Haeundae-gu

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Haeundae-gu
Hangul:	해운대구
Hanja:	海雲臺區
Revised Romanization:	Hae-undae-gu
McCune-Reischauer:	Haeundae-gu
Statistics
Area:	51.44 km²
Population:	404,770 January 2006 reg.[1]
Pop. density:	7853 people/km²
Administrative divisions:	18 administrative dong

Haeundae-gu is a gu in eastern Busan, South Korea. It has an area of 51.44 km², and a population of about 404,000. This represent about 10.9% of Busan's population [2].

It became a division of Busan in 1976 and attained the status of gu in 1980.

Haeundae can easily be reach by subway on the Busan Subway Line 2, or by train on the Donghae Nambu railway line. Both Haeundae subway and train stations are built adjacent to each others.

Haeundae is now an affluent, beach front community that attracts tens of thousands of Korean tourists to what many consider to be Korea's best beach. It has been subject to considerable commercial development.

1 History
2 Haeundae Beach
3 Administrative divisions
4 External links
5 See also

[edit] History

Haeundae takes its name from the ninth century Silla scholar and poet Choe Chi-won (literary name Haeun, or "Sea and Clouds"), who by historical account admired the view from the beach and built a pavilion nearby. A piece of Choe's calligraphy engraved on a rock at Haeundae still survives.

The area slowly gained a reputation as a beautiful, unspoiled beach area in the 1970s and early 1980s. A few luxury hotels were constructed in the wake of the 1988 Olympics and the new emphasis on regional development. Large hotels and other tourist facilities have been constructed in the beach-front area since the mid-1990s. Shopping centres and and movie theatre complexes have been built in the 'centre' of Haeundae, an area between Haeundae Station and the beach. The prosperity and fame of the area has steadily grown, with the exception of the economic slump in the wake of the so-called IMF period (1998-1999).

Haeundae Sinsigaji (Haeundae New Town, ko:해운대 신시가지), a major residential and commercial addition to the area, was constructed in Jwa-dong between 1994 and 2000. Haeundae Sinsigaji is located in an area bounded on the north by the southern shadow of Jangsan Mountain, one of the tallest peaks in Greater Busan, and on the south side by Haeundae Station, the Korean National Railroad right-of-way, and Dalmaji Gogae.

Haeundae's desirable physical and environmental attributes, along with its tourist facilities, have led to its role as one of the host neighbourhoods in the Busan International Film Festival. Haeundae was the host of the 2005 APEC Conference.

[edit] Haeundae Beach

Along the 12 km of coastline Haeundae Beach is Busan's most popular beach, and with Seogwipo's, it is one of the best known beaches in South Korea. During the summer time, and especially on weekends, the area becomes a vertiable wall of humanity with more than 100,000 people packed in on a narrow, one mile strip of sand. Haeundae is home to the majority of the expatriates currently living in the Busan area. Along with Geumjeong Mountain this is one of the most popular spots in Busan to view the first sunrise of the year on January 1, with a crowd of a few thousand gathering there before dawn. It is also known for its "Polar Bear Club", were temperatures reach near freezing. For the 2006 FIFA World Cup match between South Korea and Togo about 50,000 people came to the beach to watch the match projected on a giant screen [3].