Visitors on the morning of May 2 at the Korean Cultural Center in downtown Bangkok, Thailand, try Busan cuisine at the opening ceremony of an exhibition promoting the Korean port city's bid to host the 2030 World Expo through Busan's tourism and cuisine as seen in movies.

By Park Hye Ri
Photos = Korean Cultural Center in Thailand

An event in Bangkok, Thailand, has promoted Busan's bid to host the 2030 World Expo.

Jointly with the Korean Embassy, the Korean Cultural Center (KCC) in the Thai capital hosted on the morning of May 2 the opening ceremony for "Special Exhibition to Promote the 2030 Busan World Expo - Interactive Exhibition of Busan Tourism and Cuisine in Movies" (unofficial translation).

To run through May 30, the interactive exhibition displays Busan's famous tourist attractions including Haedong Yonggungsa Temple, where K-dramas hugely popular in Thailand were filmed like "My Name," "D.P." and "The King: Eternal Monarch," and offers leading dishes from the city. 

Before the ceremony, visitors wrote messages on the exhibition wall expressing wishes for a successful bid and watched a video of K-pop sensation BTS and Korean Prime Minister Han Duck-soo attending the third general assembly of the International Bureau of Expositions, aka BIE, which will decide the host city.

Soprano and Busan native Shin Min-won sang "We Will Be One" and "New Arirang," both of which support the bid. 

Cho Jae Il, director of the Korean Cultural Center (KCC) in Thailand, on the morning of May 2 at the KCC in downtown Bangkok serves food to visitors at the opening ceremony of an exhibition to promote Busan's bid to host the 2030 World Expo through the city's tourism and cuisine as shown in films. 

Visitors at the ceremony sampled leading Busan specialties such as dwaeji gukbap (pork and rice soup), Busan eomuk (fish cake), milmyeon (wheat noodles) and tteokbokki (spicy rice cake) prepared by three Korean restaurants. All visitors during the event period can try such foods.

KCC Director Cho Jae Il and Yi Sang-woo, head of the Korea Tourism Organization's Bangkok branch, served food to visitors and explained how best to enjoy the meals in promoting both the bid and tourism in Busan.

Korean Ambassador to Thailand Moon Seoung-hyun, figures from Korean corporations doing business in the country like Samsung, Hyundai Motor, LG, POSCO, Hyosung, Asiana, Air Busan, Jin Air and Jeju Air, and leaders of the ethnic Korean community in the Southeast Asian nation expressed their determination to support Busan's bid.

"We planned this exhibition to connect Thais' heated interest in and love for Korean dramas and movies to their support for the 2030 World Expo in Busan," Director Cho said. "Aside from this exhibition, the KCC will hold large-scale events in the second half of the year like a major tourism exhibition and Hallyu (Korean Wave) expo to continuously promote support in Thailand for Busan to land the World Expo."

Major Thai media such as The Bangkok Post, PPTV, Thairath, Thai Post and Daily News waged a "heated competition" to cover the event, the KCC said.

Korean Ambassador to Thailand Moon Seoung-hyun (sixth from left) and figures from Korean corporations doing business in the country on the morning of May 2 give the finger heart gesture to wish for Busan's successful bid to host the 2030 World Expo at an exhibition promoting the campaign at the Korean Cultural Center in Bangkok.