[Asia Economy Reporter Suyeon Woo] The Dubai Expo, the first to be held in the Middle East and Africa region, opened spectacularly on the 1st (local time). South Korea, ranking fifth in scale among 191 participating countries, plans to promote Korean culture and technology to people worldwide through its pavilion.
At the opening ceremony of the Korea Pavilion at the Dubai Expo held on the 1st (local time), Korean officials including Yoo Jung-yeol, President of KOTRA, Kwon Yong-woo, Ambassador of the Republic of Korea to the United Arab Emirates, and Moon Byung-jun, Consul General in Dubai, attended along with key UAE figures such as Tani Al Zeyoudi, Minister of State for Foreign Trade, Nidal Mohamed Al Tenaiji, Member of Parliament, Mubarak Al Naki, Deputy Minister of Culture, and a total of about 70 domestic and international VIPs.
The Korea Pavilion belongs to the Mobility Zone, a sub-theme of the Dubai Expo, and adopts the theme "Smart Korea, Moving the World to You" to showcase Korea’s leadership in mobility technology. It offers various experiences and exhibition contents to promote Korea’s industrial competitiveness and culture. The pavilion, the fifth largest among 191 participating countries (4651.41㎡), is constructed from basement level 1 to the 3rd floor above ground, with Ssangyong Construction responsible for the building.
On the ground floor welcoming visitors, a spacious area called the "Madang" features dynamic and creative performances expressing Korean excitement, style, and elegance, held 10 times daily. Using mobile columns that move with autonomous driving technology, the pavilion presents a uniquely Korean "heung" (excitement) combining mobility and performance.
The exhibition spans four floors in total (including the lobby), from the ground floor to the 3rd floor, designed to allow visitors to experience AR through mobile devices. The "Crossing Realities" area, where QR codes installed throughout the ramps enable visitors to experience a virtual world realized in reality, offers a new perspective on mobility through the interplay of virtual and real worlds. In the "Vertical Cinema," a video hall with a giant vertical screen that looks like an enlarged mobile screen, visitors can encounter modern Korean images and culture.
The Dubai Expo, postponed by one year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, is held for six months from the 1st of this month to March 31 next year under the theme "Connecting Minds, Creating The Future." The expo features participation from 191 countries and is the first registered expo held in the Middle East and Africa region.
Yoo Jung-yeol, President of KOTRA, stated, "The Korea Pavilion is designed as a space that enhances social, cultural, and industrial understanding of Korea through the harmony of virtual and reality and presents Korea’s unique future mobility vision." He added, "We will make it a space that not only introduces Korea, leading the 4th Industrial Revolution, to the world but also shares and exchanges future visions with other national pavilions."
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