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| The Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry building (KCCI) / Korea Times file |
By Kim Hyun-bin
Amajority of people expect Korea to reap a great deal of economic benefits, including the creation of jobs and a tourism boom, from hosting the World Expo 2030, according to the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI).
Korea's largest business lobby group on Monday released the results of a two-week online survey on attracting the World Expo. Among the 3,945 respondents, 48.7 percent answered that they expect huge economic benefits, especially in job creation, and consumer demand and tourism.
This was followed by 26.6 percent of respondents claiming the Expo would 'raise awareness of Korea by spreading hallyu and promoting the country's high-tech technologies', and 19.5 percent of the respondents said the Expo will 'establish a foundation for regional economic vitalization through infrastructure investment.'
"The survey received close to 3,500 supportive comments. People's support and aspirations for the exhibition serves as an important checkpoint," the KCCI said. "We ask for active support and participation from the Korean people so that the 2030 World Expo, which is essential for the future of the country, can be held in Busan."
In the past, Korea has hosted medium-scale Expos in Daejeon in 1993 and Yeosu in 2012 but has never hosted a large-scale comprehensive exhibition such as the World Expo.
Busan is competing with Rome and Saudi Arabia's Riyadh to host the event. Russia and Ukraine had also submitted applications, but Russia withdrew its bid after beginning its invasion of Ukraine. Ukraine is also unlikely to win the bid due to current circumstances.
If Busan is selected to host the World Expo during the General Meeting of the Bureau International des Exposition (BIE) to be held in Paris in November 2023, Korea will become the seventh country to host the big three global mega events ― the World Cup, the Olympics and the Expo.
If the bid is successful, Busan expects 34.8 million visitors from 200 countries around the world to visit over a six-month span from May 2030.
In the survey, 55.5 percent of respondents answered that they were 'well aware' of Busan's challenges to host the World Expo.
Nationally, 11.7 percent of the respondents answered they were unaware of the country's efforts to attract the Expo.
In particular, 40.7 percent of the opinions expressed that 'the publicity should be strengthened by using various media, along with proposals to better utilize social media and virtual expositions using the metaverse.'
