Busan

About Busan

South Korea's second city and biggest port spreads along a ragged coastline of beaches, headlands and steep hillsides, so that almost every neighbourhood ends at the sea. Busan feels looser and more maritime than Seoul: fishmongers shouting at Jagalchi, surfers and swimmers at Haeundae, and colourful houses stacked up the slopes above the harbour.

The city's character was shaped by the Korean War, when it was one of the few areas never captured and refugees from across the peninsula crowded into its hills. Their legacy lives on in Gamcheon Culture Village, in the bustling alleys of Gukje Market and at the UN Memorial Cemetery, the only one of its kind in the world. Much older are the mountain temples, from Beomeosa in the north to Haedong Yonggungsa perched above the waves.

Today Busan hosts one of Asia's leading film festivals each autumn, lights up Gwangan Bridge every night and serves some of Korea's best seafood, along with local specialities such as dwaeji gukbap pork soup and milmyeon cold noodles. The high-speed KTX connects it to Seoul in under three hours.