South Korea confident about hosting World Expo 2030 in Busan

Only two other candidate cities; Riyadh and Rome, are left in the global competition to host the event after Ukraine's Odesa and Russia's Moscow dropped out of the first round of the race.

The Republic of Korea, in June 2021, submitted a letter of candidature to the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE) for the hosting of the World Expo 2030 in Busan which is Korea’s second-largest city and greatest port city.

"The City of Busan is eager to host World EXPO 2030 on the basis of “3Ws”: well-developed; well-placed; and well-experienced," the Republic of Korea submitted.

Addressing journalists in Paris on Tuesday, June 21, 2022, Prime Minister Han Duck-soo said: "Nobody doubts Busan's capability to exhibit and host the event. I assure you that Busan is more attractive and diverse than the cities it is competing with."

Before his election, South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol said he would host the 2030 Busan World Exposition at the risk of the nation's fate, and immediately after his election, he showed strong will by setting up the Busan Expo TF within the transition team for the first time. 

The president also presided over the 2030 Busan Expo's strategic meeting held in Busan on May 31 and reiterated his willingness to host the Busan Expo. In line with the president's strong will, the Busan Expo was selected as the new administration's national task, and the current private foundation, the bidding committee, will be reorganized into a prime ministerial committee by the end of June to rally its capabilities.

While the bidding committee was organized by the government and reorganized into a co-chairperson system of the Prime Minister and the Korean Chamber of Commerce and Industry, a future strategy secretary dedicated to the Busan Expo was also established in the presidential office.

Busan City has extensive experience in holding large-scale international events such as the Asian Games in 2002 and the APEC Summit in 2005.

Meaningful events it has hosted include the 2011 Busan World Development Institute General Assembly; 2014 ITU Plenipotentiary Conference; 2014 & 2019 ASEAN-ROK Commemorative Summit; the 2015 IDB Annual Meeting; and the International Federation of Freight Forwarders Associations (FIATA) World Congress in 2022.

On Monday, the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI), released results of a two-week online survey showing that a majority of people expect Korea to reap plenty of economic benefits, including the creation of jobs and a tourism boom, from hosting the World Expo 2030.

The Korean Times reports that out of the 3,945 respondents in the survey, 48.7 percent answered that they expect huge economic benefits, especially in job creation, consumer demand and tourism.

Busan aims to host the World EXPO 2030 with the main theme of “Transforming Our World, Navigating Toward a Better Future”.

Under the main theme, sub-themes have been selected to address the three following global challenges; climate change; downsides of the digital transformation; and inequality among and within nations.