Hyundai Motor Group rallies support for Busan

Guest Reports

Published: 05 Apr. 2023, 16:53 Updated: 05 Apr. 2023, 20:03

Hyundai Motor Group rallies support for Busan

Hyundai Motor Group hangs a promotional banner on Nambu High-Tech Center in Daebang-dong, southern Seoul. [HYUNDAI MOTOR]

Chair Euisun Chung has been involved with promotional activities

Hyundai Motor Group is exerting all its efforts to rally support for Busan’s bid to host the World Expo in 2030.

Hyundai was the first Korean conglomerate to launch a dedicated team to promote the city in August 2021. The company has actively been promoting the city with executives flying off to other countries to meet high-level government officials and using Hyundai vehicles at international events.

Korea’s bidding committee matched large companies with countries with voting rights. Hyundai was matched with 20 countries including Peru, Chile and the Bahamas.

Euisun Chung on the lead

Hyundai Motor Group Executive Chair Euisun Chung set out to actively join the promotional movements.

Chung flew to the United States to meet with 12 ambassadors from African and Caribbean nations to the United States on Feb. 28 including from Malawi, the Central African Republic and the Bahamas, to promote the city of Busan and ask for their support for the city’s bid.

"Korea, as a country that overcame various crises and achieved economic growth in a short period, could serve as a bridge between emerging and developed countries," Chung told the ambassadors.

"I'm confident that Korea will play a pivotal role in world cooperation to solve global challenges by sharing our experience and technology."

Hosted by the Embassy of the Republic of Korea in Washington D.C., the meeting was attended by Chung, CEO of Hyundai Motor Chang Jae-hoon, President at Hyundai Motor Jose Munoz and Korea's ambassador to the United States Cho Tae-yong.

“The world is now facing complicated challenges and crises such as climate change and the growing gap between countries,” Chung said during the meeting. “Various efforts to tackle the situation are seriously needed, and holding the expo in Busan will be a good solution.”

It was not the first time Chung made direct actions to promote Busan.

The Hyundai chief visited the Czech Republic and Slovakia in October to meet the countries’ prime ministers to share the competitiveness of Busan as a candidate city for the World Expo.

Chung met with Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala on Oct. 27 to ask for his support for Busan’s bid to host the expo.

During the meeting, the two also discussed cooperation to shift Hyundai’s Czech plant to a facility manufacturing electric vehicles (EVs).

"Busan is the best suitable city to hold a World Expo as it acts as a logistics hub connecting Eurasia and the Pacific Ocean, as well as a hub for world-class infrastructure for tourism," Chung told Fiala.

The Czech Republic holds the Presidency of the Council of the European Union. Since it established diplomatic ties with Korea in 1990, over 50 Korean companies have entered the country including Hyundai Motor.

Chung also emphasized the important role Hyundai's Czech plant has in the company's electrification goal in the European market. The European Union reached a deal to effectively ban new combustion-engine cars starting from 2035.

Hyundai Motor manufactures various EVs in its Czech plant in Ostrava, including Kona Electric SUVs and Tucson Hybrid SUVs.

Chung also held a meeting with Eduard Heger, the prime minister of Slovakia, to ask for his support for Busan.

The two also discussed cooperation on Hyundai’s plans to expand its production of eco-friendly vehicles in the European market.

Slovakia holds the presidency of the Visegrad Group, also known as the V4, which is a regional alliance of four central European countries: the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia.

Hyundai Motor Group runs a Kia manufacturing plant in Zilina in northern Slovakia that produces around 330,000 vehicles a year. Since its establishment in December 2006, over 4 million cars have been made in the plant.

Hyundai Motor Group Executive Chair Euisun Chung, sixth from right, and Cho Tae-yong, Korea's ambassador to the United States, fifth from right, take a photo with ambassadors from African and Caribbean nations to the United States after having a meeting to ask for their support for Busan's bid for the World Expo 2030. [HYUNDAI MOTOR]

Promotion using global networks

Hyundai Motor CEO Chang Jae-hoon in October left for a six-day trip to three Latin American countries — the Bahamas, Chile and Paraguay — to have meetings with the president and high-level government officials to ask for their support for Busan.

