Busan seeks to take lead in expo race after BIE's April visit

The Korea Times

The Korea Times

National

Thu, September 28, 2023 | 23:42

Foreign Affairs

Busan seeks to take lead in expo race after BIE's April visit

Posted : 2023-01-30 08:35

Updated : 2023-01-31 14:06

At North Port inside Port of Busan, about 10,000 fans of BTS gather to watch the K-pop band's concert streaming live from Busan Asiad Main Stadium, Oct. 15, 2022. North Port, the city's up-and-coming urban space, will be the center of the city's presentation for a Bureau International des Expositions delegation visiting in April. Yonhap

City seeks to capitalize on North Port's attractiveness, citizens' passion

By Ko Dong-hwan

The mayor of Busan expressed confidence that Korea's second-largest city will secure the lead in the race to host World Expo 2030 by impressing a delegation from the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE) due to arrive in April. Mayor Park Heong-joon intends to highlight the southern port city's uniqueness during the BIE's planned visit to assess the feasibility of the bid.

He plans to make the North Port redevelopment project, a new urban space being created inside the Port of Busan, the centerpiece of the city's expo bid presentation.

The mayor said the southern port city's strategic location in Northeast Asia and its ongoing urban rejuvenation process are its major strengths.

"Various public transport routes and convenient access make North Port a good focal point to appeal to the BIE," the mayor told The Korea Times, Thursday. "And we will stress that all Busan residents are rooting for the bid from their hearts. Such grassroots spirit constitutes the essence of realizing the true value of an expo."

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North Port is where the Port of Busan ― one of the 10 busiest container ports in the world that transported 425 million tons of goods in 2022 alone ― took its first steps, starting in 1876. Then the rest, of what is now a gigantic shipyard, gradually expanded, while North Port went on losing its significance as a harbor while increasingly becoming the city's experimental urban space.

Now, residential apartments are creating a new skyline, while the city government is redeveloping the area as a new culture, business and leisure hub. A new opera house is under construction, with completion scheduled for 2025.

Also, BTS' concert at Busan Asiad Main Stadium last October was live-streamed via a giant screen set up at the old shipyard in front of 10,000 fans and watched from across the world.

The intergovernmental organization for the expo, which has 170 member states, is expected to dispatch eight envoys, including Secretary General Dimitri Kerkentzes, officials from the headquarters in Paris and representatives from member states, which has yet to decide which city to vote for ― Busan, Riyadh, Rome and Odesa. After visiting Seoul first, the envoys are then expected to stay in Busan from April 4-6.

Busan Mayor Park Heong-joon speaks during an interview with The Korea Times, June 26, at his office in Busan Metropolitan City Hall. Courtesy of Busan Metropolitan City

The mayor has been expediting expo diplomacy since his second mayoral term began last July. With the country's presidential office and the CEOs of major conglomerates fully supporting the mission, Park embarked on an overseas tour to promote his city in Central Asia, Central and South America and Europe.

Busan is in the middle of transitioning into an English-friendly city, a campaign the mayor launched last year and which is considered one of the key initiatives for the city's expo hosting bid. But as much as the English-friendly campaign is being purported to benefit the country's second-biggest city, it has also drawn a number of dissenters, who are worried that the campaign will damage the significance and use of the Korean language.

Park brushed off concerns about the backlash, saying the campaign remains on course.

"Those who object come up with this ideological approach that is just impractical and reckless, which will end up in a zero-sum game," said the mayor. "They don't realize that the more we become an international city and trade with the world, the more foreigners will eventually be interested in the Korean language. This is the positive outcome of Korea having signed a free trade agreement with almost two-thirds of the world."

The April on-site assessment by the BIE will be followed by all bidding cities giving their fourth presentations during the general assembly at the organization's headquarters in Paris in June. Member states will then vote in November to select the host city.

aoshima11@koreatimes.co.kr