Busan Metropolitan City, also known as Pusan, is the largest port city in the Republic of Korea. With a population of about 3.65 million, Busan is also South Korea's second largest metropolis, after Seoul. The most densely built up areas of the city are situated in a number of narrow valleys between the Nakdong River and Suyeong River, with mountains separating some of the various districts.
Busan was the host city of the 2002 Asian Games and APEC 2005 Korea. It was also one of the host cities for the 2002 FIFA World Cup, and is the center for international conventions in Korea. Administratively, it is designated as a Metropolitan City. On November 14, 2005, the city officially announced its bid to host the 2020 Summer Olympics Games.
Geochilsan-guk existed in the second and third centuries as a chiefdom of Jinhan. It was absorbed by Silla and renamed Geochilsan-gun. The word Geochilsan means rough mountain, probably referring to Hwangnyeongsan, located at the center of the city.
The grave goods excavated from mounded burials at Bokcheon-dong indicate that a complex chiefdom ruled by powerful individuals was present in the Busan area just as the Three Kingdoms of Korea were forming, c. A.D. 300-400. The mounded burials of Bokcheon-dong were built along the top of a ridge that overlooks a wide area that makes up parts of modern-day Dongnae-gu and Yeonje-gu. Archaeologists excavated more than 250 iron weapons and ingots from Burial No. 38, a wooden chamber tomb at Bokcheon-dong.
In 757, Geochilsan-gun was again renamed Dongnae, which it is still called.
During the Japanese occupation, Busan in Japanese name "Fuzan" developed into a hub trading port with Japan. Busan was the only city in Korea to adopt the steam tramway before electrification was introduced in 1924. Busan, along with Jeju City, is the only city in Korea, with the exemption of Daegu, that was never taken by the North Korean Communists during the Korean War. As a result the city was a refugee camp site for Koreans during the war.
Busan was one of the few areas in Korea that remained under the control of South Korea throughout the Korean War and for some time it served as a temporary capital of Republic of Korea. UN troops established a defensive perimeter around the city known as the Pusan Perimeter in the summer and autumn of 1950. Since then, like Seoul, the city has been a self-governing metropolis and has built a strong urban character
Transportation and shipping are among the most high profile aspects of the local economy. Since 1978, Busan has opened three container ports including Jaseungdae, Shinsundae and Gamman.
The Busan-Jinhae Free Economic Zone Authority, one of two such administrations (the other in the harbor of Incheon), was created to continue the tradition of Busan's status as an international trading centre.
Alphabetical Listings of Hotels in Busan
RECOMMENDED HOTELS WITH DISCOUNT
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