Latin America is important in the bid as it consists of 29 countries that have voting rights, the third most after Europe and Africa.

On Oct. 28, Chang met with Paraguayan President Mario Abdo and Foreign Minister Julio César Arriola at the presidential office in Asuncion and asked for their interest and cooperation for Busan’s bid.

Chang then flew to the Bahamas to meet Prime Minister Philip Davis, Alfred Michael Sears, minister of Works and Utilities, and Rhoda Jackson, director general of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and to tell them about the competitiveness of Busan as a hub of logistics, transportation and culture.

The next day, Chang met with Salvatore de Giovanni, head of the Investment Promotion Division at InvestChile, the Foreign Investment Promotion Agency of Chile, to continue his promotional activities for Busan.

Kia CEO Song Ho-sung also visited Serbia, the Republic of Albania and Greece to promote Busan.

Efforts at Davos Forum

Hyundai’s efforts to promote Busan extended to the 2023 World Economic Forum (WEF), held in Davos, Switzerland from Jan. 16 to 20.

Hyundai Motor vehicles show signs supporting Busan's bid to host the World Expo in Davos, Switzerland. [HYUNDAI MOTOR]

Hyundai operated 58 vehicles, 45 of which were electric, that also had the expo logo printed on them for Korean representatives participating in the so-called Davos Forum.

Some 15 Santa Fe plug-in hybrids were used to shuttle guests between forum halls and hotels. Participants who attended Korea-led events also used the vehicles.

Hyundai also installed an electric vehicle charging station near Davos and displayed an Ioniq 5 to help people to use a vehicle-to-load (V2L) function, which allows the car to provide electricity to other devices without additional equipment, with both interior and exterior outlets for convenience.

A Genesis X, a high-performance electric vehicle concept car, was displayed at the Ameron Hotel in Davos, Switzerland, where Korea Night 2023 took place during the forum.

Korea Night 2023 was hosted by the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Busan Expo bidding committee member companies to promote the city's bid to host the 2030 World Expo.

A total of 200 politicians, CEOs and journalists participated in the event.

In Paris in November, where meetings of the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE) are held, Hyundai’s Ioniq 5 and Kona EVs toured the city for two days starting on Nov. 28.

Hyundai has also been promoting Busan using promotional pamphlets and videos at Hyundai and Kia stores overseas.

Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, Kia CEO Song Ho-sung and officials of the Busan Expo bidding committee take photos after watching Hyundai Motor Group’s promotional video and seeing its large-scale electric SUV “EV9” at Hyundai Motor’s exhibition hall at the Light it Up EXPO, which was held at Gwanghwamun Square in central Seoul. [HYUNDAI MOTOR]

Cooperative efforts with Busan citizens

Hyundai Motor recently released a Busan promotional video titled “Busan citizens invite you all” that features local residents introducing the port city’s attractions and strengths.

The video also introduces various tourist destinations in Busan including Jagalchi Market, the largest fish and marine products market in Korea, and Gukje Market, which the 2014 film “Ode to My Father” is based on.

The video was released in 15 languages of BIE member countries, including English, Chinese, Spanish, Portuguese, Czech and Greek.

“Though the message may not be delivered in a fluent accent, introducing Busan in the BIE member countries’ native languages will convey a feeling of friendliness and sincerity,” said Hyundai Motor in a release.

The footage was played during an outdoor exhibition organized by the Busan Expo bidding committee in Gwanghwamun, central Seoul, from Mar. 30 to Apr. 3, as well as the Seoul Mobility Show, which kicked off on March 31 at Kintex in Gyeonggi.

“Hyundai plans to do our best to concentrate the world’s attention on Busan through all means online and offline,” the company said.

Busan is competing with Rome, Riyadh and Odesa to host the expo in 2030. The host country will be decided by a vote of 170 BIE member countries in November during a general assembly in Paris.

BY SARAH CHEA [chea.sarah@joongang.co.kr]