[K-Women Talk]Why Busan for the 2030 World Expo?

The selection of the host city for the 2030 World Expo is approaching. On November 28, representatives from 181 member countries will gather at the General Assembly of the Paris Bureau International des Expositions to vote among the three candidate cities: Busan, Riyadh, and Rome. With less than a month remaining, all three countries are engaged in an all-out effort.

One of these all-out efforts is the symposium to promote the attractiveness and vision of each candidate city. On October 9, Busan held the Busan Expo Symposium in Paris, where representatives from member countries were persuaded why Busan, not Riyadh or Rome, should be the host city.

What are Busan’s vision and attractions? Above all, the world demands a great transformation, and Busan symbolizes this transformation and represents hope for the future. Many countries are still suffering amid the threats of war, widespread poverty, and disease. These countries need inspiration. Busan’s story of great transformation becomes the source of that inspiration. From a small, poor port to becoming the 7th largest container port in the world, leading Korea’s economic development, Busan provides ample inspiration and courage to many countries around the globe.

Secondly, Busan does not remain in the past story of great transformation but presents a vision for future civilization and offers hope. Moving beyond its role as a hub of industrialization, Busan is reborn as a smart city based on eco-friendly energy and IT, leading the way as a city of future civilization grounded in openness, freedom, inclusiveness, culture, and human rights. Since the mission of the Expo is to present a blueprint for future civilization, there is no place more suitable than Busan as the host city.

Moreover, 2030 is the target year set by the United Nations for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the year to establish the vision for civilization beyond the SDGs. The vision of the Busan Expo is a great transformation toward a civilization of care and sharing. Humanity’s pressing issues?climate change, polarization, extremism, threats to peace?cannot be ultimately resolved without returning to an attitude of care for one another. Care for nature, neighbors, distant countries, and the human community is essential, and sharing knowledge, experience, wisdom, and technology is necessary for humanity’s future sustainability. This vision of the Busan Expo aligns best with the mission of the World Expo.

At the symposium, when presenting the theme “Why Busan?”, I emphasized Busan’s charm as a festival venue where people can gather and enjoy together. Busan is a city full of fun, hosting various festivals year-round, such as the International Film Festival and fireworks festivals. Surrounded by seven beaches and ten mountains, with easily accessible nature and cultural heritage everywhere, and a modern cityscape including the skyscrapers of Haeundae, Busan offers abundant experiences and enjoyment. The cultural appeal that millions of visitors from around the world can enjoy during the six-month-long Expo is clearly a crucial factor for the Expo’s success. Who would travel a long way to spend time in a boring place?

There has always been an Expo at the great transformations of human civilization. The first Expo in London in 1851 marked the era of the Industrial Revolution; the 1900 Paris Expo, famous for the Eiffel Tower, marked the era of culture; the 1962 Seattle Expo marked the space age; and the 2000 Hanover Expo marked the era of environmental protection. The 2030 Busan Expo will be a historic stage where a new great transformation of human civilization through care and sharing takes place, and this is the clear answer to why Busan.

Park Eun-ha, Executive Director of the Expo Citizens’ Committee, Former Ambassador to the United Kingdom