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| Participants in a walkathon crowd the Eurasian Platform in front of Busan Station, Saturday. They left the station to walk to a recently completed seaside park at the proposed Expo venue site in Busan's North Port. Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul |
Walkathon, flea market spur heat ahead of BIE's Korea visit
By Ko Dong-hwan
BUSAN ― Busan Station was crowded for hours Saturday as hundreds of cheerful participants turned up for a series of events arranged to celebrate and promote Busan's bid to host the World Expo 2030. It was a day before an Enquiry Mission from the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE) in Paris was due to arrive in Seoul for a weeklong visit to survey the port city's feasibility for hosting the event.
The day kicked off in the morning when parents and children, young couples and seniors flocked to the Eurasia Platform, a public square in front of the station. They joined a walkathon that led from the station's second-floor departure platform to a newly constructed outside skywalk, which led the way to toward a seaside park at Busan's North Port. The port is currently undergoing redevelopment to become the venue for the Expo. With the park already complete, the redevelopment project still has years of work ahead ― erecting Busan Opera House and buildings for business travelers as well as transforming the old port infrastructure into cultural venues and exhibition halls. The project is changing the port's old image of bustling with fishing and trading vessels into that of a more attractive public space for visitors and tourists.
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| Musicians perform around Busan Station, Saturday, as part of a series of events to raise support for the city's bid to host the World Expo 2030. Next to the stage is a pavilion with a sign saying "Stop Climate Change" where visitors step on an electronic carpet or ride a spinning machine to generate power to recharge their smartphones or play a VR game. Korea Times photo by Ko Dong-hwan |
The walkathon was jointly hosted by Busan's Dong District Office and the district's sports association. A large banner on the backdrop of a stage read "Walk the History of Miracle."
Near the starting point of the walkathon, there was a flea market set up to draw the attention of passersby. Booths run by 34 local groups comprised of social companies, cooperatives and startups sold fashion items, traditional Korean snacks, handicrafts, coffee, deserts and zero-waste products. Some booths offered visitors body painting while others had prize-winning roulette and other games designed to raise awareness about the World Expo 2030.
"Busan is often overshadowed by Seoul when it comes to global recognition but I think Busan has its own merits and strengths and deserves to host the World Expo," a high school student volunteering at the flea market told The Korea Times. "I hope the BIE mission comes here and sees only the good things and leaves with a good impression."
Later in the afternoon, another large gathering was hosted at the square for an event jointly organized by the city's volunteer firefighters and official Expo supporters' club. Hundreds of firefighters each wearing bright orange utility vests marked "119 Busan Emergency Department" packed the square in front of a stage bearing a large poster that read "Let's bring it home! Expo!!"
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| Volunteer firefighters in Busan hold a moment of silence in front of the Korean national flag on a giant TV screen at the Eurasian Platform in front of Busan Station, Saturday. Korea Times photo by Ko Dong-hwan |
"Our objective is to imprint the passion of Busan citizens into the hearts of the BIE mission," Kim Mi-ae, vice president of the volunteers' association, said from the stage. "Our objective is to contribute to the efforts to impress the BIE mission with our city's heated desire to host the World Expo 2030."
"Busan has already started etching its name in the heads of people around the world as we have been promoting our bid to host the Expo," Busan Mayor Park Heong-joon said in a video message during the gathering. "You already know why Busan should host the Expo. Korea is now the world's 10th-biggest economy but hosting the World Expo will push the country further into the global top seven, not to mention Busan becoming a global hub city."
Ruling People Power Party Chairman Kim Gi-hyeon, Daejeon Mayor Lee Jang-woo, Incheon Mayor Yoo Jeong-bok and Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Won Hee-ryong also sent congratulatory video remarks to the gathering.
"Incheon, together with Busan, are Korea's representative maritime cities," the mayor of Incheon said. "We sometimes cooperate but sometimes we compete against each other as well. But all in all, I wish we can lead the country's future together by Busan hosting the Expo."
