There’s more to South Korea than just the glamorous and busy city of Seoul and the nature-filled and relaxing island of Jeju. If you want the best of both worlds, you can visit the country’s second largest city, Busan. Having world-class super ports, the city became a center for trade, industry, and commerce. It became the gateway city to the Eurasian continent that connects to the rest of the world.
One visit would not be enough to discover Busan with its breathtaking beaches, good food, friendly markets, exciting events, and rich culture. Famous tourist spots include the colorful Gamcheon Culture Village, Haeundae Beach, and the Busan Tower. You may also have had a glimpse of this stunning city in famous movies like the disaster film Haeundae, Yoon Je Kyoon’s masterpiece Ode to My Father, and the Hollywood box-office, Marvel’s Black Panther. But what’s important to know is that it is home to some of the biggest festivals not just in South Korea, but in Asia. What events could we expect this year? Let’s get to know them one by one.
1. BTS Expo Concert 2022
Without a doubt, BTS has set the status of being this generation’s biggest musical act in the world. They debuted in 2013 with seven members namely RM, Jin, Suga, J-hope, Jimin, V, and Jungkook. After winning the Top Social Artist Award at the Billboard Music Awards in 2017, they’ve made themselves known to the world with their beautiful discography, charismatic choreography, and meaningful lyrics.
That is why it came as a shock to everyone, especially ARMYs, that BTS wanted to focus on their solo careers, as announced on a “dinner party” video posted on their YouTube channel last June. According to the group leader, RM, “We have to accept that we’ve changed. The problem with K-pop and the whole idol system is they don’t give you time to mature”. But as members Suga and Jungkook clarified, it was not a “disbandment” nor a “hiatus”.
Which proved to be true, as announced on July, is that BTS will have a free in-person global concert entitled “WORLD EXPO 2030 BUSAN KOREA CONCERT BTS <Yet To Come> in BUSAN” to be held at Busan Asiad Main Stadium this Fall. Aside from meeting ARMYs, the purpose of this concert is for BTS to support and promote Busan’s bid for World Expo 2030. There will be a LIVE PLAY viewing at the Busan Port International Passenger Terminal Outdoor Parking Lot. Meanwhile, international fans can tune in via live stream through Weverse, ZEPETO, and NAVER NOW. The event will also be broadcasted on JTBC in Korea and TBS Channel 1 in Japan.
BTS members have fueled the excitement for the event during their speeches at The Fact Music Awards last October 8. After receiving their Daesang, RM mentioned their upcoming free concert in Busan to which V added, “As RM said that we have the concert in Busan, we’re going to do something amazing there. We’ll pay back the gift, the Daesang that we received from ARMY at the Busan concert. I’ve just got an electric shock in my ears and come to my senses. I’ll do my best”. Maybe that’s more reason to add to look forward to the event!
2. Busan International Film Festival 2022
Previously known as Pusan International Film Festival (PIFF), Busan International Film Festival (BIFF) is now in its 27th edition which opened last October 5, with actors Jeon Yeo Been and Ryu Jun Yeol as master of ceremonies. The first festival was held on September 13 to 21, 1996 and it was the first international festival in South Korea. Dubbed as the “Cannes of Asia”, BIFF looked like it has succeeded in its main purpose in introducing new films and first-time directors, especially to the young people of every generation.
The 27th Busan International Film Festival is currently being in Busan Cinema Center featuring 243 films from 71 countries. Fortunately, they were able to restart program events and sections that were not held for the last two years because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The festival opened with the Iranian film entitled Scent of the Wind by director Seyed Hadi Mohaghegh. From the red carpet, you can see that recognized Asian celebrities and directors have graced the event like Hong Kong actor Tony Leung who we have recently seen on Marvel’s Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Korean actor Song Kang Ho from the Academy award-winning film Parasite, and Japanese director Hirokazu Kore-eda.
The 10-day festival has more to offer for film enthusiasts all over Asia. Some of its highlights include the animated film from Haruki Murakami’s novel, the Black Pharaoh, one of India’s highest-grossing films, Vikram, and the recently restored from the Korean Film Archive, Nakdong River, the earliest surviving film to portray the Korean War in 1952. So, what are you waiting for? Make the most of this event until its closing on October 14.
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3. Busan Fireworks Festival 2022
Another remarkable event in Asia is being held annually at Gwangalli Beach, Busan, South Korea, the Busan Fireworks Festival. It is not your typical fireworks show as it uses tens of thousands of fireworks and state-of-the-art lasers that light up the sky in harmony with the festival’s theme song. What’s more amazing is that the fireworks were shown with the backdrop of the 2-level suspension bridge, the Gwangan Bridge.
This year, the Busan Fireworks Festival will be held on November 5, Saturday. As always, they expect over 1 million visitors to be present at the event. Most people will flock to Gwangalli beach for a good view, but it is noted that the view of the fireworks from Hwangnyeongsan Mountain is also remarkable. If you’re planning to visit Busan this fall, make sure not to miss this amazing festival.
4. Foods to Eat While You’re in Busan This Year
Aside from the glamorous festivals, Busan offers exceptional foods and cuisines that can be found in various restaurants and even kiosks around the city. being near the port and home to the biggest fish market in South Korea, they offer the freshest seafood in the country. Read on and absorb some useful information for your next food trip in Korea.
Jagalchi Fish Market
Jagalchi Fish Market is the biggest fish market in South Korea. Imagine the wide-range of varieties of seafood, either fresh, live, dried or prepared, that you can see in this huge market. One even said that the amount of seafood in this market can feed the entire city, like for real. Opened from five in the morning, you can take your time finding the best among the bests of seafood that you love like octopus tentacles (Nakji) and oysters (Gul). Add to the charm of this market is dealing and bargaining with the “Jagalchi Ahjummas”.
Gwangbokdong Food Street
Food streets are a must for food trips. You can eat as much as you want in a street full of food stalls and restaurants, like it’s heaven on earth. In this Gwangbokdong food street, your appetite will surely be awakened with foods like brown sugar pancakes, pork rice soup, braised pig trotter, grilled stuffed octopus, and the ones that you shouldn’t miss are the Korean street market dumplings!
Samjin Eomuk
Eomuk is the Korean word for ‘fish cake’. They are extremely famous country-wide. For sure, you would’ve seen them in some of the Korean dramas and variety shows. Since Busan is known for its fresh seafood, fish cakes that are made in the city are known to have the best ingredients. That is why if you want to try the best fish cake in the country, you must go for Busan’s Samjin Eomuk.
There’s a lot more food, markets, and restaurants to discover once you set your foot in the city, but you can start with these three food attractions in Busan this year.
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5. Delivered Korea is Located in Busan!
Not just famous for seafood and festivals, Busan is also a center for trade, commerce, and industry. You can find Delivered Korea’s head office in Busan. Just to give you a brief introduction about us, we are a shipping company that ships from South Korea to the rest of the world. Products we ship consist of, but are not limited to K-pop merchandise, Korean fashion clothing, stationery items, accessories, makeup, skincare products, and many more.
All of our services are very easy to use regardless of your needs, may it be for personal use, business, or e-commerce. You can use our package forwarding service (You Buy, We Ship), proxy buying service (We Buy and Ship), and dropshipping service (You Sell, We Ship) with confidence as we have partnered up with many of the world’s leading logistics providers like FedEx, UPS, Korea Post, and many more.
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