On June 16, 2026, ChosunBiz hosted the 14th Consumer and Retail Forum at the Grand Ballroom of the Westin Josun Hotel in Sogong-dong, Seoul, under the theme "In the AI era, how are choices made?" About 320 people, including industry officials, attended. Yeom Tae-young of the Democratic Party of Korea stated that AI and platforms now propose new choices to consumers, but "what wins consumers' hearts is the sincerity of people and brands." Choi Eun-seok of the People Power Party said Korea's retail industry will find a new growth engine when retail strategy in the AI era combines with the global competitiveness of K-brands. Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon stressed that "even in the AI era, what gets chosen in the end is value, appeal, and sincerity." Jang James, CEO of Gmarket Co., delivered a keynote predicting that AI shopping agents will upend e-commerce, shifting from consumers comparing thousands of items to agents making purchases on behalf of the consumer. He noted that AI agents "judge based on objective product strengths, consistency of reviews, and fit with consumer preferences," and that "AI optimization will matter even more going forward." Maeng Ji-seon of Amazon Web Services cited agentic AI as the key to changing competitive dynamics in retail.