Dynamic southern harbor city Busan is where future, past meet

Seen is Gamcheon Culture Village in Busan, which is often dubbed, "Korea's Santorini," due to the colorful houses built on the hillside, Friday. The mountainous village, which housed industrial laborers and those displaced by the Korean War, was painted with bright colors under a regeneration project by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism in 2009. Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul

By Lee Hae-rin

Korea's southeastern port city of Busan is representative of the country's dynamic rise from a war-torn nation to helping it on its journey of becoming the 10th-largest economy in the world today, as reflected in the city's proposed theme for the World Expo 2030 ― Transforming Our World, Navigating Toward a Better Future.

"Busan started as a small port city," said Jo Yeong-jun, an official from the Busan Metropolitan City's Expo Bid Oversight Team, explaining that the city witnessed the country's turbulent history of colonialization, war, industrialization and democratic movements.

The southeastern port city was the only territory left unconquered by the North Korean military during the 1950-53 Korean War. It served as the location for the country's provisional government for 1,063 days and became Korea's cultural melting pot while sheltering over a million displaced people from across the peninsula.

The cultural influences of these people on education, food and arts are now the city's strongest cultural heritage and tourist assets, as exhibited at the Provisional Capital Memorial Hall in western Busan.

The memorial hall itself is a classic Japanese-style building made of red bricks brought from Japan. It served as a presidential residence for former President Syngman Rhee and his wife Franziska Donner Rhee during the Korean War.

Seen is the secondhand bookshop district in central Busan, Friday, where the people displaced by the Korean War exchanged children's books which they had brought with them amid evacuation during and after the conflict. Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul

For example, the renowned secondhand bookshop district in central Jung District is where people displaced by the Korean War exchanged children's books that they had packed as they fled their homes for safety. It is a symbol of the nation's passion for education as a means to end the cycle of poverty and give a chance for a better life to future generations.

Gamcheon Culture Village, also known as "Korea's Machu Picchu" or "Korea's Santorini," is the iconic checkerboard-like hillside village based on a plan for the resettlement of displaced persons with uniform building sizes and materials.

As the village housed mainly elderly residents, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism launched a regeneration project in 2009 and painted the old buildings with bright pastel colors. The village became a national sensation.

Seen is Busan's North Port, the proposed venue for the World Expo 2030, Friday. It served as a port of entry for the United Nations peacekeeping forces, medical teams and relief supplies during the 1950-53 Korean War. Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul

Busan's North Port, the northern harbor area of the city, where the World Expo will take place if Korea wins the bid, is where United Nations Command was based and where medical teams and relief supplies arrived during the three-year conflict.

The port city was at the heart of the country's industrialization and economic growth between the 1960s and 1980s, attracting millions of people from across the country. It developed booming labor-intensive manufacturing industries and gave birth to major conglomerates such as LG and CJ.

"Busan served as the first gateway to foreign cultures during the Japanese colonial period and developed into the country's largest harbor city responsible for 70 percent of the country's export in the 1970s," Jo said.

Today, Busan is the country's second-largest city with a population exceeding 3.4 million. It serves as Korea's main base for trade, with the world's second-largest port of transshipment and seventh-largest container port.

Busan Harbor Bridge, stretching over three kilometers between the southeastern port city's central Jung District to Yeongdo (Yeong Island) next to the Busan Port International Passenger Terminal, is lit up at night in this undated photo taken in 2022. Courtesy of Busan Metropolitan Government

The city has grown into a key harbor city located where the Eurasian continent and the Pacific Ocean meet and hosted several international conferences and events, including the 2005 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit, Korea-ASEAN summits in 2014 and 2019, the Asian Games in 2002 and the official draw for the 2002 World Cup.

The city stands as one of the most popular destinations for domestic and international travelers as well, visited by over 40 million every year. The city is renowned for its beautiful landscapes combining beaches and mountains, its maritime delicacies and for being the hub of Korean arts and pop culture for hosting the annual Busan International Film Festival, the Busan One Asia Festival and the country's largest game expo G-STAR.