From landmark theme islands to future islands… 8 exhibition halls experienced through cutting-edge technology
Culture, treasure islands, and even global island food culture… Islands that the whole family can enjoy and taste
Main venue to be completed at the end of July… Official opening on September 5 after trial operations in August

Flying Urban Air Mobility (UAM), hydrogen-powered ships, junk art expressing the polluted ocean, and treasure islands to stimulate children's adventurous spirit—eight distinct islands will unfold in one place at the Dolsan Jinmo District in Yeosu on September 5. This is the "2026 Yeosu World Island Exhibition," the world’s first exhibition dedicated to the theme of "islands."

The first impression of this journey is determined by the landmark "Theme Island." The Theme Island, spanning 40m in width and length with a height of 20m, starts at the boundary where the island meets the sea and follows the history of how islands were created and connected. After passing through four themed gates that embody the waves around the island and the boundary between the island and the land, stories that help visitors understand islands—from their birth to tourism and cultural content—unfold. Finally, a media show that symbolizes the island's nature, life, and flow of change as the shape of a tree portrays the possibilities of the future. The LED media facade covering the building's exterior lights up against the backdrop of the Yeosu night sea, serving as the face of the exhibition venue both day and night.

Including the Theme Island, there are eight exhibition halls, each with its own unique color: the Marine Ecology Island, Future Island, Culture Island, Treasure Island, International Exchange Island, and two Restaurant/Market Islands. These halls will welcome visitors as stages of experience where cutting-edge technology and analog sensibilities harmonize.

▶ Touching the Future – Future Island & Marine Ecology Island

Under the theme "Islands, Opening a Sustainable Future through Technology," the Future Island depicts the island as a space of possibility for a new future. After an introductory section that symbolically encounters future technologies and changes, a mobility experience space awaits where visitors can see real-life future transportation modes that will connect to the sea and sky. It is a space where visitors can witness actual UAM airframes and hydrogen ships, experiencing the tomorrow that islands and the sea will draw. Following this, the exhibition continues with an experience space explaining the daily life on islands and the potential of resources through six themes, and an epilogue that connects the vision of islands and the sea into a single landscape, making visitors realize that the exhibition theme, "Connect the Islands, the Sea, and the Future," is not just a slogan.

The Marine Ecology Island takes visitors away from the "islands on the sea" they have always looked at and into the ecosystem beneath the sea level. Starting from a transition space where one encounters the reality of the polluted ocean through junk art, visitors explore the island and marine ecology in three dimensions by viewing the island on the sea and the space beneath it together. Through the marine environment recovering via technology and human effort, visitors arrive at a message of a sustainable future. It is a space that awakens the realization that an island is not an object placed on the sea, but a single existence that forms the marine ecosystem together with the ocean.

▶ Islands for the Whole Family – Culture, Treasure, & International Exchange Islands Under the theme "Islands of the World, Boarding the Story," the Culture Island unfolds stories of life, culture, legends, and art that have accumulated over the seas. Beginning the voyage at the "Ferry Terminal," where one encounters the image of islands as myths, visitors follow the cultures and legends of various islands around the world to trace how islands have served as habitats for life. At the end, visitors meet the archetypes of island stories that connect to today's pop culture. Through familiar works set on islands such as MapleStory, Seopyeonje, and Mamma Mia, visitors confirm that islands are not just places of old memories, but living values in our current imagination.

Families visiting the exhibition should not miss the Treasure Island. With the theme "Treasure Island Adventure! Finding the Real Treasure," this area is decorated as an exploration-type play space for children. Once children board the treasure exploration ship and begin their adventure, they will navigate through the "Adventure Island," which leads to beaches, cliffs, and caves. While looking closely at island creatures through AR (Augmented Reality) experiences and finally discovering treasures in the wizard's safe, children realize for themselves what the "real treasure" is while enjoying the play.

The International Exchange Island is a space that shows this exhibition is not a local event, but a global stage. 30 countries and 3 international organizations will set up booths to introduce their own island policies and cultures, operating as a "venue for information sharing" where they discuss the value and future of islands together. Just by walking around, it is like taking a trip around the islands of the world.

▶ Tasting the Global Island Table – Restaurant & Market Islands

If the exhibition is a place to meet islands with the eyes and mind, the Restaurant and Market Islands are spaces to experience islands with the tongue and fingertips. Under the theme of "Island Life and Cultural Exchange through Food and Island Specialties," these are divided into two sections within the main venue. The restaurants featuring unique food cultures of islands around the world are set up in 23 booths, and markets displaying specialties from each island consist of 38 booths. With the addition of 20 food trucks and 3 cafes, there is an endless supply of things to eat and buy. Without traveling far, visitors can taste the tables of global islands and hold the specialties raised by those islands in their hands. Food itself is another language that conveys the life and culture of an island.

▶ Attractions Beyond the Exhibition Halls Attractions continue outside the exhibition halls.

In the "World & Korean Island Theme Zone," which is being created with an area of 7,000㎡ and 8 zones, sculptures depicting islands from around the world and Korea—from the Azores, Easter Island, and Madagascar to the Maldives, Yeosu's islands, Dokdo, Gapado, and Cheongsando—will be installed. The Art Photo Zone and outdoor gardens are decorated as stay-type spaces where visitors can linger for a long time. The exhibition venue will be open from 10:00 AM to 9:00 PM, and after sunset, another landscape unfolds with media art and lighting combined.

▶ Completion in July, Opening in September – Countdown

Currently, the main venue of the 2026 Yeosu World Island Exhibition is in the final stages of construction, aiming for completion at the end of July. After completion in July, it will undergo trial operations in August and officially open on September 5. This exhibition focuses on "how deeply you experience it" rather than "how much you see." You can verify for yourself in Yeosu this September what kind of experience the eight islands, where cutting-edge technology and analog sensibilities harmonize, will offer.

Kim Jong-ki, Secretary-General of the Organizing Committee, stated, "This exhibition is a stage where you experience islands with your whole body beyond just looking at exhibits, and we have poured our efforts into every single one of the eight exhibition halls." He added, "We will do our best to prepare for the remaining period so that visitors can take away an experience beyond their expectations in this place where cutting-edge technology and the unique stories of islands harmonize."