Have any of you living in Korea been to Busan? Busan is the largest and most attractive city located in the southern region of Korea, and many people know it not only in Korea but also abroad. In particular, there is "Haeundae" as a popular place that cannot be avoided if you know Busan.
If your foreign friends visit Busan and ask "Where are some good places to go in Busan?", I think most of your friends will answer "Haeundae". However, it is a shame that the well-known, famous, and popular "Haeundae" is judged to be known only as a tourist attraction.
Therefore, this time, I would like to introduce you to "Haeundae", a popular tourist destination in Korea. With this knowledge of "Haeundae", I think the next time I recommend "Haeundae" to my friends, I will be able to tell them more interesting stories.
A brief introduction to Haeundae
Haeundae is a place name that refers to the entire Haeundae-gu area of Busan Metropolitan City, and the symbols of Busan include Haeundae Beach and Gwangalli Beach, Dongbaek Island, Busan Cinema Center, Dalmaji Pass, Haeundae Hot Springs, Oryukdo Island, UN Memorial Park, Suyeong Historical Park, and Gwangan Bridge. There are famous tourist spots.
Haeundae Choi Chi-won, a literary man (intellectual) at the end of the Unified Silla Dynasty, visited the area near the current Haeundae Beach and admired the scenery of the place where pine trees and white sand were harmonized. It is also a name derived from .
Haeundae is also well known around the world for being used as the title of a Korean disaster movie released in 2009 and a song released by Vibe's 6th album.
History of Haeundae
As mentioned in the sentence above, the history of Haeundae dates back to Choi Chi-won, a literary man (intellectual) in the late Silla Dynasty, who admired the beautiful scenery of this place and named it after his pen name, Hae-un (海雲), and built it on the southern rock face of Dongbaek Island. It started by intaglio (engraving) the three letters "Haeundae".
Haeundae was part of the Geolsanguk (居漆山國) (a small country of Gaya subjugated in the early Silla Dynasty) and Jangsanguk (a small country of the Samhan Period located in Haeundae-gu, Busan) during the Samhan Period, and King Gyeongdeok (king name) during the Unified Silla Period. In 15, it was renamed Dongnae-gun. After that, it was merged with Ulju in the 9th year of King Hyeonjong of Goryeo, then Dongrae-gun Dongmyeon through the Joseon Dynasty, Dongnae-bu Dongha-myeon in the late Joseon Dynasty (the period from the end of the Joseon Dynasty to the Korean Empire), and in 1942 it was merged with the Suyeong Branch Office of Busan City.
On April 1, 1980, the location of Haeundae-gu was promoted to Haeundae-gu, and from 1978 to 2020, several times of administrative division reorganization took place.
Why is Haeundae famous?
Haeundae was named after Choe Chi-won, a literary figure in the Unified Silla era, from his pen name Hae-un (海雲), and was also counted as one of the eight scenic spots of Joseon (Eight Views of Korea).
After the opening of the Donghae Nambu Line in 1934, Haeundae became popular as a full-fledged tourist destination, and opened as Haeundae Beach in 1965.
Haeundae is ranked as one of the best summer vacation destinations in Korea and is famous for being the most crowded beach with tourists from all over Korea every year.
Haeundae is known to be a place visited by many foreign tourists as it is quite well known abroad to the extent that ZDF, a German public broadcasting company, rated it as one of the top 3 beaches in the world.
Haeundae has been transformed into a modern urban beach surrounded by skyscrapers and luxury hotels, and I think it is a symbol of Busan.
From the above, it is thought that the reason for the high awareness of Haeundae is its historical origin, development as a tourist destination, popularity at home and abroad, and urban landscape.
