Wellness experts from South Korea, Japan and China will gather in Wonju, Gangwon Province, to discuss how to restore body and mind in the age of AI. Third Age (CEO Lee Bo-ram) said it would hold the second Global Senior Wellness Conference on 6 and 7 November at Museum SAN and Oak Valley in Wonju.
The theme is Our Recovery and Healing in the Age of AI. The conference will examine the recovery needed to live a long, healthy life through seven themes: sleep, nutrition, exercise, mind, space, travel and technology. Following last year’s inaugural event, which brought together experts from four countries and more than 100 participants, this year’s programme more closely combines talks with opportunities to walk, rest and meditate.
Experts from four countries and more than 100 participants at the inaugural event in Wonju
The first conference was held around Wonju on 20 and 21 November 2025. Experts from South Korea, Japan, China and Singapore took the stage, while participants from several countries, including Peru, joined the audience. More than 100 people attended, creating a lively atmosphere. CEO Lee Bo-ram recalled that it was the largest event she had organised. Park Young-ran, a professor in the Department of Senior Business at Kangnam University, chaired the proceedings.
Wonju City supported the event through a Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism programme to promote prospective international conference districts. In his congratulatory remarks, former Wonju mayor Won Kang-soo noted that Museum SAN’s Meditation Hall and Oak Valley had been selected as outstanding wellness tourism destinations, and expressed hope that the event would help develop Wonju into an Asian wellness hub.
From Singapore’s trust scheme to Japanese care robots: questions raised at the first conference
The inaugural conference’s talks presented different countries’ approaches to ageing societies side by side. In his keynote address, Lee Yoon-hwan, president of the Korean Gerontological Society, said a national strategy was needed to care for every aspect of life, rather than simply manage disease. Esther Tan, a director from Singapore, introduced a non-profit public trust scheme under which the government guarantees the principal, addressing financial wellness. Makiko Kawabe, a researcher at Japan’s SOMPO Digital Lab, described a new care model that uses sensors to monitor falls and AI to analyse daily-life data, from a longevity-economy wellness perspective.
The discussion also turned to the body and the spaces people inhabit. Jane Jiang of China said regular exercise could improve cardiorespiratory fitness even at 70, recommending activity that raises the heart rate moderately rather than a slow stroll. Lee Kyung-mi, director of the It’s Okay to Grow Old Design Research Institute, said wellness begins with designing dignified living spaces for older people, from removing thresholds and installing grab rails at home to providing neighbourhood benches and public toilets. Programmes at Museum SAN’s Meditation Hall and forest therapy at Oak Valley ran between the talks.
Lee defines wellness as the sum of experiences that restore the body, mind and everyday life. Immediately after the first conference, she described it as a long-term project that would continue for years. A year later, its second instalment is about to begin.
Six speakers from South Korea, China and Japan to explore sleep, recovery meals and the other half of exercise
This year, six speakers from South Korea, Japan and China will take the stage. Professor Park Young-ran will chair the proceedings again, and the event will be conducted in Korean, English and Japanese.
On the first day, 6 November, CEO Lee Bo-ram will open with a keynote address on the era of longevity wellness. Park Min-gyu, a physiotherapist and CEO of Ddokddok Care, will deliver the message that AI may do our thinking for us, but our bodies change only when we move them ourselves. Lee Yoon-pyo, public relations director of the Korean Pharmaceutical Association, will discuss a perspective grounded in pharmacy that considers the whole person.
On the morning of the second day, 7 November, Heo Young-koo, chairman of additional sponsor Neobiotech, will give the opening remarks. Kazuhiro Saito of SOMPO Care’s Wellbeing Business Division in Japan will discuss ways to get a better night’s sleep. Lee Young-in, a macrobiotic dietary adviser and nutritionist, will introduce personalised recovery meals selected through AI curation. Jane Jiang, who spoke about exercise at the first conference, will return as a biohacker to present a science-based recovery system for Koreans in their 50s to 70s under the title The Other Half of Exercise. After the final session, Kang Sam-young, superintendent of education for Gangwon Special Self-Governing Province, will deliver closing remarks.
“We have entered an era in which AI analyses health data and even suggests exercise and lifestyle habits, but as technology advances, what ultimately matters is how people restore their own bodies and minds and live long, healthy lives,” Lee said. The event is not limited to a particular age group. It promotes intergenerational wellness, bringing together people in their 30s and 40s concerned about their parents’ health, middle-aged people preparing for later life and active seniors.
