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Haeundae-gu
Haeundae Beach
Korean name
Hangul 해운대구 Hanja 海雲臺區 Revised Romanization Hae-undae-gu McCune-Reischauer Haeundae-gu
Statistics
Area 51.44 km² (20 sq mi) Population (July 2007 reg.) 423,167 [1] Population density 8,226/km² (21,305/sq mi) Administrative divisions 18 administrative dong
Location map

Haeundae-gu is a gu in eastern Busan, South Korea. It has an area of 51.44 km², and a population of about 404,000. This represent about 10.9% of Busan's population [2].

It became a division of Busan in 1976 and attained the status of gu in 1980.

Haeundae can easily be reach by subway on the Busan Subway Line 2, or by train on the Donghae Nambu railway line. Both Haeundae subway and train stations are built adjacent to each others.

Haeundae is now an affluent, beach front community that attracts tens of thousands of Korean tourists to what many consider to be Korea's best beach. It has been subject to considerable commercial development.

Haeundae takes its name from the ninth century Silla scholar and poet Choi Chi-won (literary name Haeun, or "Sea and Clouds"), who by historical account admired the view from the beach and built a pavilion nearby. A piece of Choe's calligraphy engraved on a rock at Haeundae still survives.

The area was once separated from the large communities in Busan and Busanjin. It remained undeveloped and thus its beach was relatively unspoiled until the late 1970s and early 1980s. A few luxury hotels were constructed in the wake of the 1988 Olympics and the new emphasis on regional development. Large hotels and other tourist facilities have been constructed in the beach-front area since the mid-1990s. Shopping centres and movie theatre complexes have been built in the 'centre' of Haeundae, an area between Haeundae Station and the beach. The prosperity and fame of the area has steadily grown, with the exception of the economic slump in the wake of the so-called IMF period (1998-1999).

Haeundae New Town(해운대 신시가지), a major residential and commercial addition to the area, was constructed in Jwa-dong between 1994 and 2000. Haeundae Sinsigaji is located in an area bounded on the north by the southern shadow of Jangsan Mountain, one of the tallest peaks in Greater Busan, and on the south side by Haeundae Station, the Korean National Railroad right-of-way, and Dalmaji Gogae.

Haeundae's desirable physical and environmental attributes, along with its tourist facilities, have led to its role as one of the host neighbourhoods in the Busan International Film Festival. Haeundae was the host of the 2005 APEC Conference.

Haeundae Beach (background) and Dongbaek Park (foreground)

Along the 12 km of coastline Haeundae Beach is Busan's most popular beach, and with Seogwipo's, it is one of the best known beaches in South Korea. During the summer time, and especially on weekends, the area becomes a vertiable wall of humanity with more than 100,000 people packed in on a narrow, one mile strip of sand. Many of the visitors to the beach in the summer come from Seoul, Daejeon, and Daegu. Haeundae is home to the majority of the expatriates currently living in the Busan area. Along with Geumjeongsan this is one of the most popular spots in Busan to view the first sunrise of the year on January 1, with a crowd of a few thousand gathering there before dawn. It is also known for its "Polar Bear Club", were temperatures reach near freezing. For the 2006 FIFA World Cup match between South Korea and Togo about 50,000 people came to the beach to watch the match projected on a giant screen [3].

A deserted Haeundae beach at dawn, February 2005

Haeundae-gu is divided into 7 legal dong, which altogether comprise 18 administrative dong, as follows:

• U-dong (2 administrative dong)
• Jung-dong (2 administrative dong)
• Jwa-dong (4 administrative dong)
• Songjeong-dong
• Banyeo-dong (4 administrative dong)
• Bansong-dong (3 administrative dong)
• Jaesong-dong (2 administrative dong)

• Busan
• Centum City
• List of Korea-related topics
• Geography of South Korea

• Haeundae-gu website (in English)