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BIE delegation starts Expo inspection in Korea
President Yoon Suk Yeol, fifth from left, and First Lady Kim Keon Hee, fifth from right, pose with members of the Bureau International des Expositions' Enquiry Mission in front of Sangchunjae, a guesthouse at Cheong Wa Dae, before a dinner banquet, Monday. Patrick Specht, BIE Administration and Budget Committee president who leads the mission, fourth from left, and BIE Secretary-General Dimitri Kerkentzes, fourth from right, joined the banquet. Courtesy of Presidential Office
By Ko Dong-hwan
President holds dinner banquet at Cheong Wa Dae for Enquiry Mission
By Ko Dong-hwan
A delegation from the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE) began a weeklong inspection in Korea, Monday, as the nation's top government officials, including President Yoon Suk Yeol, are anxious to impress the visitors, whose evaluation will decide whether Busan will get to host the World Expo in 2030.
On Monday evening, the president hosted a dinner banquet for the BIE delegation at Sangchunjae, a traditional hanok style guesthouse located inside Cheong Wa Dae, the country's former presidential office and residence.
“World Expo 2030 Busan will allow participating countries to share their diverse experiences and strength and jointly come up with solutions for problems that face humanity,” Yoon said at the banquet.
“I believe Korea stirred quite a buzz after our third presentation last November. Now, Korea is one of the leading countries with the latest technologies and globally popular cultural contents. I think you will find out through this inspection that Korea and World Expo 2030 in Busan have some of the most differentiated competitiveness.”
Chey Tae-won, co-chair of Bid Committee for World Expo 2030 Busan, offers a toast during a banquet thrown by the Presidential Office for the delegation from the Bureau International des Expositions' Enquiry Mission at Sangchunjae, Monday. Courtesy of Presidential Office
Before meeting the president, the delegation met Korean lawmakers, including the chairmen of the ruling People Power Party and main opposition Democratic Party of Korea, at the National Assembly in Seoul, where a new resolution was passed granting national support for Busan's Expo bid.
“The Resolution on Supporting the Successful Bidding and Hosting of World Expo 2030 Busan” included eight clauses that specified “strong commitments” by the country to make the Expo a great success.
“I admit that the country's ruling and opposition parties often have differences and clash,” said National Assembly Speaker Kim Jin-pyo ahead of the resolution's passage. “But when it comes to World Expo 2030, they become one tight-knit unit. In a moment, we will ratify a new special act to give full support to make World Expo 2030 Busan possible. And we want you, the BIE delegation, to witness it,” Kim added.
The delegation's visit to the National Assembly was preceded by a visit to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in central Seoul. Foreign Minister Park Jin was there to promote Busan as the delegation's No. 1 pick for World Expo 2030. Officials from the country's 10 biggest companies have visited 84 countries so far to promote Busan's Expo bid and stress Korea's experience and ability to lead other countries to come up with solutions for “poly-crises” facing the world, like the pandemic, volatile global supply chains and the climate crisis, the minister said.
Patrick Specht, Bureau International des Expositions' Administration and Budget Committee president who heads the Enquiry Mission from the organization, speaks during the first presentation by the central government of Korea to the delegation at The Shilla Seoul, Monday. Courtesy of Bid Committee for World Expo 2030 Busan
“My parents met each other in Busan where they settled after fleeing the Korean War,” the minister told the delegation. “If it wasn't for Busan, I wouldn't even exist right now.”
Earlier in the day, the delegation met with Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Lee Chang-yang. The meeting set the stage for the country's first presentation to the visiting delegation. The debriefing took place at The Shilla Seoul in the central part of the capital, where the eight representatives were staying.
The ministry is the country's main bureau preparing for the World Expo 2030 and supporting the BIE delegation's Enquiry Mission in Korea. In addition to four presentations ― each themed “political unity,” “theme,” “site” and “people and money” ― and Q&A sessions prepared for the delegation during their stay in Seoul followed by a trip to Busan, the ministry also arranged various meetings with key figures from the central government, the National Assembly and private enterprises.
Patrick Specht, the president of the BIE Administration and Budget Committee, walks up to the front of the assembly hall during a plenary meeting at the National Assembly to accept the “Resolution on Supporting the Successful Bidding and Hosting of World Expo 2030 Busan” which was passed on Monday. Yonhap
Following the meeting with the trade, industry and energy minister, the delegation held a luncheon with representatives of the country's business circles at the same venue. The meeting was led by Chey Tae-won, the co-chair of the Bid Committee for World Expo 2030 Busan who also heads the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry as well as SK Group.
The delegation, led by Chey, also met KCCI Global Expo Supporters at the hotel. Some 20 supporters clad in sky blue T-shirts and holding balloon bats, the seagull Expo mascot “boogie” and a banner that reads “Busan is Ready!” high-fived and took selfies with the envoys and presented each of them with a caricature drawing. An AI robot dog led the group to the luncheon hall, grabbing the attention of the inspectors.
The Enquiry Mission is a required process for the BIE to assess candidate cities for hosting a future Expo on the organization's agenda. The intergovernmental organization sent Administration and Budget Committee President Patrick Specht from Germany as the leader. Secretary-General Dimitri Kerkentzes, representatives from Saint Kitts and Nevis, Switzerland and Romania as well as three BIE officials also visited Korea this time.
Trade, Industry and Energy Minister Lee Chang-yang, third from right, poses with members of the BIE Enquiry Mission, including Patrick Specht, third from left, who leads the inspection team, during their meeting at a Seoul hotel, Monday. From left are Ferdinand Nagy, representative of Romania; Dimitri Kerkentzes, BIE secretary-general; Specht, BIE Administration and Budget Committee president; Lee; Manuel Salchli, representative of Switzerland; and Kevin Isaac, representative of St. Kitts and Nevis. Yonhap
The report is expected to include not just what the host city will show to participating countries and visitors during the Expo, but also assess why the event should be held in Busan, how the country will manage to exhibit the Expo, qualities of the venues, conditions of local public transportation and lodging facilities in the southern port city, as well as Korea's financing plan to support what is expected to cost 4.9 trillion won ($3.7 billion) in total, including 1.2 trillion won for the hosting country.
Their assessment report will be shared by 171 member states of the BIE during the organization's June general assembly. The report is expected a key influencer for the member states in which city to vote for ― among Korea's Busan, Saudi Arabia's Riyadh, Italy's Rome and Ukraine's Odesa ― during the organization's follow-up general assembly in November where the host city for World Expo 2030 will be decided.
The president on Monday talked to the Netherlands Prime Minister Mark Rutte, who pledged the country's support for Korea's Expo initiative, the Korean presidential office said. Presidential spokesperson Lee Do-woon said the two leaders had a 30 minute-long phone conversation and Yoon thanked Rutte for giving the first pledge of support from a Western European country.