(LEAD) FM Park apologizes for failure to host 2030 World Expo

▲ Foreign Minister Park Jin makes an opening speech at the 5th International Conference on Action with Women and Peace hosted by the foreign ministry in Seoul on Nov. 30, 2023. (Yonhap)

(LEAD) FM-Expo

(LEAD) FM Park apologizes for failure to host 2030 World Expo

(ATTN: RECASTS lead; UPDATES with more info in paras 1-6)

SEOUL, Nov. 30 (Yonhap) -- Foreign Minister Park Jin on Thursday apologized to the nation for failing in its bid to host the 2030 World Expo, after the southeastern city of Busan lost to Saudi Arabia's Riyadh in a vote earlier this week.

Park made the remarks during a plenary session of the National Assembly's foreign affairs and unification committee, saying he feels "regret and a sense of responsibility."

"Although there are cons, there are also pros," he said. "As our diplomatic network has expanded, economic security strengthened and status of national power elevated, I personally hope Busan can achieve its dreams by learning lessons from the failure."

The Saudi capital won 119 votes against Busan's 29 votes, while Italy's Rome trailed with 17 votes, in a vote held in Paris by member states of the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE), the body responsible for overseeing the international fair with the potential to generate economic benefits and stimulate job creation.

Riyadh had been widely regarded as the front-runner, propelled by a substantial marketing campaign from the early stages, despite last-minute lobbying efforts by South Korea in recent months.

On why the results were far off from the government's expectations, Park said there were countries that expressed support for Busan either in written or verbal form, and the government had tried to read such a trend as accurately as possible.

Earlier, Park also told reporters at the 5th International Conference on Action with Women and Peace in Seoul that the South Korean government "gave its best" for the expo campaign amid speculation he could be replaced in an upcoming reshuffle.

"The government gave its best," Park said when asked whether he had heard anything from President Yoon Suk Yeol about the upcoming Cabinet reshuffle.

In his congratulatory speech at the conference, Park also stressed that the upcoming term at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) will serve as an "opportunity to amplify women's voices" as he noted the "grim circumstances" of women's rights across the world, including in North Korea and Gaza.

"Our upcoming term at the U.N. Security Council from Jan. 1 next year will be an opportunity to amplify women's voices and integrate their perspective into the Council for next year," he said.

"We will also launch the action with women and peace fund," he added. "This is to support women's full and meaningful participation in peace and security matters."

South Korea is set to begin a two-year term as a nonpermanent UNSC member in 2024-25.

"The transformative promise of a women peace and security (WPS) agenda is yet to be fully realized," he said. "As Korea aspires to become a global pivotal state, or GPS in short, we are dedicated to rewriting this narrative, and I believe Korea can become a true GPS by realizing the WPS agenda."

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