On the morning of the second day, sponsor chairman Heo Young-koo will give the opening remarks, while Gangwon Special Self-Governing Province superintendent of education Kang Sam-young will deliver closing remarks after the final session.
Forty minutes in Tadao Ando’s Meditation Hall, a 2km Oak Valley forest walk and a fragrance inspired by Wonju
The programme includes a lecture and practical session on everyday exercise with a rehabilitation medicine specialist, meditation with a Buddhist monk and the chance to create a personal aroma blend with a perfumer. Hands-on experiences are at its heart. After the morning talks on 7 November, all participants will make a fragrance inspired by Wonju with Innocent. They will sample scents drawn from places in Wonju, such as Chiaksan Mountain’s peaches, the Bangye-ri ginkgo tree and Sogeumsan Grand Valley, then use the memories they evoke to create their own scented product.
Participants will also choose one of two activities. The first is at Museum SAN’s Meditation Hall, where they will spend 40 minutes focusing on their breathing beneath a dome pierced by a shaft of light, with time to view the general exhibitions before and afterwards. The Meditation Hall programme will run in three sessions, with 20 people allocated to each through on-site registration. The other option is an approximately hour-long, 2km walk through Oak Valley’s autumn forest with a guide from Pinocchio Forest. Participants will examine leaves and trees and make and fire toy popguns. Afterwards, they will share a lunch of healthy packed meals.
On the morning of the first day, those who register in advance can join either a walk to the Bangye-ri ginkgo tree or a guided tour of the traditional market in Jungang-dong. Participants will receive gifts including a miniature Nepali singing bowl, Wonju hardy kiwi juice and CheongKwanJang products. Free shuttle buses will run from Naebang Station in Seoul and Wonju Station.
Why should South Korea, a super-aged society, discuss senior wellness across borders?
South Korea became a super-aged society in December 2024, when people aged 65 and over exceeded 20% of its population. Longevity wellness is not an issue for South Korea alone. Japan, further along this path, brought care technology to Wonju; Singapore brought its institutional approach; and China brought the science of exercise. Wellness related to longevity is new to everyone. By comparing each other’s trials and errors at an international conference, South Korea can find solutions for policy, industry and everyday life more quickly. In turn, a recovery experience built around Wonju’s forests and Meditation Hall, and local scents and food, offers overseas experts a window into Korean-style wellness.
The event’s direction becomes clearer when viewed through meditation. In an AI age overflowing with information, sitting still and looking inward can be a difficult place to start. As people walk a forest path, choose a fragrance and pause to breathe in a light-filled space, they naturally begin to pay attention to their bodies and minds. A route that begins with physical activity and leads to meditation makes it more accessible to middle-aged people unfamiliar with the practice. Whether they prefer walking or a quiet space, participants can spend the two days exploring a form of recovery that suits them.
Starting with this conference, Third Age plans to establish a Gangwon-style wellness living lab based in Wonju, linking AI, wellness, tourism and healthy longevity, and to expand cooperation with companies, institutions and experts at home and abroad. Lee said she hoped Wonju would become more than a city where people consume wellness tourism: a place where they can experience first-hand how to live long and healthily and develop new models. If the first conference raised the concerns facing Asia’s ageing societies, this year’s event looks set to give participants a chance to test possible answers in their own bodies.
Event details
Event: Second Global Senior Wellness Conference, Recovery
Theme: Our Recovery and Healing in the Age of AI
Dates and times: Registration from 1.30pm on Friday 6 November 2026; closing at 2.50pm on Saturday 7 November
Venue: Museum SAN Welcome Seminar Room and the Oak Valley area, Wonju, Gangwon Special Self-Governing Province
Host and organiser: Third Age Co., Ltd.
Supporter: Wonju City (Programme to Promote Prospective International Conference Districts)
Sponsors and contributors: Neobiotech, Wonju St Mary’s Hospital, Pinocchio Forest, Fix Media, Caring
Admission: 100,000 won for one day; 150,000 won for two days; 200,000 won including accommodation
Registration: https://event-us.kr/proconnect/event/132855
Enquiries: Third Age, 033-742-3832
Participants must make their own arrangements for lunch and dinner; parking at the venue is free.
The schedule may change depending on circumstances at the venue.
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