Citizens shout for joy at the City Hall of Yeosu in the southwestern coast of Korea early Tuesday morning as the port city was selected to host the 2012 World Expo in a vote of the International Exhibition Bureau (BIE) during its 142nd general assembly in Paris Monday in local time.

By Jane Han
Korea Times Correspondent

PARIS ― Yeosu has beaten a joint bid against Tangier and Wroclaw for the right to host the 2012 World Expo in a Bureau of International Expositions (BIE) vote Tuesday morning (KST).

The southwestern coastal city, which lost to Shanghai in the 2010 World Expo bid, in its second attempt won by a slight margin, 77-63, to Morocco's Tangier in the final round of voting. The third candidate, Poland's Wroclaw, was eliminated in the first round with 13 votes.

The three-way race ― which, near voting date, was virtually narrowed down between Yeosu and Tangier ― was cutthroat till the very end, as a rush of new countries with undecided votes were added as BIE members just months, weeks and even days before the 142nd General Assembly at the Palais des Congres conventional hall in downtown Paris.

From 98 member states in May, the total climbed to 140 over the past six months. With 36 from Europe, 32 from the Americas, 30 from Asia and Oceania, 12 from Middle East and 30 from Africa, Yeosu seemed to have been backed most by the Asia and Oceania and East European countries, but vote details are unknown due to the international organization's secret ballot system.

``Yeosu's success came from the common ground that the international community agrees it is an urgent time to seek solutions to environmental issues that humankind if faced with,'' Prime Minister Han Duck-soo told a press conference immediately after the results were announced.

As Han said, organizers echoed that Yeosu's environmental theme, ``The Living Ocean and Coast'' helped the Jeolla Province city top the other two candidates: Tangier with a cultural, peace-centered theme and Wroclaw focusing on the leisure activities in world economies.

``The Expo 2012 Yeosu Korea will be a global festival that suggests new alternatives for the future of humankind,'' said Bidding Committee Chairman Kim Jae-chul, promising that Korea will organize a successful International Expo that will invite people from all over the world to discuss and learn more about the critical theme.

In Yeosu, a city of some 320,000 people, people were jubilant as their city was chosen to host the international event, Yonhap News said.

Celebration erupted outside the Yeosu City Hall where thousands of people gathered and cheered despite the chilly weather. Some burst into tears,Yonhap reported.

"I am really happy as Yeosu citizens desperately want to host the World Expo," Yonhap quoted a 42-year-old housewife Lee Yoon-ju as saying.

Organizers say about 10 million people are expected to visit Yeosu to take part in the world's third-largest event to be held for three months in the summer of 2012.

``The expo won't just end as a one-time thing, but last as an ongoing effort with the Korean government, BIE and United Nations to help underdeveloped countries cope with environmental problems,'' said Han, referring to the ``Yeosu Project.''

The initiative funded by the Korean government budgets an initial $10 million and another $20 million for a five-year program to help developing countries deal with global warming.

Although backers of runner-up Tangier walked out the conference hall with forced smiles, many of them acknowledged Yeosu's head on efforts.

``Yeosu did a good job. It did a good job,'' said a representative of one of the African states, who declined to be named, citing the secret ballot agreement. ``We expect to see a strong expo in Korea.''

Now that Yeosu snatched the official ticket to host the world fair, bidding committee officials said an organization committee will kick off in near time to begin full-fledged developments for the event.

An estimated 1.6 trillion won is to be funneled to construct the expo complex that spans over 400 million square meters, while 12 trillion won has been budgeted to build the necessary infrastructure, including railroads, roads and airport, by 2011.

Officials are planning to create an eye-catching establishment, comparable to Paris' Eiffel Tower that was built for the 1889 expo, to attract tourists for years to come.

``We have far more work cut out for us than what we did for the past 500 days,'' said Han, as he stressed that all the promises made throughout the campaign will be honored.

Yeosu's win makes it the third world event host rights Korea successfully grabbed this year, following the 2014 Incheon Asian Games and 2011 Daegu World Athletics Championships.

jhan@koreatimes.co.kr