Among the many parks across the country, the most famous park in recent years is by far the Busan Port Bukhang Waterfront Park.
A single shark caught national attention overnight, causing a stir in the commercial district and reminding us of the historical significance of the port being opened to the public after a long period of time.
◇ A park right in front of Busan Station, where the sea and the city center come together.
Busan Port North Port Waterfront Park is located right in front of Busan Station in Choryang-dong, Dong-gu, the original downtown area of Busan.
This park was created through the 'North Port Redevelopment' project (Phase 1) and is called a resting place in the city where the sea and the city center harmoniously blend together.
There are six 'landmark parks' in Busan, including Yongdusan Park, Citizen's Park, Geumgang Park, Jungang Park, and Children's Grand Park, and Bukhang Waterfront Park faces the sea.
The total area of North Port Waterfront Park is 196,000㎡, which is the size of 17 soccer fields.
It consists of a multi-purpose plaza and lawn, scenic waterways and trails, landscaping and flower gardens, historical parks and cultural spaces, and convenience and landscaping facilities.
The scenic waterway, which is a symbol of the park, looks like a large fishhook when seen from the sky.
Both ends are connected to the sea, with a total length of 1.5 km and a width of 30 to 60 m. The water depth is about 2.5m when low and 4m when high, depending on the ebb and flow of the tide.
Above the scenic waterway, there are bridges such as Marina Bridge, Opera Bridge, and Bay Park Bridge that allow for vehicle traffic, and there is also a pedestrian bridge for pedestrians.
Bukhang Waterfront Park, operated by Busan Facilities Corporation, fully opened on November 27, 2023, following a partial opening in 2022.
Ahead of its third anniversary, this park became a national landmark overnight.
The 3.5m shark 'Bukangi', which is believed to have come in while chasing prey, attracted attention as it used the landscape waterway as a home.
◇ After staying in the ‘neighborhood park’, the commercial district was bustling after about 10 days.
Normally, there were only about 2,000 visitors to the Bukhang Waterfront Park each day.
As news of the shark's appearance spread, the number of visitors soared from 8,800 on September 19, four times the usual number, to 140,000 on the 26th of the same month, the third day of the Chuseok holiday.
Over the four days of the Chuseok holiday, more than 100,000 people came to see the sharks every day, and the cumulative number of visitors from the 19th when visitor counting began until recently exceeded 600,000.
According to a simple calculation, the number of people who come to North Port Waterfront Park over the course of a year has been concentrated in the past 10 days or so.
The shark's influence went beyond mere numbers.
In addition, convenience stores near the park enjoyed a special surge in sales of shark-related products such as Jaws Bar, Gorae Rice, and Pinkfong Baby Shark.
The stock price of the shark character production company rose by about 10%.
Busan City appointed Bukangi as an honorary public relations ambassador and is using it on official social media (SNS) and YouTube's 'Busan Tube'.
Dong-gu, under the jurisdiction of Bukhang Waterfront Park, unusually targeted the entire public as participants by announcing the 'Bukhang Shark Character Contest' to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the opening of Dong-gu. The total prize money is 7 million won.
In addition, we are considering using the contest's selections for goods and emoticons and installing a shark sculpture.
Recently, Kang Ki-seong, CEO of Ediya Coffee Bukhang Waterside Park branch, delivered 1 million won in hometown love donation to Dong-gu Office, saying he would return the proceeds to the local community.
◇ Busan Port North Port returns to citizens after 146 years
Today, the Busan Port North Port Waterfront Park, which anyone can easily access, is open to the public for the first time in 146 years due to the North Port redevelopment project.
The North Port of Busan Port was opened in 1876 through the Ganghwa Island Treaty and was used only as a port where public access was restricted for a long time.
It has been the driving force and driving force of our country's economy, but due to port development, Busan's coastline has been cut off and the distance between citizens and the sea has increased.
In the 1990s, with the explosive increase in cargo volume and larger ships, Busan New Port was developed on the outskirts to share the role of the North Port.
With this, the search for a new role for the North Port began.
The North Port redevelopment project began in 2008 to return some areas of the North Port to a beautiful urban space for citizens.
This is Korea's first port redevelopment project that reorganizes port functions and provides the hitherto closed coastline as a leisure and rest area for citizens.
The total area is 1.54 million ㎡, and the project cost is 2.4 trillion won.
The first phase of the project, which includes a nationally renowned waterfront park, is scheduled to be completed soon by redeveloping aging port sites such as Busan Port Piers 1 to 4, coastal piers, international passenger piers, and central piers to create a park, opera house, and marine leisure sports experience space.
The second phase of the project is planned to develop not only the port, but also the railway site near Busan Station, Beomil-dong reclaimed land, and the Busanjin CY site in connection with the original city center, and create space for marine-related economic activities.
The North Port Waterfront Park, along with Bukangi, is revitalizing Busan, centering on the original city center, as it has been mentioned in foreign media such as the online edition of the British Guardian, France's AFP news agency, and the official Instagram of CNN in the United States.
