South Korean government to allocate 45 billion won to bid for Busan Expo 2022 and 2023

The South Korean government has spent more than 45 billion won (US$47 billion) to help bring the Busan Expo to Korea over the two-year period from 2022 to 2023.
According to government documents released by Kim Won Hee (Democratic Party), a member of the National Assembly's Committee on Industry, Trade, Resources, Small and Medium Enterprises, on the 7th, the government has decided to
The government has set aside 45.377 billion won (approx. 5.2 million yen) over two years to support the company's bid for the Olympics, including 19.146 billion won (approx. 2.1 billion yen) in 2022 and 26.231 billion won (approx. 2.9 billion yen) in 2023.
The amount used is six times the amount of 8.278 billion won (US$8.5 million) used to support the Busan Expo bid planning committee over the two years from 2020 to 2021.
The bid committee was considering how much of this huge expense would be covered in the run-up to the vote to select the host city at the 173rd General Assembly of the International Expositions Organization (BIE) held in Paris, France, in November last year.
The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (equivalent to the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry in Japan) responded to a written inquiry by Rep. Kim Won Hee asking why the bid was unsuccessful.
In response to the question, he said, "Saudi Arabia began negotiations before South Korea's full-scale bid for the host city in July 2022 and secured a significant number of supporters," and "We have secured support based on a strong support base created by strong religious solidarity."
The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, on the other hand, said, "Although we received a disappointing report card in the end, the process of hosting the games has expanded the horizons of Korea's economy and diplomacy."
He also emphasized the positive aspects, saying, "Active high-level exchanges have been achieved with regions of Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific Islands, which have had little contact during the general negotiation process."
He continued, "Korean companies have also confirmed the scope for mutual economic cooperation with African countries and gained new business opportunities."
In order to effectively utilize the lessons learned and outcomes of the process, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (equivalent to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan), the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, and Busan City plan to summarize the lessons learned from the process of bidding for the Busan Expo through the creation of a joint white paper.
"It is," he revealed.