Busan mayor urges holiday visitors to stay overnight for shark 'Buckangi'

Jeon Jae-soo promotes North Port on CBS Radio, calling shark a once-in-a-century publicity opportunity

'It has celebrity flair,' mayor says; city to consider guiding shark back to open sea after chuseok

Residents photograph a shark that appeared in the waterway of the North Port waterfront park in Dong-gu, Busan, on Sunday. First spotted on Friday, the shark has been circling the park's waterway and has not returned to open sea. Although Busan city sent safety alert messages to residents, crowds flocked to the park over the weekend to see the shark in person, turning North Port waterfront park into a bustling scene. [Yonhap]

A shark that wandered into the North Port waterfront park in Dong-gu, Busan, shows no sign of leaving, and the city expects massive crowds at the site throughout the chuseok holiday.

Busan Mayor Jeon Jae-soo gushed over the shark, nicknamed "Buckangi," saying he finds it "absolutely adorable beyond words."

In a Tuesday interview on CBS Radio's "Park Jae-hong's Hanpan Seungbu," Jeon said the shark's appearance had turned North Port into "a hot spot," adding it was "publicity that couldn't be bought even with trillions of won."

"I will make this an opportunity to put Busan's North Port on the map nationally and globally — the kind of chance that comes once in a hundred years," Jeon said.

Busan Mayor Jeon Jae-soo meets with Ministry of Planning and Budget Minister Park Hong-keun at North Port on Sept. 10 to request government support for key local projects, including the construction of Gadeokdo New Airport and a multipurpose dome arena at North Port. [Busan city government]

Speaking of Buckangi, which has effectively become North Port's unofficial mascot, Jeon said he was tempted to "buy a bunch of rays and squid and toss them in" for the shark to eat. He added that the animal had "a great figure" and surfaced every five to ten minutes. "It really has celebrity flair," he said. "I find it absolutely adorable — I've never seen anything this charming in my life."

Jeon described the North Port waterfront park, built at a cost of 90 billion won ($66.2 million), as "a truly beautiful place that Busan Port Authority put together over about 10 years of hard work." He noted that KTX, urban rail and subway traffic to the area had surged and that the vast parking lots around North Port were now completely full.

"You can walk from Busan Station to North Port along a deck in a leisurely seven minutes," he said. "Restaurants near Busan Station and convenience stores and cafes around the waterfront park are enjoying an unexpected boom thanks to the shark."

Jeon urged people across the country to visit in person. "Seeing Buckangi on a screen and seeing it with your own eyes is like night and day," he said. "Come and experience the charm of North Port for yourself — there are plenty of great restaurants nearby. Have a meal, stay overnight if you can, and make sure to stop by during the holiday."

Meanwhile, Busan city said it would consider guiding the shark back out to open sea after the chuseok holiday if it does not leave on its own.

According to the city, officials held a meeting on Tuesday with Busan Port Authority, the Busan Maritime Police Agency and the National Institute of Fisheries Science, where they reached that decision and agreed to strengthen safety management in anticipation of large holiday crowds coming to see the shark.

The city opted against forcibly removing the shark after the National Institute of Fisheries Science warned that doing so could provoke aggressive behavior. The shark is believed to be a bull shark, a species classified as posing a high risk of attack.

Earlier, the Busan Maritime Police received a report at around 8:57 a.m. on Friday that a shark measuring 3 to 4 meters had been spotted near a walking path at the waterfront park. Officers responded and attempted to guide the shark toward open water but were unsuccessful.

The city sent safety alert text messages to residents, but the warnings had the opposite effect — drawing curious onlookers rather than keeping them away. Daily visitors to the waterfront park, which typically average around 2,000 even on weekends, reached roughly 20,000 over the two days of last weekend, with about 10,000 visiting on Monday alone.

As the shark became a local celebrity, it was given the name Buckangi. Convenience stores and cafes near the waterfront park have been enjoying an unexpected windfall.

The Ediya Coffee outlet at Busan North Port Waterfront Park promoted itself on social media as "Ediya Jaws," running a special event tied to the shark. The store's owner said they were "grateful to the shark."

A keyring design featuring Busan's mascot "Bugi" — a Busan seagull — hugging the shark also emerged, and Dong-gu, the district where North Port is located, released an AI-generated video imagining its planned dome stadium redesigned in the shape of a shark.

Dong-gu posted on social media: "We're going to ride this wave a little further. This lucky shark that rolled in seems to carry extraordinary energy — it feels like great fortune is on its way." The district is also running a holiday wish comment event online.

jshan@heraldcorp.com