But dude, put down the bong — the Expo will NOT turn the place into an “international city.”
And wait — looking into my crystal ball, I can see… an ugly piece of modern architecture and/or art blighting an up-till-now pleasant seaside town:
Officials are planning to create an eye-catching establishment, comparable to Paris’ Eiffel Tower that was built for the 1889 expo, to attract tourists for years to come.
I believe a similar rationale was employed by Seoul City before they put up the Big Pile of Poo on the Cheonggyecheon.
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Tee hee — they think Paris became a great city because of the Eiffel Tower. Without the tower, that place would be on the same rank as Yeosu. Suuure.
Funny thing is, when the Eiffel Tower went up, Parisians apparently hated it.
Not just Parisians - the Eiffel Tower was originally designed for Canada, but it was rejected. In fact, it took quite some time to win the hearts of the French.
I disagree. Yeosu has a very good chance of being an international city. I’ve heard they will merge with Gwangyang and Suncheon in 2010.
The Yeosu area includes Gwangyang harbor, Suncheon and Yeosu itself. Gwangyang has the largest steel production facility in the world and a deep water container yard comparable with Busan.
Currently they are working on a massive bridge to link Yeosu with Gwangyang. Called the Yi Sunshin bridge this puppy will make the Yeosu’s current suspension bridge look shabby. They are working on three bridges in the region right now and they should be done by 2011.
http://kr.news.yahoo.com/servi.....setid=1352
Apparently because of Gwangyang’s~Yeosu’s deep harbor, better shelter from the open sea and deeper berthing facilities some prefer it to Pusan. If or when open cargo is allowed to flow through the ROK~DPRK border, shipping that would normally route through China’s port cities will be diverted to this Yeosu region and Busan.
O.K. Paris is a reach but I think the Yeosu area will be huge in the future.
however huge Yeosu will get, it will never be the same once the crap architecture train gets rolling.
Gross exaggerations aside, I think this Expo would be a GREAT opportunity for Yeosu to grow into a major city. Getting exposed to all those firms, tourists, and industries… Wjk, Daejun wasn’t too great of a city until the 93′ expo got the companies to work in the city, right?
i happenned to be able to tour Kwang Yang Jae Chul, when it was being built.
The regional pig-ism by Yong Nam cannot be overstated enough.
Prior to Kwang Yang Jae Chul So,
Kwang Yang was basically a shi-gol of shi-gol’s.
With the largest industry being a rice mill.
No wonder Jeolla hates Yong Nam and Choong Chung got such a late start into joining civilization.
Park Jung Hee did all this quite deliberately.
Go Hyang Sa Ram deul ee yea, bop a joo ee so~
Brendon, you beat me to it. Le Louvre, les Champs Elysee, Place de la Concorde, l’Arche de Triomphe, etc. Yeah, Paris was a dump before it held the Expo…and to add…Vancouver was already an international city before it held the Expo (and even if it hadn’t held it, the fact the British government wouldn’t accept the immigration application from many people from Hong Kong before it was turned over to China had a lot to do with its current population demographics).
Good for the town, though. I’m always for development that will decentralize this country (as long as said development is ecologically sound).
I’m not sure that the Olympics, the World Cup, and all the other expos and festivals that seem to be happening here at any given time have made Seoul an especially “international city”. What chance does Yeosu have?
So more chicken restaurants, kimbop places and agujim eateries.
Yes yes.. international.
I wonder what the definition of “international” is to the government?
I’m sure the Korean Eiffel Tower will be a big draw with all the bundaeggi and huge head visor ajjumas parked under there selling stuff.
Was there any mention of building hotels? Or are all the overseas visitors expected to min-bak it?
I hope they get started soon. The Muan International Airport (in Jeollanam-do) opened two weeks ago, four years behind schedule, but hasn’t yet fully replaced Gwangju and is operating at, like, 25% capacity because–*doh*–there isn’t a decent way to get there. And, there aren’t enough immigration and customs centers to handle the passengers expected to use it. Since there aren’t any people, there aren’t yet enough convenience stores or restaurants.
Stuff like hotels in Yeosu will probably be the last thing completed. They might even leave enough time to rename them “World Inns.” They need to get this tri-city merger finalized, they need to get the bridge finished, and they need to build a light rail—or something—to make travel in the region less a pain in the ass.
