◈ 91% of participants agree to the appointment; related content surpasses 1.05 million views and 10,000 likes

◈ Appointment ceremony to be released via Instagram and YouTube content... City communication character 'Boogi' accepts the appointment certificate on behalf of Bukang-i

Busan City (Mayor Jeon Jae-soo) announced that it will appoint 'Bukang-i', a shark that appeared in Busan North Port and received great attention and affection from citizens, as an 'Honorary Ambassador of Busan City' reflecting the citizens' wishes.

'Bukang-i' is a friendly name given by citizens to a shark discovered in Busan North Port, becoming a hot topic as it rapidly spread centered around social networking services (SNS). Since the start of visitor tracking on September 19 until yesterday (the 28th, as of 6 PM), a total of approximately 600,000 people have visited, and interest from citizens and tourists continued, with about 480,000 visitors during the Chuseok holiday period alone.

To connect this attention into a new urban content unique to Busan, the city held a public opinion-gathering event on its official Instagram regarding the 'Appointment of Bukang-i as an Honorary Ambassador of Busan City'. A total of about 8,200 people participated in the event, among whom 91% agreed to the honorary ambassador appointment. The related content also gained a massive online response, recording over 1.05 million views and more than 10,000 likes.

Accordingly, the city is officially appointing Bukang-i as an honorary ambassador reflecting the public opinion results. At the appointment ceremony, Mayor Jeon Jae-soo will award the honorary ambassador certificate to Bukang-i, and Busan City's communication character 'Boogi' will receive the certificate on Bukang-i's behalf. Since Bukang-i, being a real shark, cannot attend the appointment ceremony in person, the method of Boogi accepting the certificate instead adds symbolism and fun as Busan's representative character welcomes the new honorary ambassador. The scene of the appointment ceremony will be produced as online content and released through Busan City's official Instagram and YouTube channels.

Meanwhile, today (the 29th), the scene of guiding Bukang-i's movement using a water pump—which encourages the shark to move on its own rather than capturing it directly or physically stimulating it—will be shared with citizens in real-time*. Through this, citizens who have shown much interest and affection for Bukang-i will be able to watch and cheer for the moment Bukang-i returns to the sea, even if they do not visit the site in person.

Busan City Official Instagram (@busancity) / Official YouTube Channel (@Busan_is_good)
With this appointment as a turning point, the city plans to expand Bukang-i's story, which started from the spontaneous interest of citizens, into a new city PR content for Busan. Going forward, the city plans to introduce various contents utilizing Bukang-i through official social networking services (SNS) to promote Busan's image and charm as a maritime city. In particular, the city plans to promote Busan more friendly and fun to citizens through content linking the existing city communication character 'Boogi' with Bukang-i.

Mayor Jeon Jae-soo stated, "Bukang-i has naturally established itself as a new story of Busan amidst the interest and affection of the citizens," adding, "Especially since over 8,000 citizens directly sent their opinions, we are appointing it as an honorary ambassador carrying the wishes of the citizens." He further added, "We will continue to actively discover Busan's unique stories starting from citizens' interest and participation, pursuing fun and friendly municipal PR created together with the citizens."

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