Busan is the port city in southern Korea as well as the second largest city. But there is one more thing about it. It has been called “City of Film” for more than ten years because not only Asia’s biggest international film festival takes place in Busan, but also many movies are filmed due to affluent cinema infrastructure.

Friend (2001) is the first film that let people know Busan as a City of Film. Director KWAK Kyung-taek born in the city shot scenes of main characters running away after fighting with other school students at Beomil-dong, where has much of old days. Another place that keeps former traces is Huinyeoul village, the filming site of The Attorney (2013). Steep allies in this beautiful village face the sea and also, it is one of filming locations of Nameless Gangster : Rules of the Time (2012). The village is now popular among tourists. The other place is Chinese restaurant Hwaguk. It became a new hot spot where HA Jung-woo and CHOI Min-shik met in the film. It was used as a filming location of New World (2013) as well.

There are more and more movies taking in Busan. Among them, Ode to My Father (2014) made the city most widely famous. It took the name of an old market in Busan as its Korean title, and made ordinary accessory shop “Kkotbun’s” into a tourists’ must-go photo zone.

Meanwhile, local characters are not always magnified in films. The scene of Inside Men (2015) that LEE Byung-hun swaggers through labyrinth of containers was shot at Busan harbor. Though it is hard to know the place is Busan at a glance, the area with so many containers must be Busan, the best port in Korean.