Yeosu’s a fine town, but there’s really nothing international or worldly about it, yet. You could probably say the same thing, though, about any neighborhood in Seoul or Gyeonggi-do in 2002, five years ago, so give it time. And, yeah, while I think all the rhetoric about “international city,” “hub,” “cityhubpia,” or whatever, is a bit much, there’s no need to piss on their parade.
Apparently, it already is a world city; along with Seoul and Ulsan, it was the only other Korean city measured on this list: GLOBAL QUALITY OF LIVING CITY RANKINGS 2007.
Yay for Yeosu, sez I again.
Ya know, aspiring to become “an international city” is NOT the same as a pipe-dream of becoming one of the greatest cities of the world, and nobody down there probably thinks that building one great eye-catching grand monument is going to turn Yeosu into Paris. A tad more congratulations for turning an unlikely bid into a success (unlike poor Pyeongchang) and a bit less ridicule would seem appropriate… I clearly remember all the scornful laughter on multiple grounds after Seoul was awarded the 88 Olympics — but then the skeptics were proved quite wrong, were they not?
Yeosu combined with Gwangyang and Suncheon would be formidable in resources — very much including its cultural tourism opportunities — from Jogye-san’s Songgwang-sa & Seonam-sa in the far north to Hyangil-am (http://san-shin.org/SWC-10.html) in the far south, with Heungguk-sa and the huge & profound Mt. Baekun-san (several great temples) in between… the Namdo-shik meals…
sanshinseon: “I clearly remember all the scornful laughter on multiple grounds after Seoul was awarded the 88 Olympics — but then the skeptics were proved quite wrong, were they not?”
No - I am from Canada and there many reasons for scornful laughter in the 88 Olympics.
You stand corrected!
I must agree. 1988 was a very good year. Y not open your hearts to Yeosu? Please give this traditional “Sunrise” town a chance! Frankly, it has already happened regardless of what we think. Right on, S!
I think the Yeosu expo will begin to change Seoul’s mindset that Jollanamdo is a backwater province and maybe the feds will start to pour some money into a region of Korea that is largely undervalued.
Yeosu will have KTX service linked by 2011.
http://kr.img.search.yahoo.com.....;top=frame
Yeosu, Gwangyang and Suncheon have a lot of qualities that make them desirable. First, the natural marine environment makes the area a great tourist destination. Second the port facilities and FEZ make the area desirable for international shipping and business conferences, especially if Korea loosens up trade along the 38th parallel. Third there is a lot of industrial technology such as the steel industry (Posco) and numerous chemical plants in both Gwangyang and Yeosu. Can’t beat the cheap seafood either!!
To me it is amazing the Koreans (so far) have maintained the cleanliness of the environment despite all of this industrial activity. I grew up in the era of the steel-belt, dead Lake Erie and Ontario and Love Canal NY and it is quite impressive the Yeosu region has preserved the natural resources so well thus far. So, Yeosu rightfully uses environmental issue as their platform for the Yeosu Expo.
“I clearly remember all the scornful laughter on multiple grounds after Seoul was awarded the 88 Olympics — but then the skeptics were proved quite wrong, were they not?”
You apparently aren’t old enough, or Canadian enough, to remember about the great coverage before and during the 88 games on the CBC and SRC. They went all out to promote Korea as an interesting place to visit. Koreans were shown to be very pleasant people. I sat in front of the TV for 18 hours a day throughout the games. I wasn’t a sports fan nor an orientalist, but Korea sure seemed like the coolest place in the world to me. I promised myself I’d visit this country one day.
When my university roommate brought up the idea of going to Japan, I quickly discouraged him to the idea and suggested that we’d better go to Korea. Whenever he brought up another country, I pointed out reasons why we should go there. It had to be Korea. My mind was set. I’ve been here for over a decade.
So, don’t misconstrue my cynicism about the Korean government for something that it isn’t. Beside, how can I not be critical of the Korean government? After all, I hold this country to very high standards. Of all the countries I could have moved to, this is the one I picked…no, the only one I even considered.
‘I clearly remember all the scornful laughter on multiple grounds after Seoul was awarded the 88 Olympics — but then the skeptics were proved quite wrong, were they not?’ 산신선
here’s the basics on your average expat omen:
ex1: hey, you know i read korea is going to build cars! lol!
ex2: lol! yeah, right! koreans can’t even build a bike! koreans building cars? lol! lol! lol!
