South Korean city to host international Expo 2012

PARIS, Nov 27 (Reuters) The South Korean city of Yeosu has been chosen to host the international Expo 2012 ahead of Tangier in Morocco and the Polish city of Wroclaw, organisers said.

Delegates from Yeosu, who based their application on the theme of the living ocean and coast, cheered and embraced in the corridors of the Palais des Congres in Paris after the result was announced yesterday.

The city, an industrial port near two national parks, won a vote of members of the Paris-based International Exhibitions Bureau.

''If we didn't have full confidence in our success, it would have been impossible to be consistent in putting across our message,'' South Korean Prime Minister Han Duck-soo told a news conference after the announcement.

''The Yeosu ocean and coastal agenda required countries surrounded by oceans and coasts to really be aware of climate change and the environment issue,'' he said.

International Expos are showcase events highlighting technological achievements and have been held irregularly since the Great Exhibition of London in 1851.

Reuters AK VP0420