The Briefing:
- From September 24 to 27, Mexico City hosts the largest K-EXPO South Korea has ever staged outside Asia, with free general admission to the exhibition halls.
- In the trade sessions, 120 Korean companies are meeting 258 Mexican buyers, while a separate track links 62 Korean firms with over 120 buyers from seven Latin American countries, including retailers El Palacio de Hierro and Amazon Mexico.
- On Saturday, September 26, the "Korea Spotlight" concert at Pepsi Center WTC brings together WINNER, ALPHA DRIVE ONE, Soyou, DAYOUNG and TOUCHED, with tickets already on sale through Ticket Open.
Mexico City opens its doors this week to the first edition of K-EXPO Mexico 2026, a four-day showcase that South Korea's government is running with seven ministries and state agencies behind it. The Korea Times reported Tuesday that the gathering is the biggest K-EXPO rollout Seoul has organized to date.
Behind the pop-culture programming sits a business calculation: demand for Korean dramas, cosmetics and music keeps climbing across Latin America, and Seoul wants Mexico to become the launchpad its companies use to reach the rest of the region.
Where and when it's happening
The event runs Thursday, September 24 through Sunday, September 27 at Salones Maya 1 and 2 inside the World Trade Center's international exhibition center, in the Benito Juárez borough. Entry to the exhibition halls is free, though visitors must register in advance and show a government-issued photo ID at the gates. Thursday and Friday are reserved for closed-door business matchmaking between Korean companies and Mexican buyers, while the public-facing exhibition — food, beauty and interactive programming — opens Friday and runs continuously through the weekend.
An unprecedented trade push for hallyu in Mexico
The commercial side of the event is the largest South Korea has brought to the region so far. Business meetings Thursday and Friday bring together 120 South Korean content companies with 258 Mexican buyers, according to The Korea Times. A separate matchmaking track pairs 62 Korean firms with over 120 regional buyers spanning seven countries — a roster that includes Mexican retailers El Palacio de Hierro and Amazon Mexico, according to the trade outlet News Culture.
One figure is worth clarifying for readers who followed earlier coverage: in the weeks before the expo, outlets including BusinessKorea cited a preliminary figure of "over 100" confirmed Korean companies. That was a rolling estimate; the final, official count released this Tuesday puts the number at 120.
KOCCA President Kim Yoon-ji said in the agency's official release, distributed through Business Wire, that she hopes the expo opens fresh cooperation channels between Korean companies and partners across Mexico and Latin America. Culture Minister Chae Hwi-young put the strategic stakes more bluntly, telling the Korea Times that "Mexico is at the center of that market" as K-culture's Latin American growth accelerates.
Korea Spotlight: the concert capping the week
The public hook is the "Korea Spotlight" concert, set for Saturday, September 26 at Pepsi Center WTC. The final lineup includes WINNER, ALPHA DRIVE ONE, Soyou, DAYOUNG and TOUCHED, per the official billing confirmed by Infobae. A day earlier, on Friday, September 25, ALPHA DRIVE ONE holds a fan meeting, a format of direct interaction that has become increasingly common on this kind of promotional tour, as Excélsior reported.
Concert tickets have been on sale since September 11 through the Ticket Open platform; access to the general exhibition, by contrast, requires no payment, only registration. Infobae estimates the halls could draw as many as 10,000 visitors a day across the four-day run.
Food, K-beauty and gaming round out the program
Away from the stage, the WTC turns into a full showcase of K-style living. Live cooking demonstrations will feature dishes like tteokbokki, bibimbap and Korean-style fried chicken, alongside tastings of instant ramyeon and Korean snacks, per Excélsior's rundown. There will also be skincare routine stations, makeup demonstrations, gaming displays and digital-content booths tied to global acts like TWICE and Stray Kids, according to Infobae. Attendees with no choreography experience can still join the group K-pop Random Play Dance sessions.
Confirmed food-sector participants include Nongshim, BBQ, CJ CheilJedang, Binggrae and Korea Ginseng Corporation, BusinessKorea reported. The interest tracks a real export boom: South Korean ramen shipments to Mexico climbed from $2.68 million in 2020 to $24.06 million last year — a 797% jump in five years, per data from the Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corporation cited by the outlet.
Why Seoul picked Mexico as its beachhead
The institutional backing behind the expo runs wide. Beyond the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, co-organizers include the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, the Ministry of Health and Welfare, the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, according to the Business Wire release. KOCCA, the Korea Tourism Organization, the Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corporation, the Korea Cosmetic Industry Institute and the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency round out the list of organizing bodies.
That scale of government involvement — seven ministries and a cluster of state agencies — signals that for South Korea, K-EXPO Mexico isn't simply a cultural festival. It's a piece of trade policy designed to use Mexico as the opening for the rest of the Latin American market.
