Yeosu Expo officially begins

Visitors enter through the main gate of the 2012 Yeosu Expo which officially opened Saturday. The exhibition will run through Aug. 12 for 93 days.

The 2012 Yeosu Expo, which will run for 93 days until Aug. 12, officially kicked off Saturday morning.

The official opening ceremony was held in front of the digital gallery of the exhibition hall under the presence of the expo committee and Yeosu city officials.

At the opening ceremony, the honor guards made a solemn entrance and the military band played the Korean national anthem and the Symphony from the New World. A pipe organ performance and a ceremonial flight by the air force team Black Eagles followed.

The main gate and four of the entrances to the expo opened simultaneously at 9 a.m. greeting visitors.

The expo had fewer visitors than expected, however, as only 20,000 people have visited the site as of 1 p.m. according to news reports. The expo committee had expected about 100,000 visitors on the first day.

The exposition held under the theme “The Living Ocean and Coast” will showcase the significance of the earth’s marine environment and touch on global issues such as global warming, resource depletion and the need to preserve critical natural resources for future generations.

The expo is the first Bureau of International Exhibitions (BIE)-approved event hosted by South Korea since the 1993 Daejeon Expo.

The fair will open every day at 9 a.m. and close at 11 p.m. Tickets are priced between 19,000 won to 33,000 won (US$16.6-28.7) for regular daily visitors. <Korea Times>

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