Korea International Medical & Hospital Equipment Show, shortened to KIMES, is the largest and longest-running gathering of the Korean health-tech industry. The 39th edition will fill the COEX in Seoul from March 14 to 17, 2024, occupying every hall with roughly 1,300 domestic and overseas manufacturers and distributors. The exhibition is strictly business-to-business; visitors are hospital purchasers, clinical engineers, radiologists, surgeons, rehabilitation specialists, dental clinic owners, nursing-home administrators, government procurement officers, and distributors from 40 countries. More than 70,000 professional visits are expected during the four days.

The organizer, Korea E & Ex, structures the floor into 14 zones that mirror the procurement cycle of a modern hospital: imaging and radiation oncology, operating theatres and sterilization, emergency and critical-care devices, laboratory and blood banking, telemedicine, AI-assisted diagnostics, wearables, rehabilitation robotics, hospital furniture and building systems, and medical disposables. A 200-booth “Start-up & University Hospital” cluster gives emerging companies first-time access to buyers, while national pavilions from Germany, the United States, Japan, China, France, and the Czech Republic present import-ready technologies.

Each morning begins with a concurrent conference that carries K-CME credits. The 2024 scientific program focuses on five themes: AI integration in imaging, value-based procurement strategies, robotic surgery training, digital therapeutics reimbursement, and net-zero hospital design. Internationally confirmed speakers include Prof. Myung Jin Chung of Severance on low-dose CT reconstruction, Prof. Peter Noël of the University of Toronto on MRI-guided radiotherapy, and Dr. Hiroshi Fujita of Gifu University on AI mammography. Policy sessions feature Korea’s new Minister of Health and Welfare and the heads of the Medical Device Development Fund and the National Evidence-based Healthcare Collaborating Agency.

Afternoons are reserved for product launches: Samsung Healthcare’s V8 ultrasound, DK Healthcare’s mobile digital X-ray, and Hugel’s toxin for post-stroke spasticity are among the slated premieres. Match-making desks operated by KOTRA and the Korea Health Industry Development Institute arrange one-on-one export meetings, while start-ups pitch to venture-capital panels for the KIMES Innovation Award. Evening networking events include a buyers’ reception and a gala dinne