Jeon Jae-su "Did the government, which called the Expo a great comeback, deceive the citizens of Busan?"

"Considering South Korea's Status, at Least 60-70 Votes Should Be Expected"
"40,000 Jamboree... Would 40 Million Trust the Expo?"

Jeon Jae-su, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, criticized the failure to secure the 2030 World Expo (Expo) in Busan on the 30th, saying, "Government officials consistently said that through a dramatic turnaround, Busan would surpass Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in the second round of voting," adding, "Then, it makes me wonder if they deceived the National Assembly and the citizens of Busan, considering the vote margin. The figure of 119 to 29 is inexplicable."

Jeon, a member of the National Assembly's Special Committee for Expo Hosting Support, visited Paris, France, on the 28th (local time) to observe the 173rd General Assembly of the International Bureau of Expositions (BIE) and the voting among competing countries for the 2030 World Expo hosting rights. In this vote, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, received 119 votes and was selected as the final host city. Busan only garnered 29 votes.

In an interview with BBS Radio's 'Jeon Young-shin's Morning Journal' on the same day, Jeon said, "As a National Assembly member from Busan, my first thought when the figure 119 to 29 appeared was how deeply disappointed the citizens of Busan must be," and added, "It was so shocking that I found it hard to believe."

Jeon Jae-su, Member of the Democratic Party of Korea./Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

He then pointed out the lack of a pre-information gathering system. Jeon said, "On that day, 165 countries participated in the vote, and considering South Korea's national status, even if we did nothing, we should have received at least 60 to 70 votes," adding, "Seeing such a dismal number, I wondered, 'What did we actually do?' and 'Did they intend to deceive the people completely?' This issue must be thoroughly investigated."

Jeon stated, "President Yoon Seok-yeol traveled abroad extensively with a massive budget. Last year, the National Assembly approved a budget of about 26 billion won for the president's overseas trips, which was fully spent, and an additional supplementary budget of over 30 billion won was also used for overseas trips," adding, "Considering that South Korea is the world's 8th largest economy and the 6th largest military power, and taking into account the country's economic strength and status, we should have received 60 to 70 votes even without any effort. Instead, it can only be interpreted that we lost votes while traveling abroad."

Jeon identified three causes for the Expo failure: ▲ ideological diplomacy ▲ escalating military tensions with North Korea ▲ the 2023 Saemangeum Jamboree fiasco. He said, "First is divisive, ideological diplomacy. President Yoon must reflect on his diplomacy centered on the U.S. and Japan, emphasizing ideology as the most important factor," and added, "Second, South Korea is currently experiencing escalating military tensions with North Korea, with a strong-on-strong stance. Would any country vote to host an Expo in a country where war might break out?"

He continued, "During the Jamboree incident, South Korea's prestige was severely damaged beyond words. The Jamboree had 40,000 participating students, but the Busan Expo expects at least 40 million visitors," adding, "The global media gave significant coverage to the Jamboree incident, and it seems there was a fundamental trust issue about whether South Korea, which could not even manage an international event with 40,000 participants, could be trusted with an international event expecting 40 million visitors."