Lee Hyo-sik is Finance Desk editor at The Korea Times. He manages finance-related stories on macroeconomics, banks, stocks, bonds, crypto etc. He is passionate about covering what's happening in Korea's financial industry and explaining it to both Korean and non-Korean readers. You can reach him at leehs@koreatimes.co.kr. Your insights and feedbacks are always appreciated.
Yeosu Expo hit by bribery scandal
By Lee Hyo-sik
With less than two years to go before its opening in May 2012, the Yeosu Expo is facing a public relations disaster after one of the key figures behind the town’s hosting of the international event has been put behind bars for taking bribes.
As former Yeosu Mayor Oh Hyun-sup and dozens of city councilors have been embroiled in the bribery scandal, the Organizing Committee for EXPO 2012 Yeosu Korea, headed by Kang Dong-seok, has recently decided not to take the city council to the ongoing Shanghai World Expo later this month.
It also stopped all promotional activities when it should have actively publicized itself to attract visitors from both home and abroad.
There have been growing concerns that the Yeosu Expo may not be able to draw as many visitors as it aims to, particularly from overseas, due to a shortage of affordable lodging facilities and poor transportation network.
Even the Shanghai Expo has been struggling to attract foreign tourists. To make up for the shortfall, it has been asking schools there to send students to the trade fair.
The widening bribery scandal will likely further dampen the hype for Korea’s second Expo. The nation hosted its first Expo in Daejon in 1993.
On Aug. 18, former Yeosu Mayor Oh turned himself in to the police, 60 days after being on the run.
He had been put on a wanted list by the police for allegedly taking a total of 200 million won in bribes from an outdoor lighting installation company in April and May last year.
Oh is also suspected of giving part of the money to a number of city councilors. Two of his confidents were also put behind bars, with nine city councilors so far admitting that they received five million won each from the former Yeosu mayor.
The city launched a 40-billion won project in 2006 to install outdoor lighting across the city to make its nightscape a tourist attraction in time for the 2012 Expo. In return for awarding the 40-billion won business, the mayor received 200 million won from the lighting firm.
Since the scandal erupted, the city has scrapped the lighting project, which could make the Yeosu Expo less attractive to visitors. Additionally, the Expo organizing committee has scrapped a plan to send the Yeosu city councilors to the Shanghai Expo for fear of a potential public backlash.
“It is important for us to coordinate with Yeosu city in preparation for the Expo. We worry that the image of the Expo may be tarnished by the bribery scandal even though the organizing committee and the Expo have nothing to do with it,” said Shin Hwang-ho, director for public relations at the organizing committee.
Shin said the public will forget about the ongoing scandal by the time the doors open, expressing confidence that the Yeosu Expo will be successful.
“Even though it is absolutely necessary to carry out an array of promotional events at home and abroad over the next two years, we do not have a big enough budget to finance such activities,” he said, admitting that the organizing committee is not adequately prepared to promote Korea’s hosting of the international fair trade and attract a large number of visitors.