Busan's Dongnae hot spring district named Korea's fourth spa city

The interior ministry said Thursday it designated the Dongnae hot spring district in Busan as South Korea's fourth spa city, a move aimed at turning a 1,400-year-old bathing area into a healing and tourism hub.

The designation, effective Oct. 1, follows a plan Dongnae District submitted in August and reviewed through on-site inspections and expert evaluation. The ministry said the district's plan was chosen on the strength of its hot spring resources and a development strategy built around an urban spa city. Dongnae is the fourth spa city, after Chungju in North Chungcheong Province, Asan in South Chungcheong Province and Changnyeong in South Gyeongsang Province, all designated in 2023.

Dongnae's springs produce silica-rich water at 70.3 degrees Celsius, second only to Changnyeong's Bugok hot springs at 78 degrees, and the area draws about 2 million visitors a year.

Under the plan, the district will shift away from a bathing-centered hot spring industry toward healing and leisure tourism linked to nearby attractions including Geumjeong Mountain. It intends to build a hot spring healing center offering professional water-based therapy, and a hot spring experience complex that residents and visitors can use in daily life.

The district also plans to develop specialty products under the Dongnae Oncheonjang brand and to hold a Dongnae hot spring festival to stimulate the local commercial area.

"Dongnae hot springs, designated as the country's fourth spa city, are expected to be reborn as a leading hot spring destination offering a higher level of rest to local residents and tourists in the heart of the city," said Jin Myeong-gi, head of the ministry's local innovation office. "The government will continue to show interest and support so the urban spa city model takes root successfully and becomes a solid foundation for revitalizing the local economy."

The government designates a spa city to promote the hot spring industry, including hot spring tourism, with the aim of regional development and economic revitalization.