Dignitaries, including Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum, Minister Moon Seung-wook of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE), Chairman Christopher Koo of the Korean International Trade Association (KITA), Former KITA chairman Kim Young-joo, Vice Chairman Woo Tae-hee of the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI), Busan Mayor Park Heong-joon, and Chairman Yoo Myung-hee, head of the Busan World Expo 2030 Bid Planning Office, as well as conglomerate executives gesture after they had a meeting to bid for World Expo 2030 in Busan at Lotte Hotel on June 11. (Photo: MOTIE)

Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum had a meeting with business leaders and economic organization heads at Lotte Hotel on June 11 to bid for World Expo 2030 in Busan.

During the meeting, leaders of the top five business groups pledged to provide their full support for attracting the 2030 World Expo by joining forces with KCCI and KITA, and utilizing their own experiences, knowledge and Korean and overseas networks.

Former KITA chairman Kim Young-joo, rich in related experience and a wider network with the business community, was named as chairman of the Busan World Expo 2030 Bid Committee.

Among those on hand at the gathering were  Chairman Christopher Koo of the Korean International. Trade Association (KITA), Vice Chairman Woo Tae-hee of the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI), Minister Moon Seung-wook of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE), Busan Mayor Park Heong-joon, and Chairman Yoo Myung-hee, head of the Busan World Expo 2030 Bid Planning Office.

Samsung Electronics President Lee In-yong, Hyundai Motor President Gong Young-woon, SK Global Chemical President Nah Kyung-soo, LG Corp.

President Lee Bang-soo,  and Lotte Holdings President Lee Dong-woo also participated in the gathering.

A poster of Busan’s bid to host World Expo.

Prime Minister Kim said, “Attracting 2030 World Expo will be an opportunity in which Korea, which has risen from the poorest country to an aid donation country, can share its unique experiences with all countries around the world and each other’s vision.”

The top five business leaders agreed to form a working-level consultation committee comprising of the groups’ executives, and public relations experts and people rich with experiences related to bid activities will be dispatched to the bid committee.

Prime Minister Kim said the government would offer its full support by building an inter-ministry support regime, such as the formation of a government support committee as soon as possible so that Busan can be the venue of the 2030 World Expo.

Busan City is expected to accelerate its bid to host the 2030 Busan World Expo, which Busan City is ambitiously pushing to solidify its status as an international tourism city and bring the city to the next level on the global stage.

Busan Mayor Park Heong-joon will submit an application to host World Expo to the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE) in Paris with Yoo Myung-hee, minister of trade, industry and energy. (Photos by courtesy of Busan City Hall)

Busan Mayor Park Heong-joon will visit the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE) in Paris with Yoo Myung-hee, minister of trade, industry and energy on June 23 to submit an official application to host the 2030 Busan World Expo in the name of the Prime Minister.

Hosting the 2030 Busan World Expo would come with many significant meanings. First of all, the 2030 Busan World Expo would be the first World Expo to be held in Korea.

Therefore, it would set the stage for promoting Korea's status to the world and boost the power of Korea’s national brand.

World Expo refers to a large-scale fair registered with the BIE under the theme of human progress, and is held every five years. Specialized Expo is held on a smaller scale between registered expos.

Korea already hosted the 1993 Daejeon Expo and the 2012 Yeosu Expo as Specialized Expos. They generated a lot of positive economic effects and went down in history as successful events.

As World Expos dwarf Specialized Expos in terms of duration and scale, it is expected to create tremendous economic effects in terms of production, value-added, and employment.

If the 2030 Busan World Expo is completed, 50.5 million people from 200 countries are expected to visit Busan over six months. It will be able to induce 43 trillion won in production, 18 trillion won in added value and create 500,000 decent jobs.

It is not difficult to find cases in which companies used the Expo as a stepping stone to expand their presence on the world stage.

General Electric (GE) could grow into a global company since its first exhibition of Edison’s light bulbs and phonographs at the Paris Expo in 1878. Coca-Cola established itself as one of the world's leading brands since the Chicago Expo in 1893.

The global beverage giant introduced the first Coca-Cola vending machine at the Expo. GM laid the foundation for the popularization of cars at the 1939 Expo in New York City, presenting the concept of freeways.

A leaflet to publicize Busan's bid to attract World Expo 2030.

This is not the only reason why Busan City is speeding up its bid to host the 2030 Busan World Expo. Busan City officials believe that the BIE may expedite procedures to select the city to host World Expo in 2030 as no city applied to catch the ticket to host Specialized Expo in 2027.

“The Korean government plans to put the second stage of Busan North Port’s redevelopment where the 2030 Busan World Expo will be held front and center in a due diligence plan for a BIE survey team,” a Busan city official said.

The Busan Metropolitan Government plans to implement a hyper-connected future society led by innovative technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), next-generation mobility and 6G mobile communications through the 2030 Busan World Expo.

Furthermore, it is aiming to strengthen the role of Busan as a hub city for maritime cultural exchanges between the Korean Peninsula and Northeast Asia by providing opportunities for the global promotion of Busan contents and the Korean Cultural Wave such as the Busan International Film Festival, the Busan Fireworks Festival, webtoons, games and virtual reality videos.

The biggest factor is the success of the North Port Redevelopment Project and people’s interest in hosting the event.

The Busan Metropolitan Government believes it is difficult to lead people to have interest in the 2030 Busan World Expo, so it is planning to establish and implement a new innovative promotion strategy focusing on changes in citizens’ everyday lives.

To this end, the Korean government also set aside one billion won as a marketing budget for the 2030 Busan World Expo in the first supplementary budget.

“We will do our best to have Busan selected as the first Korean city to host World Expo in Korea with the central government when a master plan comes out with respect to the official theme of the 2030 Busan World Expo, the creation of an exhibition hall and transportation and accommodation facilities,” a Busan city official said.

In the  meeting between Prime Minister Kim and business leaders, Busan Mayor Park welcomed ex-KITA chairman Kim being named chairman of the bid committee as a representative of Busan citizens.

Kim’s acceptance served as an important opportunity to share consensus among the business community, central and local governments.

The government plans to submit an application to bid for the 2030 World Expo to The Bureau International des Expositions in June.

The Bureau International des Expositions is expected to decide the official venue of the 2030 World Expo at its general meeting.