[The Chosun Ilbo, November 27 2007] Yeosu Wins World Expo Bid

The port city of Yeosu has been selected to host the 2012 World Expo, beating Morocco’s Tangier. The Paris-based International Exhibitions Bureau announced Yeosu as the host city of the 2012 event at its 142nd general assembly on Tuesday morning. The Korean city won 77 votes from 140 IBE members and the Moroccan city 63. Poland’s Wroclaw was eliminated in the first round, garnering 13 votes to Yeosu’s 68 votes and Tangier’s 59. Yeosu and Tangier then went into a second round. The last Korean city to host a World Expo was Daejeon as recently as 1993. Korea and Japan are the only Asian countries to have hosted the event. The Chinese city of Shanghai is to host it in 2010.