President Yoon, Korea Inc. reaffirm commitment to Busan despite failed expo bid

Politics

Published: 06 Dec. 2023, 18:10 Updated: 06 Dec. 2023, 19:55

President Yoon, Korea Inc. reaffirm commitment to Busan despite failed expo bid

President Yoon Suk Yeol, fourth from right, and business leaders of major conglomerates eat tteokbokki, or spicy rice cakes, during a visit to Bupyeong Kkangtong Market in Busan on Wednesday. From left, SK Group Executive Vice Chairman Chey Jae-won, Samsung Electronics Executive Chairman Lee Jae-yong, Hyosung CEO and Chairman Cho Hyun-joon, Yoon, LG Chairman Koo Kwang-mo, Hanwha Group Vice Chairman Kim Dong-kwan and HD Hyundai Vice Chairman Chung Ki-sun. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]

President Yoon Suk Yeol and business leaders of major conglomerates visited Busan on Wednesday to pledge continued support for the rapid development of the southeastern port city as a "global hub," regardless of Korea's failure to secure the World Expo 2030 bid last week.

Samsung Electronics Executive Chairman Lee Jae-yong, LG Chairman Koo Kwang-mo and other heads of Korea's major companies joined Yoon in a meeting with Busan businesspeople and officials and a stop by a traditional market to eat tteokbokki (spicy rice cakes) and mingle with locals.

"As the hosting of the expo was aimed at making Busan a global hub and an axis of the southern region, the pending local projects pursued for the bid will be carried out more perfectly," Yoon said in the meeting at the Busan Port International Exhibition & Convention Center. "Busan starts again."

The meeting on "Busan citizen's dreams and challenges" was attended by some 100 people, including Busan Mayor Park Heong-joon, local businesspeople, lawmakers and Busan residents to discuss ways to develop the city.

Along with Samsung's Lee and LG's Koo, business executives in attendance included SK Group Executive Vice Chairman Chey Jae-won, Hanwha Group Vice Chairman Kim Dong-kwan, HD Hyundai Vice Chairman Chung Ki-sun, Hanjin Group Chairman Cho Won-tae, Hyosung CEO and Chairman Cho Hyun-joon and Federation of Korean Industries (FKI) Chairman Ryu Jin.

Yoon's visit to Busan, flanked by business leaders who had contributed to a public-private campaign as "One Team Korea" to secure the World Expo bid, came on the heels of Saudi Arabia's Riyadh victory in a vote by the 182-member Bureau International des Expositions (BIE) in Paris on Nov. 28.

Despite a year and a half of seamless coordination between government officials and business executives campaigning globally for Busan to be selected as the host of the 2030 Expo, Riyadh defeated both Busan and the third contender, Italy's Rome, by a large margin. Yoon last Wednesday made a public apology for the failed bid.

The defeat bitterly disappointed Busan residents, who worry that government and investor interest in the city's development would fizzle with the failed bid.

President Yoon Suk Yeol, center, speaks in a meeting to address Busan citizens’ “dreams and challenges” attended by some 100 government, business and civic leaders at the Busan Port International Exhibition & Convention Center in the southeastern port city on Wednesday. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]

"Although we failed to achieve our goal of hosting the expo, we promoted Busan to some 180 BIE member countries worldwide," Yoon said during the meeting.

"Busan is already a global leader," he said, noting that the catchphrase "Busan is ready" has also become popular worldwide.

Yoon thanked Busan's civic groups, businesspeople and residents "who were more eager to host the Expo than anyone else."

"We need to start building infrastructure and setting regulations now so that Busan can develop into a hub city for logistics, finance, digital and high-tech industries," Yoon said.

He promised that the government would proceed with local projects related to the expo bid, such as the timely construction of a new airport on Busan's Gadeok Island, the development of the North Port, the would-have-been venue for the expo, and a plan for the relocation of the state-run Korea Development Bank (KDB) to the city.

This is also in keeping with Yoon's campaign pledge, and the president again emphasized the potential of Busan as an international financial city.

Yoon stressed that building infrastructure benefits Busan and helps with balanced regional development, benefiting the Gyeongsang and Jeolla regions and making Busan, the country's second-largest city, the axis of the southern region.

Samsung Vice Chairman Lee said in the meeting, "Korea's companies, including Samsung, are always ready to join the ambitions of Busan, a vibrant city where global companies want to invest in and a city of the future where innovative products and technologies are spreading around the world."

President Yoon Suk Yeol, right, shares bindaetteok, or mungbean pancakes, with Samsung Electronics Executive Chairman Lee Jae-yong, left, during a visit with business executives and Busan Mayor Park Heong-joon to Bupyeong Kkangtong Market in Busan Wednesday. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]

Yoon also made his first visit to the Gukje Market, a traditional market that opened in 1945, where he met with local merchants and tasted Busan treats. He also visited nearby Bupyeong Kkangtong Market, a food market, according to the presidential office.

Yoon stopped by vendors at Bupyeong Market to taste tteokbokki, bindaetteok (mungbean pancakes) and bibimdangmyeon (glass noodles mixed with vegetables and red pepper sauce), joined by Busan Mayor Park and business executives, including Samsung's Lee, LG's Koo and SK's Chey.

"We will develop Busan even further by attracting foreign companies to the site of the expo exhibition venue," Yoon told merchants.

The latest visit appears to consider the need to appease Busan voters following the expo bid defeat, especially considering the administration's faltering approval ratings in recent opinion polls in the Busan and South Gyeongsang region.

Yoon later had lunch with people on the trip, including People Power Party (PPP) Chairman Kim Gi-hyeon and other party leaders, at a local pork soup restaurant.

BY SARAH KIM [kim.sarah@joongang.co.kr]