Why South Korea’s Busan city is a strong contender for World Expo 2030

South Korea's scenic port city of Busan has captured world attention as the leading contender to host the World Expo 2030. Busan’s bid is taking shape months after the successful completion of the World Expo 2020 in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates in March 2022. South Korea actively participated in the World Expo 2020 in Dubai under the theme of the ‘Smart Korea, Moving the World to You.’ The theme enabled the country to showcase its dynamism in leading the Fourth Industrial Revolution and sharing the future vision with mankind. In the World Expo 2030 event in Busan, South Korea would extend its Dubai Expo’s thematic vision with a new theme “Transforming Our World, Navigating Toward a Better Future.” Sub-themes have been selected to address the three global challenges: climate change, downsides of the digital transformation, and inequality among and within nations. Each sub-theme correlates with the three pillars of the United Nations’ SDGs – people, planet, and prosperity. As it seeks to host the World Expo 2030 South Korea is on the verge of making history by becoming the seventh country in the world to have hosted the three mega international events – the Olympics, the World Cup, and the World Expo. In this group there are already France, the United States, Canada, Japan, Germany, and Italy. Korea hosted both the Summer and Winter Olympics 30 years apart in 1988 and 2018 respectively, and co-hosted the World Cup2002. If Busan is selected it will offer South Korea a very generous opportunity to showcase not only the global city that has grown to become a global tourist destination of choice and an international transport and logistics hub. As the second largest city in the Republic of Korea Busan is a global megacity that is strategically located connected through world-class infrastructure such as airports, high-speed railways and top-edged ports. As a top Asian tourist destination Busan receives 40 million travellers from around the globe annually. This is due to its captivating natural environment emanating from the harmony among the sea including the seven beaches, rivers and mountains. As a well-developed city Busan is playing a leading role in the transformation process amidst the Fourth Industrial Revolution. On July 23, 2019, Busan was designated as a regulation-free zone for Blockchain technologies to test innovative technologies and foster related businesses. A center for Korea’s future industries, Busan Eco Delta Smart City, is becoming a logistics hub of Northeast Asia. This thriving city now serves as a center for marine science and R&D, and a home to relevant institutions, such as the Korea Maritime Institute (KMI) and the Korea Institute of Ocean Science and Technology (KIOST). And when Busan is selected to host the World Expo 2030 it will not start from scratch as the city has a wealth of experience in holding high caliber international events, including the Asian Games in 2002 and the APEC Summit in 2005. Steely determination The South Korean people have shown much determination and the bidding committee is very adequately prepared to conduct a competitive bidding process for hosting the World Expo 2030. A high-powered delegation led by South Korea’s Prime Minister Duck-soo Han and the Mayor of the Metropolitan City of Busan, presented the project to organise World Expo 2030 in Busan at the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE) in Paris recently claiming that Busan is an excellent choice for hosting the World Expo 2030. President Suk-yeol Yoon also made an appeal to BIE Delegates via a video message. South Korea’s world famous boy band BTS was appointed as the honorary ambassadors for the 2030 Busan World Expo. The other contending cities having staked their claim on hosting this mega event include Rome (Italy) and Riyadh (Saudi Arabia). South Korea’s neighbouring country Japan is hosting the World EXPO 2025 in Osaka-Kansai. The first World Expo – the Great Exhibition – took place in London in 1851. The concept became popular and was repeated across the globe, demonstrating an unparalleled power of attraction and a record of world-class legacies. Since 1928 World Expos have explicitly been organised around a theme that attempts to improve humankind’s knowledge, takes into account human and social aspirations and highlights scientific, technological, economic and social progress.