Over 600 elderly citizens from Busan and its neighboring regions have recently rallied support for Busan's bid to host the World Expo in 2030.

The so-called "Silver Supporters" will be tasked with taking part in events to promote Busan's World Expo bid and to welcome the Bureau International des Expositions Enquiry Mission visit to Busan in early April. Busan is the third destination for the BIE committee, which represents the World Expo organizer to assess the feasibility of candidate cities to host the quinquennial event.

The first gathering of Silver Supporters took place at Busan City Hall on Tuesday.

The civilian supporter group is comprised of citizens from the port city Busan, industrial city Ulsan and other regions of South Gyeongsang Province surrounding the two cities. This demonstrates "local communities' effort to overcome regional barriers and age differences" ahead of the mega event, Busan Mayor Park Heong-joon said in a statement.

"We will do our best to spread our enthusiasm to host the World Expo during (the BIE Enquiry Mission's) assessment here," Park said.

Busan is one of four cities to have submitted a bid to host the World Expo in 2030 along with Rome, the Saudi capital of Riyadh and the Ukrainian city of Odesa. The election to choose the finalist will take place in November.