Busan is good

Busan Metropolitan City Accelerates Preparations for the 48th UNESCO World Heritage Committee Session

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Busan Metropolitan City (Mayor Park Heong-joon) announced that it will hold a preparatory status briefing for the 48th UNESCO World Heritage Committee (WHC) today (April 2) at 10:00 a.m. in the conference room on the 26th floor of City Hall, where it will conduct a comprehensive review of event preparations together with relevant organizations and departments.

At this briefing, approximately 20 related organizations—including the host institution, the Korea Heritage Service, as well as the police, fire department, education office, Busan Tourism Organization, and BEXCO—participated to share preparation status by sector and review cooperative systems.

The UNESCO World Heritage Committee is an international conference that decides on the inscription and protection of World Heritage sites. In July of last year, the Korea Heritage Service submitted a letter of intent to UNESCO to host the 48th session, and Busan Metropolitan City was ultimately selected as the host city. This marks the first time the World Heritage Committee will be held in Korea and comes 38 years after the country joined the World Heritage Convention.

The session will take place from July 13 to 29 at BEXCO and surrounding areas, and approximately 3,000 participants—including the UNESCO Director-General and delegations from 196 countries—are expected to visit Busan.

As the WHC event coincides with the summer vacation season, an increase in tourist demand and congestion around the BEXCO area is anticipated. Accordingly, the briefing focuses on inspecting transportation management and on-site response systems to ensure that participants and citizens can safely and smoothly attend the event.

In addition, in the areas of health and quarantine, the city plans to inspect food and beverage safety management and infectious disease response systems, and to strengthen on-site prevention and response capabilities.

Furthermore, the city will improve operational and support systems for event facilities to enhance participant convenience and the overall quality of event management.

Busan Metropolitan City plans to prepare the World Heritage Committee (WHC) not merely as an international conference but as an event in which citizens can actively participate and experience, using it as an opportunity to promote Busan’s culture and tourism resources to the world.

During the event period, a variety of programs—including the plenary session, opening and closing ceremonies, seminars, exhibitions, and performances—will be held in the BEXCO area. Pre-forum (July 13–23), Opening Ceremony (July 19), Plenary Session (July 19–29), Closing Ceremony (July 28).

The Korea Heritage Service will operate a “K-Heritage House” at the BEXCO exhibition halls (2B, 3A·B) during the main session period and will promote programs to expand K-culture, including national heritage media art.

In addition, the city will operate a “Busan Pavilion” within the K-Heritage House to introduce Busan’s representative cultural heritage and tourism resources to domestic and international audiences. Through exhibitions and experiential programs themed around national heritage—such as “Busan Wartime Capital Heritage”—the city plans to widely promote its efforts to achieve World Heritage inscription to participants and citizens.

Building on this briefing, the city plans to closely cooperate with the Korea Heritage Service, the event organizer, to systematically manage all aspects of preparation and further strengthen its capacity as a host city for international events.

Meanwhile, the Korea Heritage Service unveiled the official emblem of the 48th UNESCO World Heritage Committee on March 25 and has begun full-scale pre-event promotion ahead of the 100-day countdown (April 10).

In line with this, the city will also present promotional posters for the host city and broadcast messages wishing for the successful hosting of the event through various media across Busan, including the Gwangan Bridge media façade.

In particular, for the World Heritage Young Professionals Forum, approximately 50,000 applicants from around the world applied for 30 positions, demonstrating the high level of international interest in the World Heritage Committee, which will be held in Korea for the first time.

Mayor Park Heong-joon stated, “This UNESCO World Heritage Committee will serve as an important opportunity to elevate Busan’s capacity to host international conferences and enhance its global city image,” adding, “We will thoroughly prepare for the event by closely reviewing preparation status in each sector and fostering organic cooperation among related organizations.”