20 years later:
ex1: wow, hyundai just got the nod from jd powers.
ex2: they cheated. it was just luck and our american markets.
ex1: yeah, and the car is really japanese because all the technology in it is from japan.
ex2: that’s right! that’s right! i never thought of that!
ex1: ha! the koreans…they can’t do shit.
****
‘I clearly remember all the scornful laughter on multiple grounds after Seoul was awarded the 88 Olympics — but then the skeptics were proved quite wrong, were they not?’ sanshinseon
i believe they announce the next olympic city five years in advance but i’m not sure. anyway, back during the decision process for the selection of the 88 games, it was widely known that seoul and nagoya, japan were the two cities in competition. just prior to announcing their decision, the people of nagoya held a party for their ‘victory’. you can’t imagine the smile i had reading about all that.
#18,
See how you seemingly ignore my comments?
Why is it that whenever someone writes anything remotely positive about Korea, you feel compelled to fall into sophistry?
How would you possibly know what expats were saying 20 years ago? The truth is that Hyundai began selling cars in the United States in 1986 and the Excel was named that year the “Best Product #10″ by Fortune magazine because of its low price. It sold 126000 cars in its first year, a record for a car company beginning to do business in the US.
And expats question JD Power’s ratings of Korean cars? One problem with that assertion…most of us here drive Korean cars and Hyundais are selling like hotcakes in North America and Europe (it’s like Honda in the 70’s and 80’s, everybody wants one). People wouldn’t be driving them if we didn’t like them, would they?
Correction, “People wouldn’t be driving them if they didn’t like them, would they?
you can’t imagine the smile i had reading about all that.
I’ll take a stab. Crooked and yellow?
Congrats to Yeosu, btw.
I aren’t knocking Yeosu winning that’s for sure. If I’m still around by that stage Yeosu winning could prove quite lucrative for cats like me
http://logo.cafepress.com/5/7004548.2144705.jpg
… it’d help if I had an F-2 and improved my shitty Korean language skills however.
Seriously, though Yeosu should bring further attention and development to this region, which posters above have mentioned has a lot going for it. Once they get Yeo-sun-gwang metropolitan city p and running and whack down a light rail or subway system, that’ll be no stopping this place.
Here is a list of the last 12 World Expo cities. It’s great for Yeosu, but in terms of population and international name recognition, it’s hard to argue that Yeosu belongs here.
1984 New Orleans (United States) 500,000
1986 Vancouver (Canada) 600,000
1988 Brisbane (Australia) 1.8 mill
1990 Osaka (Japan) 2.7 mill
1992 Seville (Spain) 704,000
1993 Daejon (South Korea) 1.4 million
1998 Lisbon (Portugal) 564,000
2000 Hanover (Germany) 522,000
2005 Aichi (Japan) 7.3 mill
2008 Zaragoza (Spain) 660,000
2010 Shanghai (China) 19 mill
2012 Yeosu (South Korea) 320,000
Korea must really know how to exert some serious international clout, when consider selection of Yeosu and the near selection of Pyeongchang.
Well, population aside, it’s safe to say most people have never heard of Aichi or Zaragoza. Maybe important cities at home, be certainly no more internationally renowned than Yeosu.
Well, if they insist on building an “eye-catching establishment,” let’s just hope it turns out more like the Eiffel Tower than the Sunsphere.
#24: Why stop at 1984? Going back just one more expo, we find the following:
1982 Knoxville (United States) 175,000
In addition, does the figure of 320,000 take into account the impending merger?
Not to rain on anybody’s parade, but this is a minor-league expo, if I read my Wikipedia correctly. The official sanctioning body, the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE), only sanctions universal or registered exhibitions every five years (2000, 2005, 2010, 2015, etc.). After holding Expos every couple years in the ’80s and ’90s, they evidently decided to cut the overkill.
In between the five-year intervals, cities also hold international or specialized exhibitions, usually based on a theme, like this one: “The Living Ocean and Coast.” So it’s a big deal for Yeosu, but a smaller big deal than it would have been if they’d gotten selected for a World Expo in 2010 or 2015.
25 - Aichi was really the hinterlands of better-known Nagoya.