Taejon Expo '93 was a three-month

international exposition A world's fair, also known as a universal exhibition, is a large global exhibition designed to showcase the achievements of nations. These exhibitions vary in character and are held in different parts of the world at a specific site for a perio ...

held between 7 August 1993 and 7 November 1993 in the central

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

n city of

Daejeon Daejeon (; ) is South Korea's list of cities in South Korea, fifth-largest metropolis, with a population of nearly 1.5 million. Located in a central lowland valley between the Sobaek Mountains and the Geum River, the city is known both as a ...

(at the time spelled "Taejŏn").

Theme

The theme of the exposition was "The Challenge of a New Road of Development", with various other sub-themes around sustainable and 'green' development. The exposition was an officially endorsed

Bureau International des Expositions The Bureau International des Expositions (BIE; English: International Exhibitions Bureau) is an intergovernmental organization created to supervise international exhibitions (also known as expos, global expos or world expos) falling under the ...

(BIE) specialized exposition commemorating the centenary of the first-ever representation of the "

Hermit Kingdom The term hermit kingdom is an epithet used to refer to any country, organization or society that willfully isolate itself off, either metaphorically or physically, from the rest of the world. North Korea is the most commonly cited example of a her ...

" (Korea) to a world exposition, namely the 1893

Columbian Exposition The World's Columbian Exposition, also known as the Chicago World's Fair, was a world's fair held in Chicago from May 5 to October 31, 1893, to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the New World in 1492. The ce ...

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

. It claimed to be the first exposition held in a developing country, although both the BIE-sanctioned

Exposition internationale du bicentenaire de Port-au-Prince The Exposition internationale du bicentenaire de Port-au-Prince was a world's fair held in Port-au-Prince, Haiti in 1949 to mark the 200th anniversary of the city's founding. Creation President Dumarsais Estimé argued in 1948 for an exposition t ...

in 1949 and Shanghai's

Expo 2010 Expo 2010, officially the Expo 2010 Shanghai China, was held on both banks of the Huangpu River in Shanghai, China, from 1 May to 31 October 2010. It was a major World Expo registered by the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE), in the ...

could also claim this title.

Site zoning

The exposition site consisted of three main areas – the international zone, the corporate zone and the fun park zone. Being a specialized exposition, the pavilions in the international zone were for the most part pre-fabricated and rented out to the various international participants for the duration of the exposition. 108 nations and 33 international organizations participated at Taejon Expo '93 – making it one of the largest expositions ever held. Among the most memorable were the flagship Korean and

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

Pavilions. The corporate zone represented the best wizardry that Korean companies could afford, with some spectacular

architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and construction, constructi ...

and contents, all along the theme of the exposition, with the majority of these pavilions being permanent in nature. Pavilions included "Starquest" by

Samsung Samsung Group (; stylised as SΛMSUNG) is a South Korean Multinational corporation, multinational manufacturing Conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered in the Samsung Town office complex in Seoul. The group consists of numerous a ...

, and the three-dimensional

IMAX IMAX is a proprietary system of High-definition video, high-resolution cameras, film formats, film projectors, and movie theater, theaters known for having very large screens with a tall aspect ratio (image), aspect ratio (approximately ei ...

presentation courtesy of

Daewoo Daewoo ( ; ; ; ; literally "great universe" and a portmanteau of "''dae''" meaning great, and the given name of founder and chairman Kim Woo-choong) also known as the Daewoo Group, was a major South Korean chaebol (type of conglomerate) and aut ...

. For the

Korean Air Lines Korean Air Lines Co., Ltd. (KAL; ) is the flag carrier of South Korea and its largest airline based on fleet size, international destinations, and international flights. It is owned by the Hanjin Group. The present-day Korean Air traces its ...

sponsored pavilion, award-winning experience designer

Bob Rogers (designer) Bob Rogers is an American designer, producer, and director, most known for his work in themed entertainment. Rogers is founder and chairman of BRC Imagination Arts, a strategic design and production agency. Rogers oversees the creative element ...

and the design team BRC Imagination Arts and Iwerks Entertainment (

SimEx-Iwerks SimEx-Iwerks Entertainment specializes in high-tech entertainment systems, films, film technologies, film-based software, Simulation Hardware Systems and services. The company has partnerships with various institutions, parks, and destinations. ...

