By Ashraf Aboul-Yazid Dali
The 2nd Overseas Journalists Forum to Host the 2030 Busan World Expo”, co-hosted by The Kookje Daily News and Asia Journalist Association (AJA), sponsored by Busan Metropolitan City, will be held at the Busan Metropolitan City Council on May 31 2023.
It is held to enhance the image of Busan as a global city ahead of the 4th BIE (Bureau International des Expositions) competition presentation to be held in June. The forum includes MOU for “Foreigners Working and Working”, in which 6 organizations participate: Busan Metropolitan City, The Corps of Consuls in Busan, Busan Labor Rights Center, Busan Foundation for International Cooperation, The Kookje Daily News and AJA.
Also, a handout ceremony for foreign workers’ rights notebooks produced by Busan Labor Rights Center, and a presentation by AJA, Busan Labor Rights Center and Busan Foundation for International Cooperation is going to be held. In particular, the forum on this day focused on attracting the 2030 Expo Busan and promoting that it is a safe international city for foreign workers to live in. Prior to the presentation, the city, the Busan Consulate, AJA, The Kookje Daily News, and the Busan Labor Rights Center adopted the declaration of “Busan, an international city where foreigners can safely work and live.”
The declaration includes information exchange in fields related to foreign workers, promotion of cooperative projects to create Busan, an international city where foreigners can safely work and live, and cooperation to host the 2030 World Expo Busan.
In his welcome address, Mayor Park said, “We are promoting the “Busan Initiative” a project to share Korea’s experience on global common challenges with the spirit of Busan, an open and inclusive city.” Koo Bon-hong, chairman of AJA, said “With six months left until the decision on the venue for the expo, Korea and Saudi Arabia are fighting an all-out war. As the purpose is to find out what it is, it will be an opportunity for an interim inspection.”
At the forum that followed, Ashraf Dali, president of AJA, who gave a presentation, emphasized that Busan had shown the aspect of an inclusive city by providing shelter to refugees from various regions during the Korean War. In particular, he added, “If the global network is strengthened through a media platform implemented in various languages and an environment in which multicultural families can stably take root is created, the day will not be far off when people around the world will experience Busan.”
Seok Byeong-soo, director of Busan Labor Rights Center, said “The Busan Labor Rights Center investigates the labor rights and safety rights of migrant workers, and based on this, creates plans to improve working conditions and reflects them in city policies.
We will build more cooperative systems.” Ju Hyun-woo, director of Global Citizenship Cooperation Team of Busan Foundation for International Cooperation, “Busan has sufficient potential to become a global city given its beautiful natural environment, attractive location, and high level of satisfaction with foreign residents.
The launch of the foundation will be an important turning point for Busan to become a global city.” Foreign correspondents residing in Korea from Russia, Indonesia and Vietnam attended the forum to report Busan’s global capabilities. AJA, the organizer, focused on covering the event in 10 Asian countries through overseas media networks.
