The Diplomat 지는 미국의 외교전문 매체로 국제 정치, 경제, 문화 등 다양한 분야의 뉴스를 다루는 미국의 온라인 매거진 입니다¹.
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The World Expo vote reveals that South Korea’s diplomacy, strategy, and intel are all spluttering.
세계박람회 투표 결과 한국의 외교, 전략, 지식이 모두 고장이나서 뒤죽박죽인것으로 들어 났습니다.
THE KOREAS | POLITICS | EAST ASIA
South Korea’s Failed World Expo Bid Sparks President Yoon’s First Apology
Busan’s wildly unsuccessful bid to host World Expo 2030 unnerved the government and voters alike.
한국 | 정치 | 동아시아
실패한 한국의 세계 엑스포 유치는 윤대통령의 첫 사과를 재촉 시켰습니다
2030년 세계박람회 유치를 위한 부산의 엄청난 실패는 정부와 유권자 모두를 불안하게 했습니다.
Eunwoo Lee
By Eunwoo Lee
December 04, 2023
A building in Seoul, South Korea, sports an advertisement for Busan’s World Expo 2030 bid.
Credit: Depositphotos
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On November 28, the Bureau International des Expositions, an intergovernmental organization that manages Expos, voted overwhelmingly in favor of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia’s capital, to host the World Expo 2030.
Most South Koreans were shocked. They believed Busan, South Korea’s second largest city, located on the southeastern corner of the Korean peninsula, stood a fair chance. Last year, the government and the media anticipated a narrow defeat. Then, in the months leading up to the vote, they fielded a narrative of overtaking Riyadh in the second round of voting.
Amid high hopes, the humiliating gap of votes – 119 votes for Riyadh and 29 for Busan – was all the more staggering.
높은 기대 속에, 리야드의 119표와 부산의 29표라는 굴욕적인 표 차이는 더욱 더 충격적이었습니다.
This, however, wasn’t the only surprise. “Everything was due to my shortcomings,” South Korea’s President Yoon Suk-yeol said during a hastily announced address to the nation shortly after the Expo vote. He even extended his “sincere apology.”
It was the first time Yoon had apologized for anything in his term, let alone admitting personal accountability.
윤이 개인적인 일이거나 임기 중에 사과한 것은 이번이 처음이었습니다
That in itself was a sign that some things had been ominously out of kilter, but nobody righted the ship or faced the reality.
그것은 그 자체로 무언가가 고장이 났다는 신호인데도 아무도 배를 바로 새우거나 현실을 받아들이지 않았습니다.
ominously out of kilter - 불길하게 고장난
People are upset not so much by Busan’s rout but by the fact that it was the result of the same complacency and misguided conviction with which the Yoon administration has governed the country.
In all honesty, the defeat shouldn’t have come as a surprise.
솔직히 말해서, 그 패배가 놀랄 일이 아니었을 겁니다.
The South Korean economy by GDP may be bigger than Saudi Arabia’s, but it’s the latter that has the actual power and will to bend the world to its liking.
Most outside observers had long predicted that Riyadh would be chosen. Reports and news in favor of Riyadh had been abounding.
Yet, the South Korean government and media had told different stories, and South Koreans believed them. Together, they were in collective denial, trapped in confirmation bias.
대부분의 외부 관측통들은 오랫동안 리야드가 선택될 것이라고 예측했습니다. 리야드를 지지하는 보도와 뉴스가 넘쳐났습니다.
하지만, 한국 정부와 언론은 다른 이야기를 했고, 한국인들은 그들을 믿었습니다. 또한, 그들은 확증편향에 갇힌, 집단적 편견에 빠져 있었습니다.
The glaring vote difference, however, cannot be ignored. It is high time that the Yoon administration tidied up its modus operandi.
The World Expo vote reveals that South Korea’s diplomacy, strategy, and intel are all spluttering.
세계박람회 투표 결과 한국의 외교, 전략, 지식이 모두 고장이나서 뒤죽박죽인것으로 들어 났습니다.
According to Yoon himself, he “met 96 heads of state” and personally appealed to them to vote for Busan.
The government allocated over $400 million to advertising for Busan’s bid.
정부는 부산 유치 광고에 4억 달러 이상을 배정했습니다.
The entire Foreign Ministry dedicated itself to selling Busan, including its arm in UNESCO. Ministers and officials had trotted the globe. The First Lady designed and produced the Busan Expo merch herself and wore it to summits.
Yet all this World Expo diplomacy completely missed the mark.
하지만 이 모든 세계 박람회 외교는 완전히 헛다리 짚었습니다.
Yoon speak ambitiously of his “global pivotal diplomacy.” Rhetoric of value and promises of future collaboration carry weight of their own and are important. Besides some meet-and-greets and arms deals, however, his diplomatic attention span is mostly reserved for Washington and Tokyo.
그의 외교적 관심 기간은 대부분 미국과 일본에 집중되어 있습니다.
Experts have long described his diplomacy as not engaging and inclusive enough, but inducing
isolation. The opposition Democratic Party (DP) faults his focus on Washington-Seoul-Tokyo trilateral relations for failing to court other corners of the world.