) produced a 360 degree 9-screen travelogue of a Korean girl who receives magical Circlevision postcards from her pen pals around the world. There was also the Kumdori Land fun-park zone, named after the Expo's alienesque mascot "Kumdori" (

Twinkle, the Dream Being ''Twinkle, the Dream Being'' is an American animated television series that aired in 1992 in syndication in the U.S. and MBC TV in South Korea for Daejeon Expo 1993. The show was produced by Zodiac Entertainment, Sei Young Anitel and Calico E ...

), which featured some of the latest in roller-coasters and other more traditional fun-park fare.

Theme tower

The center of the exposition was pinnacled by the 93-metre high "''Hanbit-tap''" – or Tower of Great Light, modeled on a traditional Korean Observatory, where guests could take a lift to the central viewing platform for a bird's eye view of the whole exposition site. Today, this platform features a few physics experiments. Also nearby are the flagship Korean National Pavilion and the United Nations Pavilion, which was built in the shape of a graceful dove.

Present-day activities

Today one can visit the former expo site, now called

Expo Science Park Expo Science Park () is a science park in Yuseong District, Daejeon, South Korea, built for Taejŏn Expo '93. Facilities at Expo Park included a garden, amusement park, and observation tower. While the tower and some buildings remain, most of th ...

savour the site from the Tower of Great Light, visit the United Nations Pavilion which now hosts the Daejeon Expo Commemorative Center, World Expo Souvenirs Museum, and Daejeon Unification Pavilion; or use one of the few remaining buildings which host occasional unrelated exhibitions. Further information on Expo Park could be found at the official website. While no longer hosted, content was largely written in Korean, with some English language sub-headings to allow for navigation. The site included the 'Cyberspace' VR Panorama page where one could view 360 degree photo shoots of various aspects of the site. Part of the site is now being used for movie and television productions while another large piece has become the new headquarters for the

Institute for Basic Science The Institute for Basic Science (IBS; ) is a Korean government-funded research institute that conducts basic science research and relevant pure basic research. Comprising approximately 30 research centers with more than 60 research groups ac ...

which relocated in 2018.

Legacy

Taejon Expo Science Park opened in June 1994. Only three main buildings remain from the expo in the park. These being the Tower of Great Light, the Government Pavilion, and the Peace and Friendship Pavilion. Apart from Expo Park, there is a Korean language legacy website for the Expo, a project of the Expo 93 Foundation, at http://www.expo93.co.kr/. One of the features of the website is an e-books section, where several dozen print resources from the Expo – all official Organising Committee publications – have been reproduced online. Whilst the majority of these are also in the Korean language, one publication in English is the comprehensiv
Expo 93 Travel Manual
which is located at this page. After the event, the parking lots used for the Expo were transformed into the 387,000 sq/m (96 acre)

Daejeon Hanbat Arboretum Daejeon Hanbat Arboretum () is an urban park and arboretum An arboretum (: arboreta) is a botanical collection composed exclusively of trees and shrubs of a variety of species. Originally mostly created as a section in a larger garden or park ...

, the largest man-made arboretum in Korea. Taejon Expo' 93, like many other former expo cities and regions, is a member of the BIE-endorsed A.V.E. – Association of Expo Cities and Regions, founded in

Seville Seville ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Spain, Spanish autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the Guadalquivir, River Guadalquivir, ...

in 2002.

References

External links

A Brief Review of Expo '93Official website of the BIE

Korea Expo Park Official web-site

Expo '93 page at ExpoMuseum.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Taejon Expo '93 1993 in South Korea Daejeon Exhibitions in South Korea 1993 in the environment Fairs in South Korea