Expo 2030 is Korea's chance to return war favor: Chey

Chey Tae-won, chairman of the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI), speaks during a foreign press conference held in central Seoul on Wednesday. [KCCI]

Korea hopes the World Expo 2030 will be a chance to return the favor that the world showed to the war-ridden country 70 years ago, Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) Chairman Chey Tae-won said on Wednesday during a press conference aimed at promoting Busan’s bid to host the mega event in 2030.

“Korea was one of the poorest countries in the world after the war,” Chey said, stressing that the “Korea we know today won’t be here if not for the support from so many countries and the sacrifices made during the war.”

Chey, who is chairman of SK Group, Korea’s second-largest conglomerate, is also serving as the co-chair of the World Expo 2030 Busan Bid Committee. The KCCI chief stressed that the World Expo will serve as an opportunity for Korea to return the compassion that the global community showed during the war, by providing and showcasing possible solutions.

The comment was made during the foreign press meeting held in central Seoul, Wednesday, co-hosted by the KCCI and Seoul Foreign Correspondents' Club.

While the SK chairman emphasized that the World Expo will be about what Korea can offer to the global community to address the issues faced by humanity rather than what it will potentially gain from the event, Chey added that hosting the World Expo will further help the country in long-run in an increasingly fragmented world.

Answering a question on Korea’s falling exports to China, Chey said that “while the global economy used to function as a single system under the WTO [World Trade Organization] regime before, markets are now increasingly fragmented and that applies to not only China but also the rest of the world.”

Such fragmentation poses a particularly big challenge for export-driven countries such as Korea, translating to the increasing need for diversification of export markets, according to the KCCI chief.

“Therefore we should strive to reach out to smaller economies, looking for what they actually need, and I believe our current efforts to host the World Expo will pay off in that respect in the future,” Chey said.

The economic benefit that the World Expo will generate is estimated at around 61 trillion won, according to the government.

The government recently hosted a reception in Paris after President Yoon Suk Yeol's English-language presentation at the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE) general assembly on Tuesday to showcase Korea's World Expo bid. Chey accompanied Yoon to Paris with other business leaders, including Samsung Electronic Executive Chairman Lee Jae-yong.

Korea is competing for the right to host the 2030 World Expo against Saudi Arabia's Riyadh. The BIE, the intergovernmental organization that oversees the World Expo, will make a final selection by secret ballot in November.

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