[NBC-1TV H. J Yook]The 16th International Congress of Oriental Medicine will be held on Sep 14th (Fri) - 16th (Sun), 2012 at COEX in Seoul co-hosted by organizing committee of the World Traditional Medicine Expo 2013 and the International Society of Oriental Medicine (ISOM) and organized by the Association of Korean Medicine (AKOM).

The congress on “The Future of Medicine, Traditional Medicine” will review the value of traditional medicine and find the right place of it in global health cooperated with WHO and Ministry of Health and Welfare of Korea.

The International Congress of Oriental Medicine (ICOM) is the oldest international congress in traditional medicine. Specifically, the 16th ICOM will serve as a pre-Expo of the World Traditional Medicine Expo in Sancheong, Korea 2013 to celebrate the 400th anniversary of the publication of Donguibogam which was listed on UNESCO's Memory of the World in 2009. The 16th ICOM will be the largest in its history with over 16,000 participants from more than 50 countries.

The congress will have presentations with 19 different topics, poster sessions, 11 workshops and government forum. In addition, the congress will build a global network for exchange and cooperation for development of traditional medicine. After the congress, participants will travel to Donguibogam village in Sancheong, the venue of the World Traditional Medicine Expo 2013 and field trip to hospital and pharmaceutical company for learning the progress of Korean medicine.

Korea, which hosted ICOM 7 times until this year, is putting forth the utmost effort to nurture Korean Medicine (‘KM’) and is also a leading country to standardize and scientifically develop traditional medicine.

The Korean Medicine Exhibition will be held during the congress in an effort to promote developed KM and traditional medicine. This exhibition will offer a venue of various experiences and exchanges to show the vision of future traditional medicine along with the product marketing.

An executive member of the ICOM said, “I am confident that this congress will offer an opportunity to reevaluate the value of traditional medicine which attracts global interest and demand. By sharing the latest study and research achievements related to the standardization and evidence-based medicine of traditional medicine, it could let the world know the excellent KM and traditional medicine.”