The Korean pavilion at the Osaka Expo attracts over 10,000 visitors a day, with at least an hour of waiting in line to enter due to its popularity. In 2020, participating in the Dubai Expo resulted in an economic ripple effect of about 4 trillion won, and this time, a ripple effect more than double that of Dubai is expected.
Kang Kyung-sung, president of the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA), noted on the 12th during a press conference with the joint reporting team for the Korean pavilion at the 2025 Osaka-Kansai Expo, held at the Prince Hotel in Osaka, Japan, that he reviewed the operational performance over the past month. The ripple effect refers to the exports, investments, and tourism generated through the Expo.
The Osaka Expo, with the theme "Designing Future Society for Our Lives," features participation from 158 countries worldwide. It opened on the artificial island of Yumeshima in Osaka on the 13th of last month and will run until October 13.
The Korean pavilion is set up in Zone C4 of the Expo site, covering a total area of 3,501.82 square meters. The exhibition hall consists of three sections, with ten government agencies collaborating to prepare 35 events. As of the 11th, a total of 323,000 visitors had visited the Korean pavilion, accounting for 13.4% of the total attendees at the Osaka Expo (2,409,000 people).
Kang noted that it took four years to prepare the Korean pavilion, with a total budget of 44 billion won. The theme is focused on "a future connected with sincerity," emphasizing the harmony between advanced technology and traditional culture. Locally, the Korean pavilion has received favorable evaluations as "the best representation of the Expo's theme."
The "Korean Excellent Products Exhibition," organized by KOTRA, features 93 domestic corporations and 160 Japanese corporations participating in export consultations. During this event, a domestic power equipment corporation signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with a Japanese company worth $5.17 million (about 730 million won).
The Korean pavilion is considered one of the most popular exhibition halls along with the U.S., French, and Italian pavilions, following the host country Japan. The Osaka Expo initially had low reservation rates, but they are gradually increasing.
Kang stated that our country first participated in the Expo by sending a kiln in 1893 to the Expo held in Chicago, USA. Since then, we have participated in 24 consecutive Expos, establishing ourselves as one of the top five Expo nations in the world. He expressed the intention to enhance national prestige through such events and to elevate our standing as the fifth-largest exporter globally.