Construction of the Republic of Korea Pavilion for the 2010 World Expo broke ground yesterday.

ROK singer and actress Jang Nara was appointed ambassador for the pavilion. She will welcome visitors to the pavilion during the Expo next year.

The country's pavilion will showcase blueprints of future cities along with its most advanced technology and traditional culture in its largest Expo pavilion ever at the Shanghai event.

The country, always among the most popular exhibitors at Expos, will build a three-story, 6,160-square-meter pavilion. The structure will look like the 20 basic letters of the ROK alphabet.

The country's 2010 exhibit will be themed "Friendly City, Colorful Life."