ICRA returns to Seoul after 26 years, with a KRW 200 million top sponsor package

The IEEE Robotics and Automation Society's flagship conference is coming back to Seoul, and the price of being seen there is now public. The 2027 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA) will run from May 24 to 28, 2027 at Coex in Gangnam, the organisers say on the official conference website, and the partnership and exhibition prospectus posted there prices visibility from KRW 3 million for a start-up booth to KRW 200 million for the top Diamond package.

It is the conference's first return to the city in 26 years, General Chair Kyu-Jin Cho of Seoul National University, who is also President-Elect of the IEEE Robotics and Automation Society (RAS), writes in the prospectus. The organisers expect more than 8,500 participants under the theme "Forging an Ecosystem of Innovation: Building a Collaborative Robotics Community". The same document carries a number that matters more to Korean companies than the price list: at ICRA 2026 in Vienna, Chinese exhibitors outnumbered Korean ones almost ten to one.

Six partner tiers, and the top one buys 12 booths

The prospectus lists six partner levels. Diamond costs KRW 200 million and includes 12 booths of 3m by 3m, 15 full conference registrations and a 60-second video before plenary and keynote sessions. Platinum, at KRW 100 million, carries 10 booths and 10 registrations; Titanium, at KRW 80 million, 6 booths and 8 registrations; Gold, at KRW 50 million, 4 booths; Silver, at KRW 30 million, 2 booths; Bronze, at KRW 10 million, 1 booth and 2 registrations. Only U.S.-headquartered companies may pay in dollars, at the won equivalent on the transfer date; the document converts at KRW 1,327 per dollar as of Oct 20, 2026, which puts Diamond at $150,716 and Bronze at $7,536.

Divided by the booths each tier includes, Diamond is the most expensive floor space at about KRW 16.7 million per booth, while Platinum and Bronze both work out at KRW 10 million, by MEKAWIRE's calculation. The difference buys stage time and branding rather than square metres. Extras sit on top: a 20-minute industry keynote on the Tuesday or Wednesday costs KRW 50 million, with content the committee must pre-approve to limit commercial promotion, and the exclusive attendee T-shirt costs KRW 150 million, according to the prospectus.

Who has already paid for a place is visible on the conference website.

Ten partners so far, seven of them Korean

As of Oct 21, the confirmed-partners page lists no Diamond or Titanium partner. [Holiday Robotics](/companies/holiday-robotics) is the only Platinum partner. Genrobot and [TARS](/companies/tars-robotics) are Gold, [AeiROBOT](/companies/aeirobot) and [CMES Robotics](/companies/cmes-robotics) are Silver, and maxon motor Korea, the Korea Institute of Robotics and Technology Convergence (KIRO), Ningbo Boden AI Technology, [ROBROS](/companies/robros) and [Neuromeka](/companies/neuromeka) are Bronze. At list prices those ten commitments add up to KRW 310 million, about $233,610 at the prospectus rate, and carry 27 included booths.

Seven of the ten are Korean companies, Korean subsidiaries or Korean institutes. That is already the full size of Korea's exhibitor presence in Vienna, before the general exhibition has opened.

The Vienna floor: China 69, Korea 7

The prospectus charts ICRA 2026 exhibitors by country but prints no total. Adding the 25 countries and regions it lists gives 202, and the percentages it prints match that base. China had 69 exhibitors (34.2%), the United States 21 (10.4%), Germany 20 (9.9%) and host Austria 19 (9.4%). South Korea had 7 (3.5%) and Japan 3 (1.5%). Counting Hong Kong's 3 with the mainland lifts the Chinese share to 35.6%; the 15 European countries together had 90 exhibitors, 44.6%.

Austria's fourth place shows what hosting does: the home country fills booths that its companies would not travel for. ICRA 2026 was also where Amazon's team [won the top paper award for OmniRetarget](/news/omniretarget-icra-2026-best-conference-paper-20260604), a reminder that the exhibitors are selling to the people who write the field's most cited work.

What a Korean start-up pays, and by when

Booths are rented in 3m by 3m units. A standard booth costs KRW 5 million (about $3,768) if booked before Jan 15, 2027 and KRW 6 million afterwards, 20% more; one extra booth may be bought, up to 18 square metres in total. The start-up booth costs KRW 3 million, 40% below the early standard rate, and is open only to companies incorporated on or after Jan 1, 2025, one per company, with shell scheme and two exhibitor passes included. Booths are allocated by sponsorship tier, then by payment date, then by application order.

Exhibition applications open on Nov 3, 2026, 13 days from now, and close on Feb 24, 2027. Half the amount is due within 30 days of the invoice and no later than Jan 15, 2027; the balance is due on Feb 26. A cancellation accepted before Jan 15 is refunded in full, one between Jan 15 and Feb 26 loses 50%, and after that the organiser keeps everything. The exhibit hall is open from May 24 to 27.