YEOSU, South Jeolla Province ― The upcoming World Expo will no doubt be a watershed event in the history of Yeosu, a butterfly-shaped peninsula on the southern coast and 365 surrounding islands.

To highlight the city’s aspirations for a successful fair, Mayor of Yeosu Kim Chung-seog has worn a blue jumper or blazer sporting an expo logo to work everyday since he was elected in June 2010.

“Our aim after the expo is to build an international center of marine tourism and leisure sports, and to become one of the world’s four most beautiful harbors with Sydney, Vancouver and Naples,” Kim told The Korea Herald.

“The 2012 Yeosu Expo will guide us on how to achieve that goal.”

The expo will leave behind an aquarium, a theme pavilion, the floating stage named the Big O, hotels, condominiums, golf courses and a marina in Yeosu.

The city with a population of 300,000 has become much more accessible with new highways, roads and the KTX railway. The bullet train travel time from Seoul to Yeosu will be reduced to two hours and 50 minutes before the expo opens on May 12, from the current three hours and 40 minutes.

Six cruise ships run by companies in the United States, Italy, Japan and China will dock at the Yeosu expo site during the three-month fair, bringing in about 12,000 passengers.

The city government of Yeosu also signed charter flight operation agreements with three Chinese airliners last year.

To ease traffic congestion, the city government is also leading a campaign to not use passenger cars during the 93-day expo and plans to run buses free of charge. A recent survey of about 1,300 Yeosu citizens showed that nearly 90 percent of them were willing to leave their cars at home.

Kim has continued to urge the central government to provide more financial aid to expand infrastructure ― widen the road between the expo site and the intercity bus terminal, build a road connecting the old and new ports, a floating platform for more cruise ships and extend the Yeosu airport runway. Some have been accepted, some haven’t.

“Only one ship can dock at the pier currently under construction. It is really tantalizing that the requests to build a floating platform to allow two more cruise ships to dock at the same time and to extend the runway were not accepted,” Kim said.

The city government has been most concerned about the possible traffic jam within the city and the lack of accommodation.

Several new hotels are scheduled to open before the expo, but that won’t be enough to cover an estimated daily average demand of some 36,000 rooms.

“We will make use of the cruise ships, camping sites, Expo Town apartments, religious facilities and university dorms for accommodation,” Kim said.

“We will also provide accommodation information in nearby areas within two hours’ distance such as Namhae.”

About 20,000 rooms will be available in accommodations designated as official partners by the expo organizing committee for their exemplary service and facilities in Busan, Gwangju, Jeonju and Mokpo as well as Yeosu.

To ease traffic congestion, the city will operate 80 shuttle buses ―enough to take 33,000 cars off the Yeosu highway interchange and the expo site.

Tourism information of the city and nearby regions, ticket reservation service and expo guidance are offered through the Yeosu Expo smart phone application and the Internet.

The expo will be a boost for the city government’s plan to create an eco-friendly residential town for retired people with quality medical, cultural and leisure facilities by 2017.

Between 70 and 80 percent of the 3.4-million-square-meter retirees’ paradise along the coast will be afforested and about 4,000 homes will be offered, according to the plan.

By Kim So-hyun (sophie@heraldcorp.com)