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Promoting the Influx of Global Startups
Anticipating Busan’s Leap as a Workation City
Kim Yong-woo (left), CEO of the Busan Center for Creative Economy & Innovation, and Cho Jeong-hyun, CEO of Hoppers, pose for a commemorative photo after signing an MOU regarding the Busan-style Global Workation Operation Project at the BCCEI on the 28th. Photo courtesy of BCCEI.
The Busan Center for Creative Economy & Innovation (BCCEI) announced on the 29th that it has signed an MOU regarding the '2025 Busan-style Global Workation Operation Project' with Hoppers, a company specializing in global workations, and is embarking on full-scale business promotion.
This agreement, based on cooperation with Busan City, is a key strategy to elevate Busan into a global city by operating workation programs for foreign digital nomads. Participants will experience a variety of programs—including Korean language classes, local cultural experiences, and 'W-Day'—at co-working and co-living spaces in Busan. Exchanges with young local entrepreneurs in the Busan region will also be facilitated.
Hoppers, the operating agency, will oversee the entire process, including participant recruitment and preliminary verification through its own platform, an attendance-based check-in system, customer service (CS), on-site operations, and content creation. They plan to focus heavily on attracting global participants.
This global workation operation project is expected to lay the foundation for the influx of global talent and entrepreneurs, while allowing digital nomads to contribute to the local economy and facilitate the revitalization of Busan's global startup ecosystem. Notably, participants will naturally connect with various local companies and young entrepreneurs in Busan, demonstrating the potential for workations to evolve beyond simple "work + travel" into a venue for business exchange and startup cooperation.
Last year, BCCEI attracted 81 foreign digital nomads through ‘Global Busan Workation with Hoppin,’ achieving a participant satisfaction rate of 96%. Participants experienced Busan's diverse charms, such as yacht experiences and local tours, and actively shared their workation reviews via social media and global communities, contributing to the international spread of Busan's brand image.
Furthermore, BCCEI confirmed Busan’s standing within the global digital nomad ecosystem by being officially invited to the ‘Nomad Taiwan: Taitung’ launch ceremony held in Taitung, Taiwan, on the 11th, where they delivered a congratulatory speech. Through networking with local governments and institutions, the center plans to establish a foothold for expanding cooperation within the East Asian region.
Jeong Yu-na, Project Manager (PM) at BCCEI, stated, "This agreement is an important stepping stone to making Busan a city where digital nomads from around the world want to stay. We will continue to expand exchanges so that participants can realize work-life balance in Busan, and global startups can be inbound to the regional startup ecosystem through workations."
BCCEI plans to cooperate with Busan City again this year to further expand the workation program and build a virtuous cycle that leads to the influx of global talent, linkage with local startups, and the activation of investment.
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