BIE envoys wrap up inspection to assess Busan's Expo bid

Asia Lee Campbell, right, guides delegates from the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE) and Busan Mayor Park Heong-joon, second from right, during their tour of the United Nations Memorial Cemetery in Busan, Thursday. Campbell is the granddaughter of a Korean War veteran. Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul

By Ko Dong-hwan

• Published Apr 6, 2023 5:06 PM KST
• Updated Apr 7, 2023 3:17 PM KST

Delegation visits UN cemetery, enjoys fireworks show

By Ko Dong-hwan

BUSAN ― A delegation from the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE) wrapped up its five-day assessment, Thursday, of Busan's bid to host World Expo 2030.

The inspection team started the day with a final presentation by the Bid Committee for World Expo 2030 in the southern port city, which focused on how Busan has promoted its bid and how it will promote the Expo to the world. The budget and estimated costs of hosting the event ― from May to October 2030 ― were the other main agenda issues in the presentation.

Following the presentation, the delegation got into a fuel-cell electric bus and visited the United Nations Memorial Cemetery, which holds the remains of 2,320 soldiers from 11 countries who were killed during the 1950-53 Korean War. It is the only memorial cemetery in the world dedicated to U.N. soldiers.

There, the dignitaries were invited to remind themselves about how the intergovernmental organization helped Korea during the three-year conflict at a cost of 41,000 U.N. troops' lives.

Accompanied by Busan Mayor Park Heong-joon, their tour was guided by Asia Lee Campbell, a child celebrity, whose attachment to the war and appreciation for veterans made her a public figure years ago. Her grandfather is known to have fought in the war.

Campbell, 16, likened Busan's Expo bid to the U.N.'s leadership during the war, while promoting the historical significance of Korea and Busan to the delegation.

John Bocskay, director of international affairs from the Office of the United Nations Memorial Cemetery in Korea, also accompanied the delegation, providing them with an audio-guided tour about the countries that participated in the war, the casualty figures, how the cemetery has been preserving the remains of fallen soldiers and the war's historical significance since 1951 when the United Nations Command opened it.

During the cemetery tour, when the delegation reached the Wall of Remembrance, some 70 girls from World Angel Peace Art Group, a local performing art troupe in Busan, sang “Amazing Grace” and “We are the World.”

The delegation then moved back to the hotel and attended a luncheon with 17 local residents in their 20s and 30s. They included an entrepreneur, a barista, a university student and foreign students studying in Busan. A student from a graduate school at Busan University of Foreign Studies hosted the luncheon. The participants held a discussion about how hosting the World Expo 2030 in Busan will shape the city's future.

Later in the afternoon, the delegation held a press conference to share their thoughts regarding its visit to the country so far. Essentially, it signaled the end of the delegation's inspection mission in Korea.

In the evening, the delegation was greeted with a final outpouring of the country's hospitality: a banquet held at Nurimaru APEC House on Dongbaek Island in Haeundae District, where leaders from 21 countries in the Asia-Pacific region gathered for a summit in 2005.

Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and 17 heads of the country's city and provincial governments paid a surprise visit to the banquet. Prior to the event, they held a meeting at the BEXCO convention center in the city to discuss ways to support Busan's bid to host World Expo 2030, according to the presidential office.

Yoon told the delegation that the city's Expo bid is being supported by the entire nation, including the central and local governments, the ruling and opposition parties as well as public officials and private business leaders.

“It's not easy to spend many days overseas,” the president told the BIE delegation before heading to a separate dinner outside the venue with the local governors. “I wish we showed you many positive aspects about our country. I also wish that you complete your trip here safe and sound.”

The delegation's official schedule ended later that day with fireworks illuminating the sky above Gwangalli Beach. With the theme K-wave, the fireworks were launched from ships, which were lined up ― 400 meters in length ― as well as from Gwangan Bridge.

Ahead of the inspection visit to Korea, the BIE sent its Enquiry Mission to Riyadh last month, followed by a delegation from Ukraine visiting the intergovernmental organization's headquarters in Paris to promote Odesa as the host city of World Expo 2030.

The organization is expected to send another Enquiry Mission delegation to Rome later this month. The BIE sent its delegation to each city with different members except Patrick Specht, president of the BIE's Administration and Budget Committee, and the Enquiry Mission's Secretary-General Dimitri Kerkentzes.