hankyoreh

The South Korean port city of Yeosu Monday won the right to host the 2012 World Expo, fending off a challenge from Tangiers of Morocco and Wroclaw of Poland to hold the global industrial fair.

In the voting at the 142nd General Assembly of the Paris-based Bureau of International Expositions (BIE), which selects the host city for the internationally recognized event, the southern coastal city obtained a majority with 77 votes. Tangiers received 63 votes.

Yeosu, a port city about 455 kilometers south of Seoul, has been pushing to host the 2012 International Exposition after losing to Shanghai, China in the bidding for the 2010 event.

South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun sent a congratulatory message, saying that hosting the international exposition will greatly contribute to the development of the nation's southern costal area.

"I believe it will be an opportunity for the southern coastal area as well as for South Korea to raise its status around the globe," Roh said.

In a press conference after the vote, Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, who is in Paris to help the South Korean delegation, said, "I would like to say thank you to all the BIE members who trusted and supported Korea's capacity on behalf of the Korean government and people."

"Yeosu's success came from the fact that the international community agrees that we need to seek solutions to the environmental issues humankind is faced with. The Korean government would like to stress again that Korea will sincerely implement its vision and plans as promised to the international community," he said. In Yeosu, a city of some 320,000 people, people were jubilant as their city was chosen to host the international event.

Celebration erupted outside the Yeosu City Hall where thousands of people gathered and cheered despite the chilly weather. Some burst into tears.

"I am really happy as Yeosu citizens desperately want to host the World Expo," said a 42-year-old housewife Lee Yoon-ju.

Yeosu's proposed theme, "The Living Ocean and Coast: Diversity of Resources and Sustainable Activities," has been touted as greatly befitting the bid city, where industrial development and preservation of maritime resources harmoniously coexist.

South Korea has also successfully hosted high-profile international events such as the 1988 Olympic Games and 2002 FIFA World Cup, so the country has the capability to host the 2012 exposition.

Infrastructure such as roads, ports, railways and airports in Yeosu and adjacent areas will be expanded to provide convenient transportation and accommodations for visitors, according to the bidding committee.

Yeosu can be reached within an hour by plane from all major cities in Korea, and is a two-to-three-hour flight away from major cities in Northeast Asia.

More than 45,000 new rooms, including ones at hotels and condominiums, will be available in the primary and secondary areas by 2012, offering more convenient accommodation to visitors during the event, the committee said.

South Korea expects about 7.95 million people to visit Yeosu to see the exposition, and for the fair to generate production and wages worth 10 trillion won ($11 billion) plus an added value of 4 trillion won.



PARIS, Nov. 26 (Yonhap)