Busan news, in-depth reporting, and editorial insights covering the city’s politics, economy, development, institutions, and social change.
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Coverage of Busan's politics, economy, civic institutions, and urban change, with local developments placed in their wider context.
Busan has been selected to host the 2028 World Championship of Magic, following a decisive vote by the Fédération Internationale des Sociétés Magiques (FISM). The event will bring over 3,000 magicians and 200,000 visitors to the city in July 2028.
The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries has confirmed its full relocation to Dong-gu, Busan, marking the return of central government presence to the city’s original administrative district.
South Korea has cleared a major hurdle for the Busan–Yangsan–Ulsan metropolitan railway, approving a 47.6 km light rail corridor that will link the country’s southeastern cities in under an hour.
Despite two decades of stalled development, Busan is launching another industrial complex in Gijang-gun. Officials promise integrated housing and livability — but the project’s structure and geography suggest a repeat of the same failed playbook.
In a second consecutive year of full selection, Busan has secured national funding to restore aging, low-income neighborhoods not by rebuilding them from scratch, but by reinforcing what remains.
Despite renewed public investment in transit infrastructure, Busan continues to face mounting housing oversupply and demographic stagnation.
Busan’s new 77km cycling event, the 2025 Seven Bridges Tour, will take riders across sea bridges, tunnels, and coastal roads on September 21.
Busan will begin a 5.6 billion-won public design project along a 1.2km stretch of Dadaepo Beach in 2025.
Busan has launched a pilot program for Level 3 autonomous buses along a 10.4 km BRT corridor, limited to night hours and supervised operation.
Busan opens the ‘Mulmeong Lounge’ at Korea Maritime and Ocean University, a key part of its workation center initiative.
The British private school Royal Russell is set to open its first international campus in Busan’s Myeongji International City by August 2028.
Busan has been selected as South Korea’s exclusive nominee to host the 2026 UNESCO World Heritage Committee meeting, following a final round of evaluation that saw the port city narrowly surpass Jeju.
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