[News Spotlight] Daboseu: Known but Little Understood

Swiss Davos, where the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting (WEF·Davos Forum) is held.
[Photo by AFP/ Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Jonghwa] 'Davos' is a tourist resort town in the Graub?nden canton of Switzerland. Located in the eastern Swiss Alps at an altitude of 1560 meters, it is home to Switzerland's largest ski resort and Europe's largest natural ice rink, the 'Eisstadion Davos.' With a total of 320 km of slopes across six major ski areas, it is a winter sports mecca attracting skiing, snowboarding, and skating enthusiasts during the winter season. It has become better known as a convention city since the annual World Economic Forum (WEF, also known as the Davos Forum) is held there every year.

The clear high-altitude air is reputed to be beneficial for patients with lung diseases, making it a popular sanatorium for tuberculosis patients. Scottish novelist Robert Louis Stevenson, author of 'Treasure Island' and 'The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde,' recuperated here. Arthur Conan Doyle, the author and physician known for 'Sherlock Holmes,' wrote an article about skiing in Davos in 1899, and the German writer Thomas Mann's novel 'The Magic Mountain' is set at the 'Davos Bergdorf Sanatorium.'

Davos has a subarctic (polar) climate characterized by long, cold winters and short, cool summers. The average annual number of precipitation days is 124.7, with an average annual precipitation of 1022 mm, which is less than Korea's 1300 mm. August is the wettest month, with an average of 13.5 days of rain or snow and an average precipitation of 148 mm.

Although it is a small town with a population of 10,832 (as of December 2020) spread over an area of 284 km², it preserves important Swiss cultural heritage sites such as the Kirchner Museum, the Gross Jenatsch House (Pfrundhaus), the Waldfriedhof forest cemetery, Burgotel Schatzalp, and the former Grand Hotel Belvedere. Additionally, several research institutions are located here, including the AO Foundation for musculoskeletal trauma and disability research, the Swiss Institute of Allergy and Asthma Research (SIAF), the World Radiation Center (PMOD/WRC), the Swiss Federal Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research (SLF), and the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research (WSL).

German-born Swiss economist Klaus Schwab founded the 'European Management Forum' as a nonprofit foundation in 1971, and since 1981, the annual meeting has been held every January in Davos, leading to the forum being commonly called the Davos Forum. Its official name was changed to the 'World Economic Forum' in 1987.

The Davos Forum gathers key figures from various countries to discuss pressing issues through panels or participant discussions, or to hold separate meetings. Since the 2000s, it has addressed issues not only in economics but also in politics, society, and culture, inviting leaders of non-governmental organizations and even celebrities to attract attention.

While Schwab, the WEF chairman, has led global discourse by advocating the Fourth Industrial Revolution since 2015, some entrepreneurs have shunned the forum due to high participation fees, authoritative meeting styles, and perceived lack of practicality. Notable entrepreneurs who do not attend the Davos Forum include Warren Buffett, Steve Jobs, and Mark Zuckerberg.

Former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson criticized it as "a gathering of self-congratulatory narcissists," even banning cabinet members from attending. In 2020, British newspapers such as The Times reported on prostitution and sexual harassment incidents at the Davos Forum. Every January, protests against the Davos Forum take place across Switzerland for these reasons.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.