Abolishing Partial Openings, Extending Official Season
Haeundae Beach to Operate from June 21 to September 14
As predictions suggest that this summer will extend until November, Busan's Haeundae District has decided to extend the opening period of Haeundae Beach until mid-September.
Busan Haeundae Beach in Haeundae-gu is bustling with vacationers cooling off from the heat. Photo by Yonhap News
According to Haeundae District on the 13th, Haeundae Beach will officially open on June 21 this year and operate until September 14. This year, partial openings have been eliminated, and the official opening date was moved up to June 21. While the closing date was traditionally August 31 every year, it will be extended by half a month this year, closing on September 14. Previously, only a 150m section of the beach was partially opened from June 1, with the entire beach officially opening from July 1.
The reason Haeundae District made this decision is related to climate change. Due to global warming and rising temperatures, the heatwave effectively continues into September. Last September, the average daytime water temperature at Haeundae Beach was 27.9°C, which was actually higher than the August average of 25.2°C. As a result, the number of visitors in September increased significantly, but since it was outside the official opening period, safety personnel had withdrawn, posing risks of accidents. In fact, on September 16 last year, two tourists drowned after entering the water. On the other hand, in early to mid-June, the water temperature is relatively low, so visitors rarely enjoy swimming.
Additionally, Songjeong Beach will open on June 21 this year and close on August 31, extending the opening period by 10 days compared to last year.
A Haeundae District official stated, "Based on this year's visitor numbers and climate change conditions, the operating period for next year will also be decided flexibly."
With the extension of the opening periods for Haeundae and Songjeong Beaches, the budget for beach operations in Haeundae District this year has increased to 6,487,990,000 KRW (last year 5,090,000,000 KRW). The majority of the increased budget is allocated to the wages of about 500 private water rescue personnel and environmental management staff assigned to the two beaches. Private water rescue personnel are mainly university students majoring in physical education who have obtained rescue certifications, but since many of them start their academic semester in September, there is concern that recruitment may be difficult.
Meanwhile, according to Haeundae District's statistics, the number of visitors to Haeundae and Songjeong Beaches during the opening period was 10.78 million in 2022, 10.26 million in 2023, and 11.32 million in 2024.
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