At the end of May 2023, in the South Korean port city of Busan, the City Council hosted the "Second Forum of Foreign Journalists for the Busan World Expo 2030", organized by The Kookje Daily News and the Asian Journalists Association (AJA) with the support of the Busan city government. It was held to enhance Busan's image as a global city ahead of the 4th presentation of the BIE (Bureau International des Expositions) competition, which will be held in Paris in June.
The Forum adopted a Memorandum of Understanding "Foreign Workers and Local Workers" in which 6 organizations participate: Busan City, Busan Consul Corps, Busan Labor Rights Center, Busan Foundation for International Cooperation, The Kookje Daily News and AJA. In addition, there was a presentation ceremony for foreign workers' rights notebooks issued by the Busan Labor Rights Center and a presentation by AJA, the Busan Labor Rights Center and the Busan Foundation for International Cooperation.
In particular, the Forum that day focused on drawing attention to EXPO 2030 in Busan and promoting that it is a safe large city for foreign workers to live. Prior to the presentation, the city government, the Busan Consulate, AJA, The Kookje Daily News, and the Busan Labor Rights Center adopted the declaration "Busan is a metropolis where foreigners can work and live safely." The declaration also includes the exchange of information in areas related to foreign workers, the promotion of joint projects to create an environment in Busan in which foreigners can work and live safely, and to expand cooperation on holding the World Expo 2030 in Busan.
In his welcoming speech, Busan Mayor Park said, "We are promoting the Busan Initiative, a project to share Korea's experience in tackling common global challenges in the spirit of Busan, an open and inclusive city." Ku Bong Hong, Chairman of AJA, said: “Six months before the decision on the venue of the exhibition, Korea and Saudi Arabia are engaged in a fierce rivalry. Since the goal is to find out which city will be the winner, an opportunity is created for an intermediate check."
At the subsequent forum, Ashraf Dali, President of AJA, who made the presentation, emphasized that Busan showed the aspect of an inclusive city by providing shelter to refugees from various regions during the Korean War. Specifically, he added, "If the global network is strengthened by a multilingual media platform and an environment is created in which multicultural families can stably take root, the day when people around the world will experience Busan is not far off."
Seok Byeong-soo, director of the Busan Labor Rights Center, said, “The Busan Labor Rights Center studies the labor rights and safety rights of migrant workers and, based on this, develops plans to improve working conditions and reflects them in city policies. We will build more cooperative systems.”
Joo Hyun-woo, director of the Global Citizenship Cooperation Group of the Busan Foundation for International Cooperation said, “Busan has enough potential to become a global city given its beautiful nature, attractive location and high satisfaction rate of foreign residents. The launch of the fund will be a major turning point in Busan's transformation into a global city."
The forum brought together Korean-based foreign correspondents from Russia, Indonesia and Vietnam to report on Busan's global opportunities. Organizer AJA focused on covering the event in 10 Asian countries through foreign media networks.
On photo: Prime Minister Han Deok-soo, Chairman(Center) Chey Tae-won of the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry(SK CEO, Right), and Busan Mayor Park Hyung-joon(Left) (Yonhap news agency)
Source: The AsiaN.asia
June 19, 2023