Cupertino, California, July 29, 2003 ― Following the ISOPE-2004, to be held May 23-28, 2004 in Toulon, France, the 15th (2005) Annual International Offshore and Polar Engineering Conference will be held at the COEX Convention and Exhibition at the World Trade Center, Seoul, Korea, June 19-24, 2005. The COEX, Korea’s best facility, is located in the heart of Seoul’s international business center, inside the World Trade Center complex.
Incheon (Seoul) Airport check-in can be processed at the city terminal in this complex. The airport bus leaves every 10 minutes. We also hold tentative room blocks at a few nearby hotels, low to high in room rates. The COEX facility includes cultural and industrial exhibitions, as well as an international food court with prices ranging from $4 to $12. You have direct access to the “COEX” subway station to shop and sightsee anywhere in the city, and very easy access from everywhere to the Internet, as Korea is the most wired country in the world.
Korean hospitality is well known to foreign visitors. Korea and Seoul have been well publicized through the world media, particularly during the 1988 Olympic Games and the 2002 World Cup. Most major airlines have non-stop international flights from North American, European and Asian countries to Incheon (Seoul) International Airport, one of the most modern airports in the world.
The Korea Committee for Ocean Resources and Engineering (KCORE), Korean Society of Civil Engineers (KSCE), Society of Naval Architects of Korea (SNAK), Korean Welding Society (KWS) and more are member organizations of the host committee for the ISOPE-2005 conference, the world’s largest conference of its kind with peer-reviewed papers.
In June 1990, KCORE successfully co-founded and hosted the 1st Pacific/Asia Offshore Mechanics Symposium (PACOMS-90) in Seoul, with more than 300 participants; it was one of the co-founding societies of ISOPE in 1989, and of the first ISOPE conference, the ISOPE-91 Edinburgh Conference. Further, Korea has successfully hosted ISOPE PACOMS-96 Busan, ISOPE OMS-97 Seoul and ISOPE PACOMS-2002 Daejeon. Korean researchers and engineers have been very active supporters of ISOPE and its conferences and symposia; every year, from 60 to 85 Korean researchers and engineers attend the ISOPE conference.
Industry, academia and governmental institutes support the ISOPE-2005 Seoul. Ocean, marine and ship research and engineering thrive in Korea. Shipbuilding, offshore platform construction and steel-making companies hold top rank in the world. In addition to offering the unique Korean culture as well as historical and tourist spots, Seoul and its vicinity (click on www.knto.or.kr) embody a concentration of information technology, electronic industry, chip-making, automobile manufacturing and more.
ISOPE is organizing about 70 sessions of refereed papers in cooperation with its Technical Program Committee (TPC) members from 25 countries and 24 international cooperating organizations. Delegates from over 45 countries are expected, as in previous years. Since 1990, ISOPE has held 24 successful international conferences and symposia.
Further information will be posted on www.isope.org or ISOPE-2005 Seoul (under construction) and/or can be obtained from the ISOPE TPC, PO Box 189, Cupertino, California 95015-0189, USA (Tel. 1-650-254-1871; Fax 1-650-254-2038; meetings@isope.org; www.isope.org).
The Staff of the International Society of Offshore and Polar Engineers (ISOPE)