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By Bernard Rowan
Among momentous occasions, hosting a World Exposition, or World Expo, marks the profile of advancing nations. Displaying a country's development, leadership in industry, cultures and people, World Expo 2030 likely will bring millions to the host country. London hosted the first World Expo in 1851, opened by Prince Albert and Queen Victoria. The most recent occurred in Dubai (Expo 2020). Argentina and Japan will host Expo 2023 and Expo 2025 respectively.
Busan has joined the contest to host Expo 2030. South Korea is competing with three other sister nations to host the event: Italy, Ukraine and Saudi Arabia. An international organization, the Bureau International des Expositions, organizes the World Expo. Its website at www.bie-paris.org features valuable information about the organization and its purposes.
I can't think of a better place to host the Expo. While it's true South Korea has held previous World Expos (Daejeon in 1993 and Yeosu in 2012), the competitor host countries will have a hard time beating Busan. Careful and thorough planning has prepared Busan's bid. The world should look forward to enjoying one of Korea's leading cities and most developed sites.
I first visited Busan in 1998. Then and now, it's a beautiful seaside city, much smaller than Seoul, but surveyable. There are many inviting places to see, good public transport and a calmer and more relaxed atmosphere compared with the capitol. Busan features a hospitable temperature and climate too. Nearby historic places, including Bulguk Temple and Seokguram in Gyeongju, will interest visitors for day trips. There are several first-rate universities, and a vibrant and inviting local scene for dining, shopping and recreation. The nation's largest port runs there as one of the ten top world container operations.
Busan continues to march forward, with Haeundae and other locales showing much friendly development. I marveled at the changes when I last visited several years ago, and yet Busan keeps its approachability and friendliness. A busy and vibrant place, the inviting feel of Busan is a selling point. It makes perfect sense for South Korea and Busan to have advanced their candidacy for the Expo 2030.
Interestingly, the city has presented its bid with the theme, "Transforming Our World, Navigating Toward a Better Future." The event's focuses include: sustainable living with nature, technology for humanity and transforming humanity through caring and sharing. The planning committee has advanced five "ambassadors" for the event already! As reported in The Korea Times, Baby Shark is now the fifth Busan Expo 2030 ambassador, focusing on the vision and values of caring, sharing and love. The other ambassadors are Sumi Jo, a soprano, K-pop group BTS, virtual influencer Oh Rozy and actor Lee Jung-jae.
It's tempting to focus a nation's energies on the "hard" matters of national security, unemployment and inflation and nuclear weapons, or the war in Ukraine. However, South Korea's growing importance in the region and the world depends to a large degree on cultivating soft power. South Korea has long steered its prosperous course among rival powers. South Korea developed into a major power by navigating the many challenges of this context. Part of the successful strategy has been hosting major international events and expositions, such as the World Expo. When people from the world's nations visit South Korea, they have a great experience. They also learn about South Korean developments as possibilities for their countries and people. The book "Korea: From Rags to Riches," published by the Korea Institute of Public Administration, records the stories of many soft power examples. Another would be hosting international events such as the Olympics, Winter Olympics and the World Expo.
I think South Korea has a better than 50/50 chance to win this year's competition. May all South Koreans and friends of Korea continue to encourage and join in the effort to support Busan's bid. As with so much, Busan 2030 is now!
Bernard Rowan (browan10@yahoo.com) is associate provost for contract administration and academic services and professor of political science at Chicago State University. He is a past fellow of the Korea Foundation and former visiting professor at Hanyang University.
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