The latest world’s fair is underway-Expo 2012 in Yeosu, Korea and today we were among the thousands of people attending it. The theme is “The Living Ocean and Coast: Diversity of Resources and Sustainable Activities.” That makes sense given Yeosu is along the ocean, and one of the most southern cities on the Korean peninsula. The Chairman of the organizing committee, Kang Dong-Suk, says the South Korean public-private partnership invested $1.7 billion in Expo 2012, with hopes of when the fair is over to develop an ocean resort including a marina, seafood restaurant, a performance hall and possibly a cooking school.
Even though this looks like a lot of people, attendance is far below what Kang Dong-Suk had hoped, and blames it on a poor marketing campaign. Most visitors will come from Korea, China and Japan; however a small portion will come from the U.S. Here’s a link to an article earlier this month in the New York Times.
One hundred and four countries are participating in the expo, including the United States. The U.S. committee doesn’t get any government funding for this, so it relies on money from large corporations. Twelve thousand people a day go through the U.S. pavilion to see a multi-media presentation that repeats "This is My Ocean.” The ocean theme is driven throughout the Expo, especially at Korea’s largest aquarium.
Highlights of our short visit here include a trip to the top of the Sky Tower (a pair of abandoned cement silos) with the world’s largest and loudest pipe organ, and an LED canopy showing marine life.
Expo 2012 ends August 12th, Expo 2015 will be in Milan, Italy. Tomorrow our group of journalists meets with journalists from Gwangju, Korea and a university professor to talk about the upcoming South Korean presidential election.
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