Why Do Young People Leave, and Who Stays?
Over the past decade, 50,000 people in their 20s have left Busan. Rather than why they leave, who stays may be the more important question.
AI Summary
Busan has lost 50,000 young people in their 20s over the past decade, primarily due to a lack of quality jobs. However, the article argues that understanding who chooses to stay—those who want to stay, not just those who must—may be more crucial to the city's future than analyzing why people leave.
The Number 50,000
In 15 days, the next mayor will be decided.
The first question posed yesterday was this:
Why should the next Busan be Busan? Today we go one step deeper inside.
A city that has lost 50,000 people in their 20s over a decade.
This number was briefly mentioned yesterday. Today we properly unpack the question contained within that number.
Why do they leave? And who stays?
What the Numbers Say
The reason is clear. There are no jobs. To be precise, there are no decent jobs.
There are no major corporate headquarters, and high-paying professions are concentrated in Seoul. Network density is also low.
But.
Young people are leaving Seoul too. Tokyo as well, and London.
In any large city, there's a flow of people leaving for bigger cities.
If leaving isn't a problem unique to Busan, the question needs to change.
Rather than why they leave, who stays?
Someone I Met at a Jeonpo Craft Beer Pub
A café street in the heart of Jeonpo.
Two in the afternoon, a laptop open at a window seat. Code on the screen.
An empty craft beer glass sits beside it. I asked. He said he's running a startup.
"Aren't you going to Seoul?"
"Not really."
Not really. Those two words stayed with me for a long time.
That person had Seoul as an option. He wasn't staying because he couldn't leave.
He said making something in Busan was the right approach for him right now.
Rent, pace, the ocean, and that sense of something still unfilled. He said he liked that void.
In Gwangalli, there's someone else. He converted a factory building into a studio.
He came from Seoul. "In Seoul, I think I would've just ended up paying rent."
He said he wanted to work somewhere he could see the ocean.
The story of the 50,000 who left is told by statistics.
The story of those who stayed hasn't been compiled by anyone yet.
Two Types of Staying
"Why do young people leave?"
The answer to this question lies in structure. Jobs, wages, networks. Problems that must be solved through policy.
"Who stays?"
The answer to this question lies in people.
Those who stay fall into two groups.
| People Who Must Stay | People Who Want to Stay | |
|---|---|---|
| Reason | Family·Business·Ties | Reasons to Build in Busan |
| Motivation | Cannot Leave | Space·Sea·Different Pace |
First, Those Who Must Stay
Family, business, ties. Not because there's no reason to leave Busan, but because there are reasons they can't leave.
Second, Those Who Want to Stay
Because they have a reason to create something in Busan.
Because there's space, because there's the ocean, because they need a pace that isn't Seoul's.
A city where the second group grows moves differently.
What they create accumulates, and that accumulation attracts the next person.
The city changes not through policy, but through the sum of people who chose to stay.
The people Busan needs to know better are not the first group but the second.
Why they stayed, what made that choice possible.
Those answers are clues to shaping this city's next decade.
A Simple Request
Tomorrow is the third question.
How does a city with zero top-100 companies work?
Please read and share with at least one person. With someone who chose to stay in Busan.
And I want to hear directly why you stayed. busanloop@gmail.com
— Gray Busan, May 2026
PolyBusan does not support any specific party or candidate. We only ask questions. Error reports · opinions: busanloop@gmail.com
This article was automatically translated from the Korean original by AI. For the authoritative version, read it in Korean.
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