Over 10,000 artists from 54 countries gathered here Wednesday to open the Gyeongju World Culture Expo, featuring various artistic and cultural events linking the past and present, and the East and West in the opening years of the new millennium.

In a speech during the opening ceremony at Expo Park, the governor of North Gyeongsang Province Lee Eui-geun expressed his hope that the Expo would contribute to helping resolve international conflicts and divisions.

Lee's speech kicked off the 72-day international event, the third of its kind since 1998, organized by North Gyeongsang Province and Gyeongju city under the theme of "Harmony in Diversity."

Organizers of the Gyeongju World Culture Expo praised the state-of-the-art technologies used to show various events at the exposition, and are expecting over 1.5 million tourists, including over 100,000 foreigners, during the Expo period.