Yoon’s consequential spat with China also alienated Africa, where China plays an increasingly important role and is perceived as a positive force – China allegedly coerced some countries in Africa and Latin America to rescind their support for Busan.
윤 대통령의 중국과의 충돌은 또한 중국이 점점 더 중요한 역할을 하고 긍정적인 힘으로 인식되는 아프리카를 소외시켰습니다. 중국은 전해지는 바에 따르면, 아프리카와 라틴 아메리카의 일부 국가들에게 부산에 대한 지지를 철회하도록 강요했습니다.
The DP maintains that the Expo humiliation should serve as a wake-up call for Yoon to “change the paradigm of our diplomacy.” According to Lee Jun-seok, a former chairman of the ruling People Power Party (PPP), Yoon’s security stance, although not wrong in Lee’s opinion, hurts South Korea’s chance of hosting global events.
Yoon’s diplomacy should have presented at least a vision, if not concrete blueprints, of a landscape where Seoul and Beijing are not so hostile to each other and where developing countries can toggle back and forth without fears of losing their limbs.
South Korea’s business strategy to woo other countries flopped, too. The voting pattern in an intergovernmental body is largely quid-pro-quo. South Korean officials have time and again referred to their strategy as
“not handing out fish, but teaching how to fish.” Their offer wasn’t tangible, but ideological and visionary, such as promises of technology transfer and collaboration in such fields as climate change, fishery, food security, and renewable energy.
한국 관리들은 그들의 전략을 다음과 같이 몇 번이고 언급했습니다
"물고기를 나눠주는 것이 아니라 물고기를 잡는 방법을 가르치는 것입니다." 그들의 제안은 구체적이지 않았지만 기후 변화, 어업, 식량 안보, 재생 에너지와 같은 분야에서의 기술 이전과 협력 약속과 같은 이념적이고 선견지명적이었습니다.
When South Korea’s economic model can’t be replicated in most other countries, Seoul’s rhetoric of sharing its expertise in exponential economic growth sounds hopeful but a tad condescending. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia packed a real punch. For instance, Riyadh proposed billions of dollars in financing Saudi exports and development schemes for African nations. It also offered debt relief and conflict resolution in the African continent, coupled with $25 billion worth of investment. In times of economic turmoil and rampant terrorism, Saudi plans are hard to decline. Seoul’s talk was nice but cheap compared to Saudi’s well-fleshed tender.
Yet the Yoon administration rested assured that South Korean conglomerates and K-pop idols were punching above their shoulders. CEOs of South Korea’s global household brands toured the world, oftentimes on Yoon’s coattails, parroting the government PR line and giving credence to Yoon’s promises of future cooperation. They also spent an undisclosed amount of money in wrapping cars and public transportation with Busan Expo panels and hanging banners promoting the city. They did so in major Western cities, when the fate of the vote hinged on winning over developing countries.
The government also enlisted a host of K-pop idols as Busan Expo’s ambassadors. BTS performed a concert in Busan last October, and other glitzy idols appeared in promotional clips. In South Korea’s finale video just before the Expo vote in Paris, PSY’s 2012 hit “Gangnam Style” played as background music. Gangnam is a posh neighborhood in Seoul, completely irrelevant in both ethos and architecture to Busan.
강남은 서울의 고급스러운 동네로, 부산과는 분위기와 건축 모두 전혀 무관합니다.
This is another aspect South Koreans are disgruntled about: The administration failed to underline Busan’s distinct appeal and vibe as a South Korea’s coastal economic hub a short boat ride from Japan and a vibrant vacation spot. South Korean culture doesn’t stop at K-pop.
이것은 한국인들이 불평하고 있는 또 다른 측면입니다: 행정부는 일본에서 배로 짧은 거리에 있고 활기찬 휴가지인 한국의 해안 경제 중심지로서 부산의 독특한 매력과 분위기를 강조하는데 실패했습니다. 한국 문화는 케이팝에서 멈추지 않습니다.
With four months left until the 2024 general election, voters’ frustration is a pressing concern. Following Yoon’s national apology, the chairman of the PPP, Kim Gi-hyeon, also apologized “on behalf of my party.”
The humbling Expo result is merely the latest addition to the string of the Yoon administration’s bungling. And the PPP knows that it’s hanging by a thread.
이 엑스포의 결과는 단지 윤 행정부가 저지른 실수의 끈에 최근 추가된 것일 뿐입니다. 그리고 PPP는 자신이 곤경에 처해 있다는 것을 알고 있습니다.
It’s good that Yoon and his party are bowing their heads. However much it’s intended for the general election, it potentially signals a degree of change in their governing styles. Still, many in the government blame the previous administration for not committing to Busan’s bid from early on. But it’s both not right and too late to carp about external factors.
There’s also much talk attributing Busan’s failure to Saudi Arabia’s “oil money” that bought off votes and to the inevitability of loss in the face of the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s iron-grip sovereign power. That is a true diplomatic gaffe. There should be no beef between Riyadh and Seoul over the World Expo.
Now is the moment for the government to shed old habits and brace itself for Yoon’s remaining term.
이제 정부는 해묵은 습성을 버리고 윤의 남은 임기에 대비해야 할 때입니다.