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Busan failed in its bid to host the 2030 World Expo, with Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, chosen to host the fair. There’s likely to be considerable fallout from Busan’s atrocious performance in the vote, which didn’t even go to a run-off.

Busan was ejected from the competition when it only received 29 votes from the 165 member states participating in the first round of voting at the 173rd meeting of the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE), which was held in Paris on Tuesday afternoon. Riyadh clinched 119 votes, while Rome took home 17.

“I feel sorry and deeply responsible for not living up to the fervent expectations of the Korean nation,” said South Korean Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, in Paris, after the results were announced.

“The public and private sectors came together to fight the good fight, but the outcome was disappointing. I would like to express our appreciation, and consolation, to everyone in Busan and around the country who stayed up late to show your support while we waited for the results,” said Kim Eun-hye, senior secretary for press affairs under Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol, early on Wednesday morning.

For the past year or so, the Korean public and private sectors had joined forces to set up a bid committee for the 2030 world’s fair to be held in Busan, which reached out to most of the BIE member states to ask for their support. The heads of major Korean corporations such as Samsung, SK, Hyundai Motor Company and LG also shared the duties of contacting BIE member states through their connections there.

In its final presentation, Korea sought to turn the tables by pledging to support developing countries. “We guarantee US$520 million in support to 110 developing countries,” Han said during the presentation. But Riyadh, backed by the Saudi oil industry, breezed past Busan by a huge margin.

The sheer scale of Busan’s defeat is likely to have further consequences.

The government had claimed the winds were changing and seemed sure Korea could pull off a come-from-behind victory against Riyadh in a run-off round. But Busan’s score in the first vote was just one-fourth that for the Saudi capital.

The defeat lays bare the shortcomings of Korea’s diplomatic and intelligence communities. It also torpedoes the plan by Yoon’s presidential office and the ruling People Power Party to play up a successful expo bid in campaigning for the parliamentary elections, which are coming up in April.

Han, as prime minister and head of the bid committee, may be pressured to step down as part of a larger Cabinet shake-up.

By Shin Min-jung, staff reporter

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