The Diplomat
The President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, received yesterday at the Moncloa Palace the co-president of the Busan 2030 candidacy, Chey Tae-won, with whom he discussed South Korea’s aspirations to host the world exposition.
The South Korean delegation was headed by Chey Tae-won himself, who is also the special envoy of the President of the Republic of Korea, Yoon Suk-yeol, and who was accompanied, among others, by the president & CEO Samsung Electronics, Sun Simon, and the Korean ambassador to Spain, Bahk Sahnghoon.
During the meeting, as reported by Moncloa, several topics of common interest were discussed, such as the strengthening of bilateral cooperation, possible Korean investments in Spain and the Busan 2030 candidacy itself. Last November, Pedro Sánchez paid a two-day official visit to South Korea during which he met with President Yoon Suk-yeol, with whom he agreed on his condemnation of the North Korean nuclear tests and discussed opportunities to expand economic and trade exchanges between the two countries.
Korea has applied to host the World Expo 2030 in Busan, the country’s second largest city, with the aim of “contributing to the opening of the path towards a better future for humanity,” as stated by Ambassador Bahk Sahnghoon during the recent commemoration of Korea’s National Foundation Day, which took place last October.
As the ambassador himself noted in an article published around the same time in The Diplomat, “Korea hopes to host World Expo 2030 in Busan, a modern port city, under the theme Transforming Our World, Sailing To a Better Future, for six months, from May 1 to October 31, 2030.”
“The theme of the Busan World Expo is as a way to solve global problems such as climate change, health crisis and high-tech polarization facing the world, to seek a great radical transformation in the paradigm that humanity has followed since the Industrial Revolution, and to show the world a grand vision for the future in which it can live together sustainably and harmoniously,” all geared toward 2030, “the year when the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) will be achieved,” he continued.
According to the ambassador, “Korea has many advantages, including a wealth of experience in successfully hosting various events on a global scale – such as the 1988 Summer Olympics, the 2002 Football World Cup and two Specialty Expos in 1993 and 2012; an effective epidemic response and management system; and cutting-edge ITC technology.” “Korea’s will to host World Expo 2030 is very strong,” therefore, the current Korean Government, in power since May 2022, “has placed the hosting of the Busan World Expo as one of its top priorities and is actively striving with all its national capabilities.” “Renowned Korean companies, such as Samsung, Hyundai Motors, SK and LG, world-class companies are also collaborating with the government to host the Busan World Expo,” he assured.
