Revisiting Yeosu Expo 2012, 7 years later

A statue of a family is seen beneath the Expo Digital Gallery, a massive LED showing marine life on the ceiling of the Yeosu Expo International Pavilion. / Korea Times photo by Jon Dunbar

By Jon Dunbar

If it were 2012, Yeosu would be at the top of your list of places to visit. That year, this cozy coastal city in South Jeolla Province hosted the 2012 Expo, and it would never be the same after.

The crowds moved on as soon as the pavilions shut down, but many of the structures built specifically for the Expo remain. And many have found a new life, while others sit underutilized. Gone are the pavilions offered by companies and participating nations, leaving behind wide open spaces and large-scale structures housing cavernous exhibition rooms.

Seen from the Yeosu Venezia Hotel, much of the Yeosu Expo grounds sit over water. The Theme Pavilion, center right, is locked up tight and its exterior is wasting away. / Korea Times photo by Jon Dunbar

Expo sites around the world have been notorious for leaving behind structures that are useless after the big event closes. Korea already learned its lesson with the 1993 Expo in Daejeon, whose grounds were touted as a city symbol while they deteriorated gradually until demolition in 2015. Yeosu sought to create a more sustainable Expo, with attention paid to the future use of all structures. As the Expo was themed around coastal environments, it was designed to prevent environmental damage, so as to minimize hypocrisy in its ecological message.

Ten years ago, this area housed a lively coastal community, with carnival rides and plenty of foot traffic. It had a similar atmosphere to Incheon's Wolmido area. Nowadays it feels more like Incheon's Songdo, a large-scale overdeveloped expensive place.

Unlike Songdo, it is easily accessible by rail, with Yeosu Expo Station serving as the terminus of the Jeolla KTX route since 2011. The station opens out facing directly onto the Expo grounds. Taxis wait for passengers here but bus connections are a hike away.

A turtle ship sits outside Yeosu Expo KTX Station. In the background is Sky Tower, a pair of defunct concrete silos converted into an observation deck. / Korea Times photo by Jon Dunbar

A visit to the Yeosu Expo grounds in January 2019 reveals a quiet coastal zone with a small tourism and MICE industry. Certainly people are staying in the hotels and visiting other nearby tourist sites, and clearly the area can be more active week by week. The Expo grounds haven't been forgotten, just faded into the background.

Places to stay

The International Pavilion, in front of the station, is a ghost of its former self, with a few scattered restaurants and shops on the main floor. High up on the vast ceiling, sea creatures frolic across a massive LED screen, the Expo Digital Gallery.

Take one of the few working escalators up to the third floor, and you will find the nice new glass door to Yeosu Darakhyu, a compact luxury hotel built right into the former U.S. Pavilion, filling the space after five years of vacancy with hotel units and a large common area. Walkerhill has already introduced popular Darakhyu capsule hotels at both terminals of Incheon International Airport, injecting comfort into a less-than-cozy space.

"The capsule units can be recycled, allowing us to reuse the units in another place after the contract ends to minimize environmental waste," explained Park Wan-soo, assistant manager of the Darakhyu hotels.

"The site near the Expo grounds had great development potential for it is a terminal station of KTX. We thought it was the hottest travel destination in Korea besides Jeju Island and Busan, as the number of people visiting Yeosu increased sharply up to 13 million a year after 2012."

The sitting area of Darakhyu Yeosu, in the former USA Pavilion space, overlooks the coastal Expo grounds. / Courtesy of Darakhyu

The Expo site clearly needs more creative ideas like Darakhyu's modular concept to stay relevant and be sustainable.

For more upscale travelers, the towers of Yeosu Venezia Hotel & Resort and The MVL Hotel Yeosu, two local hotel brands, stand right by the water. The two towers blend into the vaguely futuristic Expo scenery, while offering guests fantastic views in all directions.

Uphill from the train station is just the opposite: O Dong Jae, a hanok hotel complex offering visitors a stay in a majestic wooden building overlooking the coastal area.

This corner of the Yeosu Expo International Pavilion receives few visitors on Jan. 11. / Korea Times photo by Jon Dunbar

Venturing further off the tourist paths, one can find many more hotels and hostels in the vicinity. Further away, motels can be found around Yeosu Bus Terminal. A row of good new business hotels line the bay near Yeosu City Hall, conveniently located stumbling distance from the city's first microbrewery Oh Mae and brewpub Butterfly Island.

What to do

Up on the third floor of the International Pavilion, some of the spaces have been turned into children's playrooms. Hidden among the empty corridors and inactive escalators, one can also find the Roller On Inline Skating Rink and the Teddy Bear Museum.

Out front, visitors can ride a zipline over the water.

Elsewhere, the aquarium, Hanwha Aqua Planet Yeosu is as thrilling as it was in 2012, only now without the huge crowds and long lines. The highlights are the two beluga whales and Baikal seals. Its largest water tank is filled with various marine life including sharks, rays and sea turtles, and visitors can walk through a transparent tube and feel like they are among the creatures underwater.

The same building also houses a Trick Eye Museum and 5D theater, and various discount packages are available for those who want to visit multiple attractions.

Visitors walk through a translucent passageway leading through a water tank filled with various marine species. / Korea Times photo by Jon Dunbar

Another landmark left over from 2012 is Sky Tower, an observation deck built on top of two repurposed cement silos. An external elevator whisks passengers up to the top, where a cafe is now open. Unfortunately the massive pipe organ that was once part of this attraction has been disabled.

The centerpiece of the Expo remains the Big-O Show, a breathtaking multimedia showcase that is still held in warmer months, according to a sign on the site. When active it spits fire and projects holograms to a powerful soundtrack.

The Big-O floats in the water among the Yeosu Expo grounds at sunset on Jan. 11. In warmer months The Big-O Show is advertised as still happening. / Korea Times photo by Jon Dunbar

Yeosu has a lot more to offer, even right outside the Expo grounds. Nearby Odongdo, a small island off the coast, is an ecological attraction, hosting 70 species of wild flowers as well as a "dragon cave." It's accessible by a breakwater that's inviting to foot traffic. Back on the mainland, the elevated Jasan Park offers spectacular views, as well as a 15-meter-tall statue of Admiral Yi Sun-shin and a traditional pavilion.

Although the Expo has moved on, it helped open Yeosu up to increased visitors. How it will look in another seven years is anyone's guess.

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