Located on the southern coast of the Korean peninsula, the city had been a historical hub of maritime transport, linking China, the Korean peninsula, and Japan. Yeosu is one of the leading industrial cities on the nation’s southern coast. The diversity of marine life species found in the East Asian region is said to be one of the greatest in the world.

Expected number of visits*: 7.95 million
Expected participation*: 80 countries, 10 international organizations, and 10 companies

* According to estimates by the Expo organizers

EXPO Yeosu 2012 – The Living Ocean and Coast: Diversity of Resources and Sustainable Activities will focus on the role of the oceans and coasts as a source of life and a regulator of the ecosystem. Together, the oceans and coasts form a network that con trols the larger global environment and whose singular influence on the health of the planet is indeed a testimony to the common destiny of all people and nations around the world. But today, these two key ecosystem actors are increasingly in danger: continuous coastal developments, overexploitation of marine resources, and pollution have put enormous pressures on the fragile balance that governs their well-being.

Against this backdrop, EXPO Yeosu 2012 hopes to layout a roadmap for development that best responds to the needs of the 21st century. Today, development that is respectful of the environment—and specifically the marine environment in this case— is not a choice but a necessity, for the survival of humanity is closely connected to the health of the ocean and coast.

The Living Ocean and Coast: Diversity of Resources and Sustainable Activities

May 12 – August 12, 2012

Ocean ecology, sustainable development, and climate change – the Republic of Korea and its southern coastal city of Yeosu will welcome during three months in 2012 around 100 countries, international organizations, and enterprises* for a global dialogue on this theme that touches the core of our planet’s present and future well-being.

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