensing and other technologies of the fourth industrial revolution are poised to “dramatically change human life.”

Chang stressed the importance of knowledge sharing platforms, such as the World Economic Forum, Mobile World Congress, Consumer Electronics Show and TED, and projected reliable media platforms to play a bigger role in knowledge-driven management for their ability to provide accurate information and influence future decisions.

[Photo by Han Joo-hyung]

Wang Jia Rui, vice chairman of the Chinese People′s Political Consultative Conference, in his congratulatory address said the world was going through a major transformation that was posing new challenges as well as opportunities for humanity.

“At this time of great revolutionary change, we need to understand the rules of history, identify the big trends and share our knowledge,” he said.

In a slight jab at the United States and President Donald Trump’s tariff war, Wang stressed that what the world wants is to “keep moving globalization forward” and that “all countries need to work together in an open and inclusive manner to build mutual understanding and trust.”

[Photo by Han Joo-hyung]

South Korean President Moon Jae-in, who is in New York to attend the United Nations General Assembly, in a video message acknowledged the big role World Knowledge Forum has played in building knowledge-based society in Korea and Asia at large, and encouraged it to continue broadening its platform to share more diverse and quality knowledge.

By Park Yun-gu and Kim Hyo-jin

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