From sharks to otters: How Busan's Gen Z is turning urban wildlife into viral sensations
A blacktip shark, nicknamed "Bukhangi," swims in an artificial waterway at the North Port Waterfront Park in Dong District, Busan, Friday. First spotted in the park's artificial waterway on Sept. 18, the city has tried several times to relocate Bukangi back to open waters. Yonhap
BUSAN — A woman in her 20s sits quietly with her dog along the safety fences of North Port Waterfront Park in Busan, patiently scanning the artificial waterway for any sign of "Bukangi."
Kim Yeon-ji, a local middle school student who also visited the site the day before, chatted animatedly with a friend while waiting nearby.
"Sometimes you only have to wait 20 to 30 minutes, or at most an hour, before Bukangi appears," Kim said. "This isn't a shark trapped in an artificial facility like an aquarium. When else would we get the chance to see a wild shark up close like this? I come here with my friend almost every day after school just to see Bukangi."
When a distinct dorsal fin finally broke the surface, several onlookers gasped in excitement, shouting, "It's here!" Some began running along the perimeter of the channel, keeping pace with the shark's movements. The long queues of spectators waiting for a glimpse of the creature evoked the dedicated fans waiting outside a K-pop idol concert.
"I had no idea there would be this many people," said Choi Ho-yoon, an office worker visiting from Seoul. "I hope this kind of natural civic participation will continue to grow into a unique urban brand for Busan."
The phenomenon has drawn unprecedented crowds to the waterfront. According to the Busan Infrastructure Corporation, 59,000 people visited North Port Waterfront Park on Saturday one, following a peak of 74,000 visitors on Friday, the first day of the long Hangeul Day holiday weekend.
Visitors gather along an artificial waterway at the North Port Waterfront Park in Busan, Friday, to catch a glimpse of "Bukangi," a blacktip shark that recently arrived in the area. Yonhap
The blacktip shark was first spotted in the park's artificial channel on Sept. 18. After rescue authorities' failed attempts to guide the shark back to open waters, officials are now allowing the shark to leave or stay of its own accord. In the meantime, cumulative visitor numbers to the park reached nearly 1.3 million between Sept. 19, when official counting began, and Saturday.
The sudden appearance of wildlife in urban rivers and waterfront parks across Busan has captured the public imagination.
Just as Bukangi became an overnight celebrity, videos of a wild Eurasian otter — a Class I endangered species and Natural Monument No. 330 — swimming near pedestrians along the city’s Oncheon Stream swept across social media.
Witnesses recorded the otter casually approaching citizens, prompting social media users to launch a new naming contest: "Since North Port has Bukangi, Oncheon Stream gets 'Oncheoni.'"
Local residents, especially younger people, have embraced them through digital culture. By giving them affectionate nicknames and sharing viral memes, locals joke that "all of Busan is turning into an aquarium."
An otter is seen at Oncheon Stream in Busan, Tuesday. Captured from Instagram (@eeung_ddy)
This organic fandom quickly turned into a hands-on experience. Finding the animals in person, filming short video clips and posting real-time sightings on social media has become a popular local trend.
Local brands and teams were quick to join in. The Lotte Giants baseball team launched pre-orders for a shark-themed mascot cloak, while a local shop released limited edition keyrings featuring Busan’s mascot, the seagull Boogi, alongside Bukangi. Daesun Distilling, a popular local liquor brand, released a special "Bukangi Edition" soju bottle featuring a surfing shark character.
Cultural experts describe this as a new urban phenomenon that combines a desire for social media verification with a psychological urge to join a trending fandom, driving citizens to become active participants rather than passive observers.
Experts note that the phenomenon — stretching from the craze over giant panda Fu Bao to Bukangi and Oncheoni — closely mirrors the dynamics of K-pop idol fandom.
Citizens personalize wild animals by naming them and buying collaborative merchandise to prove their fandom affiliation.
Daesun Distilling, a popular local liquor brand, released a special "Bukangi Edition" soju bottle featuring a surfing shark character. Courtesy of Daesun Distilling
Yoo Hyun-jae, a professor of media and communication at Sogang University, paid particular attention to the process of naming the wild shark "Bukangi."
"At their core, people constantly seek out elements of play in their daily lives," Yoo said. "While Bukangi's arrival was a natural event, people projected their desire for entertainment and humanized elements onto it."
By giving the animals names and treating them like animated characters, people feel a sense of intimacy, building a new form of play around added narratives and memes.
Drawing a parallel to how the story created around Fu Bao sparked widespread public interest before its return to China, professor Yoo viewed discovering others' experiences on social media, visiting in person and sharing content online as a key driver. He interpreted the movement as the result of human play instinct combining with a collective cultural push to participate in what everyone else is engaging with.