Quake fears spur more Japanese to move to Busan

A Japanese public foundation is known to have established a branch in Korea’s southern port city of Busan. This comes as the number of Japanese staying overseas for a long time has shot up in the wake of last year`s massive earthquake and ensuing nuclear meltdown in eastern Japan.

After the earthquake, the Japanese people have sporadically moved out of their country. With a Japanese public organization certified by the Korean government to help the immigration of Japanese to Korea systematically, however, a Little Tokyo in Busan’s Haeundae district is likely to appear and help invigorate the city`s economy, experts said.

According to the Korea Tourism Organization on Wednesday, Long Stay Foundation, a Japanese organization helping Japanese move overseas, opened its Korean branch at Haeundae`s Centum Hotel on March 19 to begin counseling Japanese who want to stay in Korea for a long time.

Founded in 1992, the foundation has 31 branches in 14 countries and more than 20,000 paid members. It chose Busan as the site of its Korean branch because of the city`s proximity to Japan and its similar weather.

○ Japanese flock to Haeundae after earthquake

Real estate agents in Haeundae’s posh area called “Marine City,” which is popular among Japanese due to a large number of luxurious multipurpose buildings, have hung Japanese signs.

One agent in the shopping center Daewoo Trump World said a 60-something Japanese national from Nagoya recently bought a second house worth 1.5 billion won (1.3 million U.S. dollars) in Busan. He quoted the Japanese as saying, “Japanese fear another earthquake, so I plan to move to Busan with my family.”

Another real estate agent in the area said, “Japanese can buy the best quality house in Haeundae with 100 million yen (1.2 million dollars), so most of them want a multipurpose building with a fine view regardless of price,” adding, “Some want a vacation home and others want to earn profits by leasing a home. Certain Japanese want to move to Busan as Japan is considered unsafe, however.”

Cho Yeon-am, in charge of sales at the Haeundae I`Park apartment chain, said, “Since March last year, inquiries from Japanese have increased and a combined 10 Japanese have bought our apartment units.”

Marine City is popular with Japanese given the good view of the sea, but quite a number of Japanese want to buy homes in Centum City, which is home to department stores and shopping malls.

○ Will Marine City turn into a Little Tokyo?

Japanese are flooding into Haeundae as the region has favorable weather and geographical conditions. Prices are also low Haeundae compared to Japan.

Park Cheol-beom of the Korea Tourism Organization said, “Japanese who had favored Southeast Asian countries such as the Philippines and Thailand are turning to Haeundae due to the favorable natural environment and convenient living conditions."

In practice, the number of Japanese buying houses in Busan is growing. According to the Busan city government, just three Japanese bought properties in the first quarter last year, but the figure grew to 22 after the earthquake at the end of the year. The number of Japanese residents grew from 103 in 2005 to 207 in February this year.

If Japanese who are hesitant to buy houses in Korea due to lack of information is considered, the number of prospective Japanese homebuyers will further grow, said experts.

The tourism agency said, “Though Japanese interest in Busan has grown after the earthquake, we have provided little information to Japanese on Busan as a long-term destination such as education, healthcare, real estate and culture,” adding, “The Long Stay Foundation has set up its branch in Busan, reflecting Japanese interest in the city.”

The branch will bring about a Little Tokyo in Busan, said experts. Lee Gi-seong, president of a real estate company in Haeundae, said, “Japanese have difficulty buying homes in Busan. As an official route has been set up, however, the number of Japanese settling in Busan will rapidly grow.”

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