The partnership between Frieze Seoul and Kiaf SEOUL has been extended for an additional five years. Approved with near-unanimous support at an extraordinary general meeting of the Galleries Association of Korea, the decision represents more than a simple contract renewal. It signals how the association—which oversees and operates Kiaf—currently understands and positions the structure of the art fair within Korea’s art ecosystem.

Following their first joint edition in 2022, the partnership now extends through 2031. What was once a time-limited collaboration has effectively become a fixed system. The critical question, however, is what role this system will play—and what direction it will set—for the Korean art market in the years ahead.
 
 
 
The Visible Impact of Frieze’s Arrival
 
The arrival of Frieze Seoul played a decisive role in elevating Seoul, in a remarkably short time, into one of Asia’s key art-market hubs. Frieze’s global collector network, the sustained participation of mega-galleries, and intense international media attention enabled Seoul to reach a level of visibility that domestic art fairs alone had struggled to achieve.

Through its parallel scheduling with Frieze, Kiaf succeeded—at least in part—in entering the circulation routes of international collectors and global media. In this sense, the collaboration created a tangible point of contact through which the Korean art market could connect more directly with the international art world, a development that should be acknowledged as a positive outcome.
 
 
 
Parallel Fairs, Shared Space and Divided Directions
 
At the same time, the past four years of joint operation have revealed structural limitations as clearly as they have demonstrated success. Although the two fairs share the same venue and calendar, their approaches to programming and curatorial depth differ markedly.

While Frieze has emphasized contemporaneity through internationally calibrated curatorial sections and discourse-driven programs, Kiaf has remained largely anchored in a traditional booth-based format dominated by domestic galleries. As a result, the two fairs, though physically adjacent, have come to be perceived as platforms operating in different languages and rhythms.

Notably, in 2025 Frieze expanded its role by collaborating with younger Korean artists and emerging galleries, reframing what is often perceived as a capital-driven art fair into a site that actively engages with new currents in Korean contemporary art. This shift points to an evolving role for Frieze in 2026 and beyond, and marks an important contrast.
 
 
 
“Frieze Is for Looking, Kiaf Is for Buying”

These structural differences have gradually solidified into a widely shared perception among visitors. The oft-repeated phrase, “Frieze is where you look, Kiaf is where you buy,” reflects the growing view of Kiaf as a conventional, market-oriented fair with limited curatorial appeal.
 
The repetition of similar formats year after year, combined with the continued absence of many major Korean artists, has reinforced criticism that Kiaf fails to present a concentrated picture of the current state of Korean contemporary art. This, in turn, exposes the structural constraints that keep Kiaf positioned primarily as a local fair rather than a fully international platform.
 
 
 
The Other Side of Market Sophistication

While the success of Frieze Seoul has contributed to the expansion and relative upscaling of Korea’s art market, it has also intensified internal polarization within the ecosystem. Smaller and mid-sized galleries have spoken of rising booth fees, increased ancillary costs, and growing disadvantages in the competition for visibility.
 
The inflow of a powerful global brand undoubtedly enlarges the market’s overall profile, yet it also reinforces the familiar weaknesses of a capital-driven system—one in which gains are unevenly distributed and structural disparities become more entrenched.
 
 
 
Kiaf’s Need for a Distinct Position

This reality underscores why Kiaf cannot remain merely an annual event that happens to coincide with Frieze. Rather than replicating Frieze’s model, Kiaf must cultivate areas that Frieze is structurally less equipped to address.
 
Connections with artist-run spaces, non-profit exhibition platforms, and regionally rooted creative networks represent key opportunities. By translating the density of local ecosystems into meaningful programs and curatorial frameworks, Kiaf could move beyond a transactional venue and function as a platform that actively examines and nurtures the foundations of Korean contemporary art.
 
 
 
From Quantity to Questions

The challenges facing Kiaf are no longer matters of scale. Expansion through increasing the number of participating galleries or foreign exhibitors has reached its limits. What now matters is whether Kiaf can foster emerging artists, support experimental exhibition formats, and build structural ties with art scenes across East and Southeast Asia—shifting from a market of consumption to a system of production.
 
Achieving this will require sustained collaboration with leading Korean curators and organizers, the development of thematic sections and long-term projects, and a clearer articulation of Kiaf’s own critical perspective. At this stage, a platform’s standing is defined less by ‘What is sold’ than by ‘What questions it dares to ask.’

The Next Five Years: Kiaf’s Crucial Test

The five-year extension functions as both a grace period and a decisive test for Kiaf. Parallel operation with Frieze can no longer be regarded as an achievement in itself. What matters now is whether Kiaf can move beyond established patterns and initiate substantive change.
 
Will Kiaf remain a regional partner dependent on a global brand, or will it redefine its contemporary role and emerge as an active agent reshaping Korea’s art-market ecosystem?
 
The answer will unfold through Kiaf’s curatorial choices and institutional actions over the next five years—and the outcome will help determine not only the international standing of Korean art, but also Seoul’s cultural coordinates as a global city.