Skip to content
Busan news
Breeze in Busan

Busan Forms Partnership with Slovenia's Port City of Koper for Stronger Maritime and Economic Collaboration

On the evening of June 22nd, local time, Busan City announced it had signed a Friendship and Cooperation Agreement with Koper City at the Town Hall in Koper, Slovenia. Koper is not only Slovenia's largest port city but also the leading maritime logistics gateway for Central and Eastern Europe. Situated on Slovenia's short Adriatic coastline, Koper's strategic geographical position, convenient rail facilities connected to its port, and non-freezing harbor even in mid-winter have made it the port

By Maru Kim
Jun 23, 2023
Updated: Feb 7, 2025
2 min read
Share Story
Busan Forms Partnership with Slovenia's Port City of Koper for Stronger Maritime and Economic Collaboration

On the evening of June 22nd, local time, Busan City announced it had signed a Friendship and Cooperation Agreement with Koper City at the Town Hall in Koper, Slovenia. Koper is not only Slovenia's largest port city but also the leading maritime logistics gateway for Central and Eastern Europe.

Situated on Slovenia's short Adriatic coastline, Koper's strategic geographical position, convenient rail facilities connected to its port, and non-freezing harbor even in mid-winter have made it the port through which South Korea exports the most goods to the Central and Eastern European region.

This agreement follows discussions between the two countries' leaders in 2018 and 2019, with the aim of expanding and developing areas of cooperation between Busan and Koper. The focal point of these discussions centered around increasing trade, investment, maritime, and logistics cooperation between the two nations, with the Port of Koper at the heart of these discussions.

Both Busan Mayor Park Heong-joon and Koper Mayor Aleš Bržan attended the agreement ceremony and personally signed the agreement. With this Friendship and Cooperation Agreement, the two cities plan to promote exchange and cooperation in various fields, including ports, economy, culture, information technology (IT), and human exchange.

Importantly, this agreement is expected to spur both cities to achieve mutual development through collaboration. Busan aims to build a world-class tri-port integrated logistics system, while Koper intends to strengthen its role as a maritime logistics hub city in Central and Eastern Europe.

Koper, with its rich and diverse history reflected in the city's architecture and cultural heritage, also serves as a tourist attraction for its picturesque and historical sights, including the charming old town, Tito Square, with significant buildings such as the Praetorian Palace and the Cathedral of the Assumption.

Mayor Park of Busan City said, "The Friendship and Cooperation Agreement between Busan and Koper will be an important driving force for economic growth and regional exchange between the two cities. We will do our best to successfully build the tri-port integrated logistics system and Central and Eastern European maritime logistics hub city that both cities aim for through cooperation in the future."

Related Topics

Share This Story

Knowledge is most valuable when shared with the community.

Editorial Context

"Independent journalism relies on radical transparency. View our full log of editorial notes, corrections, and project dispatches in the Newsroom Transparency Log."

Reader Pulse

The report's impact signal

0 SIGNALS

Be the first to provide a reading pulse. These collective signals help our newsroom understand the impact of our reporting.

Join the deep discussion
Loading this week's participation brief

Join the discussion

Article Discussion

A more thoughtful conversation, anchored to the story

Atlantic-style discussion for this article. One-level replies, editor prompts, and moderation-first participation are now powered directly by Prisma.

Discussion Status

Open

Please sign in to join the discussion.

Loading discussion...

The Weekly Breeze

Independent reporting and analysis on Busan,
Korea, and the broader regional economy.

Independent journalism, directly to your inbox.

Related Coverage

Continue with related reporting

Follow adjacent reporting from the same newsroom file, with linked coverage that extends the current story's desk and context.

What Busan’s tourism rebound does not fix
NewsApr 23, 2026

What Busan’s tourism rebound does not fix

Visitors are back, but the sectors that give the city economic depth remain under pressure — leaving Busan busier on the surface and more exposed underneath.

Continue this story

More on this issue

Stay with the same issue through adjacent reporting that carries the argument, context, or consequences forward.

Can Smart Monitoring Change an Aging Industrial Complex in Busan?
NewsApr 16, 2026

Can Smart Monitoring Change an Aging Industrial Complex in Busan?

At Seobusan Smart Valley, Busan is trying to use an integrated control system to manage the risks of an older industrial complex. Whether that becomes a working public-safety tool or a technology showcase will depend on results the city has yet to prove.

Busan’s Two Futures
NewsApr 13, 2026

Busan’s Two Futures

Busan is aging, losing younger residents, and struggling to sustain confidence in North Port, its flagship waterfront project. With World Design Capital 2028, the city is trying to show that visible ambition can still produce real urban renewal.

More from the author

Continue with Breeze in Busan

Stay with the same line of reporting through more work from this byline.