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| Bureau International des Expositions (BIE) Administration and Budget Committee President Patrick Specht, fifth from left in back row, and other BIE Enquiry Mission members pose with a group of young Koreans at the lobby of Busan X the Sky in Haeundae, Busan, Thursday. Courtesy of Busan Metropolitan City |
By Lee Kyung-min
A group of young Koreans had a luncheon meeting with an eight-member delegation from the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE), Thursday, in an event to promote Korea's bid to host World Expo 2030 as a grassroots movement supported by civic group members, rights advocacies and university students from across the country, according to organizers Thursday.
BIE is an intergovernmental organization in charge of overseeing and regulating World Expos. The Enquiry Mission led by BIE Administration and Budget Committee President Patrick Specht is visiting this week to assess Korea's viability and feasibility to host the high-profile international event in Busan in 2030.
Two dozen young people invited to the hour-long luncheon shared their opinions as to why they thought Busan should be the host of the high-profile, six-month event.
The event was led by welcoming remarks from the group's representative, Park Eun-ha. "The hosting of the Expo in Busan is an idea of Busan citizens," Park said.
The initiative gained momentum nine years ago, when the group ran a campaign to promote Busan as the host city of World Expo 2030. Over 1.39 million Busan residents gave their signatures.
Some of those attending the event shared how the international event can help Korea's developing peers smoothly transition to green sustainable economies, as successfully delivered by Korea, an exemplary model for the world as a once-impoverished, war-torn country soaring to the 10th-largest global economy with a robust, stable growth outlook.
Further elaborated was the need for Korea to seek balanced growth, as explained by Park Jae-yool, the head of a civic group in Busan promoting mutual sustainable growth, mostly by decentralizing administrative, economic and cultural infrastructure from Seoul, the country's capital.
"We are one in our desire and vision to host a successful Expo in Busan," he said further explaining that Koreans are willing and able to elevate the worldwide efforts toward equality and equity. "Our single-minded pursuit toward the Expo hosting is a strong commitment of Korea as a leader to share and enrich universal values with the world."
Song Sook-hee, the head of a group representing the voices of women, said the BIE mission highly assessed the city's peaceful culture.
Few social rifts were seen, due to racial divide, for example, Song said. People of different skin colors existing in harmony would make a good lasting impression with the eight members, especially since many of Korea's developed peers see high instances of racially charged hate crimes.
"We had our own stories and sharing them with the BIE members was a meaningful experience not only for the Expo bid, but for a better future," said Song.
The eight members will return to Paris on Friday.
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