PM asks co-chair of Minnesota’s Expo 2027 bid to support S. Korea’s bid for 2030 World Expo

Prime Minister Han Duck-soo on Monday asked Robert Clark, co-chair of the Minnesota USA Expo 2027 organization, to support South Korea’s bid to host the 2030 World Expo in its southern port city of Busan.

During their meeting in Paris, Han told Clark that Busan would be the right city to host the event because the city has emerged as a hub of logistics and digital industry from the ashes of the 1950-53 Korean War, according to Han’s office.

Han told Clark that Busan, South Korea’s second-largest city, is “a case of the transition from an underdeveloped nation to a state-of-the-art technology nation.”

If Busan hosts the 2030 World Expo, South Korea would display efforts for transition in terms of pending global issues, including climate change, inequality and health, Han told Clark, according to Han’s office.

Han was accompanied by SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won, who doubles as the chief of the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and Busan Mayor Park Heong-joon.

Chey told reporters he will make utmost efforts to help South Korea win the bid to host the 2030 expo.

“We will try to get as much support as we can,” Chey told reporters ahead of the meeting between Han and Clark.

Han is on a visit to Paris to attend a general assembly of the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE), which is an intergovernmental body in charge of overseeing World Expos.

On Tuesday, Han is set to deliver a presentation on South Korea’s bid to host the international event under the main theme of “Transforming Our World, Navigating Toward a Better Future,” according to Han’s office.

On the margins of the assembly, Han is expected to meet representatives of BIE member countries to ask for their support.

The World Expo is one of the largest international festivals besides the World Cup and the Olympics. Hosting an expo is estimated to create economic effects worth 61 trillion won (US$47.1 billion), according to the South Korean government.