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| ▲ Prime Minister Han Duck-soo (C) attends an event to attract investment held at the Busan Exhibition and Convention Center (BEXCO) in Busan, 325 kilometers southeast of Seoul, on Nov. 7, 2023, to drum up support for South Korea's bid to host the 2030 World Expo in the country's second-largest port city. (Yonhap) |
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| ▲ President Yoon Suk Yeol delivers his welcoming speech at a reception in Paris, in this file photo from June 21, 2023, to win support for South Korea's hosting of the 2030 World Expo in the southeastern city of Busan. (Pool photo) (Yonhap) |
S Korea-World Expo
S. Korea to make final pitch for hosting 2030 World Expo
SEOUL, Nov. 12 (Yonhap) -- South Korea will make a final pitch for the country's bid for hosting the 2030 World Expo in the southeastern city of Busan, two weeks before the crucial vote, with President Yoon Suk Yeol and Prime Minister Han Duck-soo set to travel to Paris in the coming weeks to bolster the campaign.
Han was set to leave for Paris later Sunday for a four-day trip in an effort to drum up support to host the quadrennial event in Busan, according to his office.
Member states of the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE), the body in charge of overseeing the World Expo, will decide on the host city among Busan, Riyadh and Rome on Nov. 28 in Paris.
His trip comes about a month after he visited Paris as part of his European tour for the expo bid.
Bang Ki-sun, the policy coordination minister, will also visit Benin and Guinea Bissau from Monday through next Sunday as Yoon's special envoy as part of efforts to solicit support from the African countries.
President Yoon is expected to cap the country's last-minute pitch for the expo bid as he will head to Paris after making a state visit to Britain from Nov. 20-23.
Then during a three-day stay in Paris until Nov. 25, Yoon plans to meet with officials from member states of the BIE to seek their support.
In June, Yoon visited the French capital to attend a general assembly of the BIE and delivered a presentation in English before delegates from 179 BIE member states.
He framed South Korea's hosting of the World Expo as an opportunity for the country to "give back" to the international community what it received amid the ruins of the 1950-53 Korean War.
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