[Herald Interview] Busan expo not just for tech, also for inclusive growth: mayor

BUSAN -- South Korea's southern port city of Busan is not only going to be an extravaganza for future technology, but also a stage to promote inclusive growth, catering to the aspirations of underdeveloped regions around the world, said the city mayor in an interview with The Korea Herald.

"World Expos used to be exhibitions to showcase the newest technologies and products, and we are seeing more of those these days," said Busan Mayor Park Heong-joon, who has been leading the city's bid for the World Expo 2030.

"Now we are seeing World Expos transform into a platform for solutions to the problems that the world is facing by showcasing how the world is taking advantage of the newest technologies ... to address the issues."

Busan, the world's seventh-largest seaport by container throughput, submitted a bid in June 2021 and a candidature dossier in September 2022 to host the World Expo in 2030 for the first time in the history of South Korea. Two Specialized Expos, a shorter version not considered to be a World's Fair, have taken place in Korea, Asia's fourth-largest economy, in 1993 and 2012.

Among the candidates -- including Saudi Arabia's Riyadh, Italy's Rome and Ukraine's Odesa -- Busan is the most optimal candidate to deliver on the shifting trends of the World's Fair, given that Korea is the only country to have achieved such rapid industrialization in rising out of the ashes of the devastating Korean War in the 1950s, according to Park.

Korea looks to work hand in hand with developing nations in the search for solutions to address a number of crises, such as the digital divide, climate change, the lack of equal opportunities for education and food insecurity.

Spearheading the so-called "Busan Initiative," Park chose to visit Lesotho, South Africa and Angola in a 10-day visit until March 3 as part of a special envoy of President Yoon Suk Yeol. It was Park's first such trip this year. Park visited four Latin American nations and three European countries in 2022.

The event "would be an unprecedented move in the history of the Expo," if the port city were to win the bid, Park said.

"We look to identify the world's problems which need to be solved, (helping developing nations) find solutions together with the host nation and put the solutions on display," he said.

"In particular, developing nations may seek joint solutions to whatever crisis they have, say, water, energy, food, environment or lack of infrastructure, with countries like Korea which achieved economic growth in a very short period of time."

Reviving Busan's glory

Hosting the World's Fair in 2030 will be a boon not only to countries looking for an economic breakthrough, but also to Busan itself as it looks to revive the glory of its past.

The 63-year-old mayor, formerly known as a prominent conservative commentator and close aide of ex-president Lee Myung-bak, is tasked with narrowing a regional gap between Busan and capital city Seoul, and coping with Busan’s dwindling population and lackluster economy.

Park has led Korea's largest port city and second-most populous city since his victory in the April 2021 by-election. He was reelected in 2022. During his tenure, the annual corporate investments in Busan hit an all-time high of 3 trillion won ($2.3 billion) in 2022, but he still has a long way to go to reach his ambitious goal.

Once a light industry manufacturing powerhouse, Busan's population has been on a gradual decline for decades, as the young generation continued to move to other towns and cities in search of well-paid, high quality jobs.

Its population in 2022 was 3.3 million, down by over 6 percent compared with 2012.

Most notably, the population of those aged between 20 and 39 saw a net outflow of over 200,000, representing a 20 percent decline between 2012 and 2022. This sits in stark contrast with the population changes of the greater Seoul area, located over 300 kilometers northwest of Busan and home to nearly half of the nation's total population.

According to the Busan Chamber of Commerce and Industry, none of the top 100 Korean companies by revenue is headquartered in Busan for over two consecutive years until 2022.

Renault Korea Motors and 26 more Busan-based companies made it to the top 1,000 list. The number of Busan-based companies listed on the top 1,000 hit an all-time low last year.

Prospects for Busan's productivity remain uncertain. Plains only cover 30 percent of Busan's surface, which, combined with the government regulations to decelerate urban centralization in 1980s, have long been discouraging factors for the port city as it looks to find a new growth engine. Major factories were instead built in Busan's neighboring cities like Changwon and Yangsan, in South Gyeongsang Province.

In this regard, cultural events like the World Expo 2030 could be a game-changer to prop up Busan's local economy.

"We expect the World Expo 2030 to be worth 61 trillion won by economic value and to create 500,000 jobs here," Park said.

Hosting the World’s Fair could not only change the tendency of Korean people and their economic activities to concentrate on Seoul and the surrounding regions, but also help Busan reach its full potential to become a hub teeming with cultural inspirations.

Busan has been home to an annual international film festival taking place since 1996. Also, Busan has held the 2002 Asian Games and the 2005 Asian Pacific Economic Cooperation Ministerial Meeting. And since 2009, Busan has been annually hosting G-Star, a trade show for the video gaming industry.

"Busan’s hosting of World Expo 2030 will add a new development axis across southern Korea, in a country where the Seoul metropolitan area has virtually served as the sole pole of growth, (which would) contribute to the nation’s efforts to achieve decentralization," Park said.

He added that Busan's endeavor to secure the new pillars of future growth, namely logistics, finance, green technology, digital technology, media contents and tourism, could be propelled by the international event.

Ambitious makeover

Busan, considered to be one of the warmest regions in Korea with four distinct seasons, greeted the delegation of the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE) Enquiry Mission on Tuesday.

Busan is the third destination for the World Expo organizer to visit out of the four candidates.

Park confirmed that Busan is now ready to use part of the old port as the World's Fair site to accommodate exhibitions and pavilions through the Busan North Port Redevelopment Project, which aims to renovate a 3.4 square-kilometer piece of land partly involving land reclamation.

Under the plan suggested by Park, current piers in the area will be relocated, and the empty site for exhibitions will be handed over to World's Fair organizers. After the exhibition's six-month run, the land will be returned to Busan citizens.

"Busan's North Port area holds historical significance since it first opened ... in 1876," Park said.

"Unfortunately, the area has long remained isolated due to seaports, railways and a military supply depot, disconnecting the area from the rest of Busan. ... Relocating facilities and hosting the World's Fair at the redeveloped site will create a link (from the redeveloped site) to the rest of Busan."

In addition, Busan is working to build a new airport by 2029 in Gadeokdo, an islet that is 35 kilometers away by car from the proposed World Expo site. Moreover, a hydrogen-powered tram will allow visitors to travel from the new airport to the proposed World Expo site within 15 minutes. The new airport will take the place of Gimhae Airport in western Busan as a main regional airport.

While a bill to accelerate construction is now pending at the National Assembly, Park said he will scramble to make the new airport begin operations before 2030.

The new airport will be crucial not only for accommodating World Expo visitors, but also for enhancing Busan's status as a nexus in the global trading system.

“Busan’s only airport is increasingly having trouble fully accommodating passengers, not to mention the logistics demand,” Park said, adding that an airport to meet such demand is crucial to Busan's bid to rise to "a major logistics hub on par with Hong Kong and Singapore."