Baek Byung-yeul is a journalist at The Korea Times focused on cultural content, including films and cultural events in South Korea. You can contact him at baekby@koreatimes.co.kr to share your insights.
Korea gears up to host 2030 Expo in Busan
Kim Young-ju, first row center, former chairman of the Korea International Trade Association, poses with Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum, right, and Busan Mayor Park Heong-joon, left, after being appointed as chief of the bidding committee to attract the 2030 World Expo event in Korea's southern port city of Busan, at Lotte Hotel Seoul, Friday. Yonhap
By Baek Byung-yeul
By Baek Byung-yeul
Korea is preparing to bid for hosting the World Expo event in the southern port city of Busan in 2030. The country is taking bold steps towards attracting the international event, appointing an ex-industry minister, last week, to head the bidding committee.
Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum held a meeting with high-ranking officials from business groups, economic organizations and Busan's mayor at a hotel in Seoul. There, Kim Young-ju, a former industry minister and ex-chairman of the Korea International Trade Association (KITA), was officially named as head of the bidding committee.
“The hosting of the 2030 Busan World Expo will be a special opportunity for us to share our unique experience of becoming an aid donor country from being the poorest country,” the prime minister said.
What Busan is trying to host is a Registered Expo, which is now called a World Expo. The event is held every five years. So far, Japan and China are the only Asian countries to have hosted the event.
The government said it plans to submit an official application for the 2030 event in June to the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE), the organization in charge of the World Expo. The decision to choose the host city for the 2030 event will be made in 2023.
While the former KITA chairman assumes the chief role on the committee, the heads of the country's top five conglomerates ― Samsung, Hyundai Motor, SK, LG and Lotte ― will serve as vice chiefs.
“The hosting of the Busan World Expo will be a good opportunity to promote Korea's status as a software powerhouse, such as ICT and hallyu,” the bidding committee chief said during his acceptance speech.
Busan Mayor Park Heong-joon also welcomed Kim's appointment as head of the bidding committee, saying the meeting will help citizens form a consensus over the importance of attracting the event.
Korea is lagging behind other nations in the bid. In April, Russia became the first country expressing its intent to host the 2030 event, submitting its application for Moscow as host city. In addition to Russia, the Busan City government expects other candidate countries to include Canada, the United States, the Netherlands, China, France and Azerbaijan.