Yoon, Busan mayor, business leaders boost Expo bid in Davos

The Busan mayor and Korean business leaders rallied support for the southeast city’s bid to host the 2030 World Expo with President Yoon Suk Yeol in Davos, Switzerland, during the World Economic Forum (WEF).

Busan Mayor Park Heong-joon, left, and Lotte Group Chairman Shin Dong-bin, second from right, speak with each other during the Korea Night 2023 event held in Davos, Switzerland, on Wednesday. Samsung Electronics Executive Chairman Lee Jae-yong, far right, and HD Hyundai CEO Chung Ki-sun, center, are shown in the background. [YONHAP]

The Busan mayor and Korean business leaders rallied support for the southeast city’s bid to host the 2030 World Expo with President Yoon Suk Yeol in Davos, Switzerland, during the World Economic Forum (WEF).

Mayor Park Heong-joon of Busan put his city forward as “the best place to work, stay, enjoy and also invest in,” during WEF Korea Night 2023 Wednesday.

The Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) and Busan Expo bidding committee member companies co-hosted the Korea Night 2023 event in Davos to explain the Busan initiative to government and business leaders.

The non-governmental Busan Expo bidding committee is supported by 12 chaebol, including Samsung, SK, Hyundai, LG and Lotte.

The Busan mayor was invited as a special guest to promote the city’s bid for the World Expo in 2030.

In his remarks during the event, Park cited a popular film “Train to Busan” (2016) where the city was set as the last refuge during a zombie apocalypse.

“Like how Busan was portrayed as the final safe haven in the movie, the city will pave its own way toward the shared prosperity of humanity and embrace,” said Park.

Park arrived in Davos after visiting Paris to promote the Busan bid to ambassadors in France on Tuesday.

President Yoon and first lady Kim Kun-hee attended the Korea Night 2023 along with over 300 attendees from both home and abroad, including business leaders.

Present at the event were SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won — who also chairs the KCCI — Samsung Electronics Executive Chairman Lee Jae-yong, Hyundai Motor Group Executive Chair Euisun Chung, LG Corporation Chairman Koo Kwang-mo, Lotte Group Chairman Shin Dong-bin, Hanwha Solutions CEO and Vice Chairman Kim Dong-kwan, GS Group Chairman Huh Tae-soo and HD Hyundai CEO Chung Ki-sun.

Government officials, including Finance Minister Choo Kyung-ho, Foreign Minister Park Jin and Industry Minister Lee Chang-yang, attended the event, as well as overseas participants such as Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, Cisco Systems CEO Chuck Robbins and WEF Executive Chairman Klaus Schwab.

“Busan is a global city where industry and culture are combined together, with the world’s second-largest transshipment port and Asia’s biggest film festival,” he said.

This year’s Korea Night event came back after a five-year hiatus due to the pandemic.

The previous Korea Night was organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to promote the 2018 Winter Olympics held in Pyeongchang.

The winner to host the 2030 World Expo will be chosen by 170 member states of the Bureau International des Expositions during a general assembly scheduled for November. Saudi Arabia's Riyadh and Italy's Rome are also in the running.

BY SHIN HA-NEE [shin.hanee@joongang.co.kr]