Dongbaekseom 동백섬

Dongbaekseom is a small wooded headland at the west end of Haeundae Beach, free and open day and night. A 930 m path loops round it in about 30 minutes, past a mermaid statue, a short suspension bridge and Nurimaru APEC House (09:00–18:00, closed the first Monday of the month). Walk from the beach or take Line 2 to Dongbaek Station Exit 1.

Dongbaekseom (동백섬, “Camellia Island”) was once a separate island. Sediment carried in over centuries joined it to the mainland, but Busan people still call it an island. Today it is a park of black pine and camellia that closes the western end of Haeundae Beach, with the towers of Marine City across the water on one side and Gwangan Bridge on the other. Busan city listed it as a city-designated Scenic Site in September 2024.

Is Dongbaekseom worth it?

For most people staying at Haeundae, yes: it is the easiest short walk in the area and costs nothing. It suits a first evening, a morning before the beach fills up, or the gap before dinner. Skip Nurimaru if you have no interest in the 2005 summit; the walk alone is the main draw.

	Coastal loop walk	Nurimaru APEC House
What	930 m path round the island, about 500 m of it along the shore	The building that hosted the 2005 APEC leaders’ meeting, now a memorial hall
Hours	Always open	09:00–18:00, last entry 17:00
Closed	Never	First Monday of each month
Cost	Free	Free
Time	About 30 minutes	Add a short visit on the way round
Best for	Sea views, sunrise, night views of Marine City	Summit history, views of Gwangan Bridge from the terrace

Hours from Busan Metropolitan City’s Nurimaru pages and Visit Busan; path length from Busan city (2025). Checked 21 October 2026. If you only have half an hour, walk the shore section from the beach to the lighthouse and back.

What you see on the walk

The coastal path starts at the right-hand (west) end of Haeundae Beach as you face the sea. Along the shore section you pass:

• Viewing decks and rocks. Wooden decks hang over the rocky shore. On very clear days Busan city says Tsushima, about 55 km away, is visible from the path.
• Mermaid statue (인어상). A bronze statue on a rock just offshore, based on the legend of Princess Hwangok, who married a king far across the sea and looked homeward over the water on full-moon nights. The first statue went up in 1974 and was lost in a 1987 typhoon. Its upper half is kept at the Busan Museum, and the present bronze dates from 1989.
• Suspension bridge (출렁다리). A 28 m bridge, 2 m wide, with clear panels in places. It is low and short, so it suits children and nervous walkers.
• Lighthouse plaza (등대광장). A white lighthouse with a broad viewing area looking toward Gwangan Bridge, Oryukdo and the Nurimaru building. Haeundae-gu names the view of Nurimaru from here one of its ten best night views.
• Nurimaru APEC House. On the southern tip of the island, next to the lighthouse.
• Choe Chi-won memorial. At the summit, 56.6 m above sea level, a statue and memorial stone honour Choe Chi-won, a Silla-era scholar. Tradition says the name Haeundae comes from his pen name, Haeun, which he carved into a rock by the sea; a carving of the characters 海雲臺 on the shore is attributed to him.

The loop rises and falls on steps and slopes, so wear shoes you can walk in. Bicycles, motorbikes and e-scooters are banned on the path. The camellias that give the island its name flower from winter into spring.

Nurimaru APEC House

Nurimaru APEC House (누리마루 APEC하우스) was built on Dongbaekseom for the 13th APEC leaders’ meeting, held in Busan in November 2005. The name joins two Korean words, nuri (the world) and maru (the summit): a house where world leaders meet.

Since the summit it has worked as a memorial hall and a conference venue. The exhibition covers APEC and the 2005 meeting, with the traditional Korean coats (durumagi) the leaders wore, items they used, a model of the official dinner and a short video in Korean, English, Chinese and Japanese. The building looks straight across the bay to Gwangan Bridge.

Hours	09:00–18:00 every day (entry 09:00–17:00)
Closed	First Monday of each month
Admission	Free
Phone	+82-51-743-1974

From Busan Metropolitan City’s Nurimaru pages (KO and EN), checked 21 October 2026. The building is still used for official events (Busan held a signing ceremony there in March 2026), so phone ahead if your visit depends on going inside.

Getting to Dongbaekseom

From	How	Time
Haeundae Beach	Walk west along the beach promenade to its end; the coastal path starts there	Depends on where you join the beach
Dongbaek Station Exit 1 (Line 2)	Walk toward the sea and the island	About 17–20 min
Bus	139, 307 or express 1003 to Dongbaekseom Entrance (동백섬입구)	—
Busan Station (KTX)	City Tour Bus Red Line to Haeundae Beach, or the metro (Line 1 to Seomyeon, then Line 2)	—

Routes from Visit Busan and Busan Metropolitan City, checked 21 October 2026. Visit Busan gives 17 minutes on one page and 20 on another from Exit 1. A T-money card works on the metro and all city buses. Arriving by KTX? Line 2 runs from Seomyeon straight to Dongbaek and Haeundae stations.

By taxi, show 부산 해운대구 동백로 99 (Dongbaek Park). Dongbaek Park has a public car park, but spaces around the island run out at weekends and on holidays.

Tips for visiting

• Go at sunrise or after dark. The path faces east over the bay for the sunrise, and after dark the lights of Marine City, the beach and Gwangan Bridge make it one of Haeundae’s best night walks.
• Check the calendar for Nurimaru. If you want to go inside, avoid the first Monday of the month and arrive before 17:00.
• Pair it with the beach. Walk the loop, then carry on along Haeundae Beach toward Mipo for the Blueline Park beach train and Busan X the Sky.
• No food on the island. Buy drinks and snacks around the beach or Marine City before you start.
• Wind and spray. The decks sit close to the water; in rough weather the rocks are wet and the wind is strong.

A short history

Busan listed Dongbaekseom as a city monument on 9 March 1999. On 11 September 2024 it became a Busan-designated Scenic Site (명승) covering about 15 hectares. The island’s best-known moment came in November 2005, when the leaders of the APEC economies met at Nurimaru for the 13th APEC summit.

Around Dongbaekseom

Dongbaekseom is part of Busan’s Haeundae district. Haeundae Beach starts right at the island, and Gwangalli Beach, whose bridge you see from the lighthouse plaza, is a short ride west on Line 2. On the other side of the city, Taejongdae offers a longer clifftop walk. For a two-day plan and where to stay, see the Busan city guide and the Busan region page.