Busan's Maritime Capital Without an On-Site Director for 26 Years

Busan reduced 25 institutions to 21. It knows how to trim the fat. But over 26 years, as three mayors repeated the same promise, a single organization to keep that promise was never created. The function exists. The organization does not.

21 Institutions

The next mayor will be decided in nine days.

Yesterday we asked: Why was it Fukuoka, not Busan?

Today we answer why that gap has persisted for 26 years.

Busan Metropolitan City has reduced the number of its affiliated public institutions before.

In 2022, the Park Hyung-joon administration launched. The administration consolidated 25 affiliated institutions into 21.

The Busan Urban Regeneration Support Center was absorbed into the Busan Urban Corporation. The Busan International Exchange Foundation and Busan English Broadcasting Foundation merged to become the Busan Global City Foundation. The Busan Women & Family Development Institute and Busan Human Resources & Lifelong Education Promotion Agency were also integrated. The consolidation was completed in July 2023.

Busan is a city that knows how to trim the fat from bloated administration.

But there's something Busan has never been good at creating.

A Department Within City Hall

Busan City Hall has a Maritime Capital Policy Division.

One of five divisions under the Bureau of Ocean, Agriculture and Fisheries. 2025 budget: 17.1 billion won. Duties: establishing comprehensive maritime capital plans, basic maritime industry plans, supporting the World Ocean Forum, securing maritime autonomy.

Next to it is the Shipping and Port Division. Budget: 28.7 billion won. Port infrastructure, Busan Port hinterland complex, smart ports, Arctic Route special zone, establishment of maritime court.

The function exists.

After Mayor Ahn Sang-young declared Busan a maritime capital 26 years ago, departments were created within city hall to translate that declaration into administrative work. The name 'maritime capital' is embedded in the city hall organizational chart. Budgets are allocated every year.

But the way that function operates is peculiar.

Substantial authority over Busan Port does not lie with Busan City. Busan Port is a national trade port. It's operated by Busan Port Authority (BPA) and the Busan Regional Office of Oceans and Fisheries. The only port Busan City directly manages is Namhang. A 1.7-square-kilometer local coastal port.

The Maritime Capital Policy Division is one position among five divisions in the city's main office. Above it is a bureau, and above that is the mayor. The mayor changes every four years.

It wouldn't be strange if the next mayor moved the Maritime Capital Policy Division under a different bureau, changed the division's name, or eliminated the division entirely.

Busan has entrusted its biggest promise to a single department within city hall.

Scattered Promises

Other promises are similarly scattered.

All are foundations funded by Busan City or matching fund institutions. They survive on city hall contributions and consignment project funds without independent financial resources.

All three institutions hold parts of internationalization, talent attraction, and startups. But none is a control tower responsible for Busan's entire global city strategy.

One institution accepts international students. Another processes startup visas. Yet another provides settlement support.

The same foreigner goes through three different institutions.

Functions can operate even when dispersed. But when organizations are dispersed, accountability disappears.

Busan has failed to keep its promises not because the function is absent, but because there is no single accountable entity.

How Did Fukuoka Do It?

Fukuoka has Startup City Fukuoka. It's not a single department.

Policy, strategy, and execution each move from their respective positions toward the same promise.

Policy

Made at city hall headquarters. It's the Startup, National Strategic Special Zone department under the General Affairs and Planning Bureau. It reports directly to the mayor.

Strategy

Created by the Fukuoka Asian Urban Research Center (URC). A public interest incorporated foundation established in 1989. Though a separate legal entity from the city, it connects directly with city hall policy departments. It publishes the Fukuoka Growth report biennially, laying groundwork for the next direction of city administration.

Execution

Handled by public-private spaces scattered throughout the city.

Policy, strategy, and execution are separated. But the three are bound under one promise. The name is Startup City Fukuoka. The promise is to make foreigners live in Fukuoka.

This structure has been maintained for 13 years.

Even when mayors changed, that structure remained.

Busan Took a Different Path

Authority over Busan Port lies with BPA under the national trade port system. Busan City only participates but does not decide.

The Global Hub City Special Act was proposed in May 2024. It was not passed.

1.6 million citizens signed. The mayor presided over the Future Innovation Council. All departments participated like a campaign.

But no single organization was created to keep that promise even when mayors change.

26 Years, Three Mayors

2000. Mayor Ahn Sang-young declared Busan a maritime capital.

2018. Mayor Oh Keo-don set the city administration slogan as 'Busan, the Maritime Capital of Northeast Asia Where Citizens Are Happy.'

2022. Mayor Park Hyung-joon declared Busan a 'Global Hub City Together With the World.'

The same promise went through three mayors.

The city brand slogan changed twice. From Dynamic Busan to Busan is Good. City administration slogans also changed with each mayor.

But none of those slogans, none of those city administration mottos, remained in organizational form.

The Maritime Capital Policy Division was created. The Global City Foundation was also created. The Economic Promotion Agency exists. The Creative Economy Innovation Center exists too.

Functions have operated in dispersed form for 26 years.
No organization has been created for 26 years.

What a Dedicated Organization Means

A dedicated organization is not an organization with functions. It's an organization that keeps promises.

Functions can be moved to other departments when mayors change. Promises cannot be moved.

An organization that keeps promises exists together with that promise. If the promise breaks, the organization's reason for existence also disappears.

Busan doesn't have such an organization. It only has 21 institutions that share functions.

This difference created 26 years.

Next Busan

What Busan needs to become like Fukuoka is not creating one more institution. Even increasing from 21 to 30 will repeat the same pattern.

What's needed is one decision.

A decision about what our city will become. And embedding that decision in a form that the next mayor cannot discard.

That form is a dedicated organization.

A dedicated organization is not policy. It's the physical form of a promise.

Next Busan should start from that form, not from a slogan.

One Request

Tomorrow is the eighth question.

Please read and share with even one person. With someone who thinks about Busan in terms of form.

— Gray
Busan, May 2026

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