460,000 Flocked to ‘Bukkangi’ During Four-Day Holiday; Now the Shark Faces Return to Sea as Busan Discusses Plans

Bukkangi Mania Sweeps Bukhang Waterfront Park
Jeon Jae-soo: "Unbeatable Publicity, I Absolutely Adore It"
Busan City Holds Strategy Meeting on Situation Assessment and Rescue Plans

The relevant authorities are stepping in to devise countermeasures to return the shark 'Bukkangi', which has remained in the artificial waterway at Busan North Port for ten consecutive days, back to the sea.

On the morning of the 27th, the last day of the Chuseok holiday, citizens were watching the shark named 'Bukangi' swimming in the waterway of the Bukhang Waterfront Park in Dong-gu, Busan. Photo by Yonhap News

According to the city of Busan on September 28, the municipal government will hold a countermeasure meeting in the afternoon at a conference room inside Bukhang Waterfront Park. The meeting will be attended by the Busan Coast Guard, Busan Port Authority, and the National Institute of Fisheries Science, among others, to check the status of Bukkangi’s movements and discuss possible rescue measures. Plans for managing the safety of the growing number of visitors will also be addressed at the meeting.

Earlier, the Coast Guard attempted to guide Bukkangi back to the sea immediately after it was discovered. However, the operation was halted following advice from the National Institute of Fisheries Science that forcibly driving out the shark could agitate the animal. In the initial countermeasure meeting on September 22, the participating agencies agreed to monitor whether the shark would leave the waterway on its own until the Chuseok holiday ended. They also considered options in case the shark continued to stay, such as guiding it toward the sea using ships and nets.

Bukkangi Wins Nationwide Popularity— 460,000 Visitors During Chuseok Holiday

Bukkangi is a largetooth sawfish about 3.5 meters long, first discovered by the Busan Coast Guard on September 18 in the artificial waterway at Bukhang Waterfront Park in Dong-gu, Busan. The name ‘Bukkangi’ means ‘appeared in Bukhang’. News that a sea-dwelling shark had entered a city waterway and could be seen swimming up close quickly spread on social networking services (SNS), turning Bukkangi into a nationwide sensation. While Bukhang Waterfront Park typically sees about 2,000 visitors per day, it welcomed 468,000 visitors over the four-day Chuseok holiday (September 24–27). Since the visitor count began on September 19, cumulative attendance has reached 553,800.

The city welcomed Bukkangi’s arrival. On September 22, Jeon Jae-soo, Mayor of Busan, said in an interview on the CBS Radio program "Park Jae-hong’s One-Pan Duel," "With the arrival of the shark, Bukhang has become a hot place. Not even spending trillions of won could achieve this much publicity," he remarked. He added, "I will seize this opportunity to promote Busan North Port to the entire country and the world—an opportunity that comes once in a hundred years, if ever." Regarding Bukkangi, the mayor said, "It comes up every 5 to 10 minutes like a celebrity: it truly is adorable. It eats rays and squid so well that I want to buy a ton and feed them to it."

A post featuring Bukang-i was uploaded on the official social media of Ediacoffee, attracting attention. Instagram

Companies and local governments are also using Bukkangi to promote themselves. The owner of the Ediacoffee Bukhang Waterfront Park branch, near the waterway, posted on SNS expressing a warm welcome to Bukkangi, even while surprised by the sudden surge of customers, and the post quickly attracted attention. Ediacoffee posted on its official SNS an AI-generated image of a shark holding a coffee cup, accompanied by the phrase "Have a coffee and keep a safe distance, Jaws-mida," and dubbed the Bukhang Waterfront Park branch the "Ediya Jaws branch."

In addition, Busan coffee brand BlueShark held a promotional event, randomly gifting 500 customers who uploaded photos with both the shark and a beverage. A post by Busan Aquarium on SNS featuring the message "Our shark is pretty too" received over 20,000 likes. Local soju maker Daesun Distilling released an AI-generated video of a shark holding soju. According to BGF Retail, which operates the CU convenience store chain, sales at CU stores near the waterfront park jumped by 48.6 percent on September 19–20 compared to the previous week. Busan Dong-gu has decided to officially designate Bukkangi as its mascot and is accepting public submissions for its name, appearance, and story.

Environmental Groups: "This Is Not Just Entertainment... The Impact of Climate Change Is Becoming Routine"

However, as crowds flocked in, noise around the waterway increased, and there were reports of trash and seafood being thrown into the water, raising concerns about the potential threat to the shark. On September 22, the Busan Environmental Movement Union issued a statement titled "Bukhang, where a shark is trapped—whose waterfront space is it?" noting, "Attention should be paid to the fact that a marine animal from the sea has remained in an artificial waterway for an extended period." The group stressed, "We should not dismiss this as mere spectacle or a happening." It continued, "Due to rising sea temperatures caused by climate change, it is becoming common for the habitats and migratory routes of marine life, such as sharks that previously stayed near the southern coast or Jeju, to shift." The organization also called for "a fundamental shift in waterfront policies to make coexistence between humans and marine life possible."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.