The IFAC World Congress to be held in Seoul, Korea in 2008 is the 17th of the triennial IFAC World Congress series.

The International Program Committee is pleased to report that the response to our Call for Papers has been record setting. That is, a record number of more than 3700 papers have been submitted and approximately 2700 have been accepted. All of these papers will be presented in 397 oral sessions and 7 poster sessions over the five day period, all in one conference venue of COEX, Seoul, Korea.

In recent years, numerous new concepts and approaches and development methodologies and tools have emerged that enrich the current status in theory, technology and applications of automatic control, thus facilitating advancing future research and developments in an accelerated manner.

In an effort to reflect all of these subject areas this World Congress features nine plenary talks; three from Europe, three from US, and three from Asia. Three of them are from industries, one from each continent. The Congress also introduces highlight programs in industrial areas such as semiconductor, electronics, shipbuilding, steelmaking, intelligent robots, automobile, and education. Six milestone sessions are prepared by Coordinating Committees of IFAC. Two panel discussion sessions are arranged to provide a forum to exchange ideas between researchers.

With 41 proposals, the reaction to the Call for Tutorials and Workshops was also very positive. Among these 18 Tutorials and Workshops were selected and will be held on Saturday and Sunday, just prior to the main Congress opening. Many technical tours are arranged for providing more opportunity to show Korean industries. The Congress provides also special events such as robot demonstrations and special social programs such as learning of Korean language, experience of Korean economy and culture, and movie night.

As in the previous Congresses, there will be the IFAC best Application Paper Prize and IFAC Young Author Prize. Also prizes offered by the National Organizing Committee will be awarded to the best Poster Papers and best Video Presentations.

We would like to extend our sincere appreciations and thanks to International Program Committee members and National Organizing Committee members, and Chairs of Technical Committees of IFAC for their tremendous contributions toward the success of this Congress.We also would like to extend our thanks to plenary speakers, Coordinating Committee members of IFAC and the organizers of Panel Discussions for their willingness to help make the Congress technically rich and fruitful.

Seoul is a city of infinite discoveries. With a history of 600 years, Seoul is a city, where the 5000-year Korean traditional and the modern technologies co-exist in a perfect harmony.

We invite you to experience the “Dynamic Korea” in Seoul. The 17th Congress promises to be the largest IFAC World Congress ever, building on the successful sixteen previous Congresses. We sincerely hope good tradition of Congresses continues for a long time.

We look forward to seeing you in Seoul at the 17th IFAC World Congress. You will see Korean Hospitality.

IFAC President		General Chair		IPC Chairman		IPC Co-Chairman