November 28, 2024

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Busan Mayor Park Heong-joon explains about Busan North Port, the envisioned venue for 2030 World Expo to the Bureau International des Expositions delegation at Busan Port International Exhibition and Convention Center in Busan on Wednesday. (Yonhap)

South Korea has proposed turning its first trade port in Busan, the North Port, into a big data center storing the history and legacy of Bureau International des Expositions, if it succeeds in its bid to host the World Expo in Busan in 2030.

The Busan Expo bidding committee made the proposal to the BIE delegation while it was here for on a six-day inspection trip, which began Sunday.

The next World Expo will take place in 2030, the year the BIE marking its 100th anniversary. Bidding to host the 2030 World Expo, South Korea announced a plan to establish a commemoration center, “Expo Big Data Silo” at the North Port, the main venue the country envisions using for the global event.

Under the plan, South Korea would build a silo that stores "the history and wisdom the world has accumulated hosting expo over the past 100 years," a bidding committee official explained.

“We want to store and present the big data of Expo, and make it (big data silo) as an entity where other countries come to discuss the value of Expo and work with the center to host their future expo,” the committee official told The Korea Herald.

The Busan North Port is South Korea’s very first modern port, opened as Busanpo, or Port of Busan in 1876. In the 1970s, about 70 percent of the country's inbound and outbound shipments were transported through the port, and it was the world's No. 3 container port in 2000.

The North Port lost its competitiveness after Busan built a new port to become the city's main port. But the government launched the Busan North Port redevelopment plan in 2008 to return the area to the public, to turn it into a hub of global maritime industry and tourism.

By Jo He-rim (herim@heraldcorp.com)