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Busan to Host the 2025 Busan Inclusive City Forum to Explore Social Integration Strategies for Citizens and Foreign Residents

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Busan Metropolitan City (Mayor Park Heong-joon) announced that it will hold the 2025 Busan Inclusive City Forum today (December 9) at 1:30 p.m. in the Main Conference Hall (1st floor) of Busan City Hall.

Hosted by the City and organized by the Global City Foundation, this forum is themed “Policy Experimentation for Inclusive Cities: Social Integration Strategies of Busan and Germany.” The event aims to discuss field-centered policy directions to strengthen Busan’s social integration capacity as the city approaches a multicultural era.

The forum will proceed in the order of a keynote speech followed by Session 1 and Session 2.

In the keynote speech, Joern Beissert, Deputy Head of Mission at the German Embassy in Korea, will present key lessons drawn from European Union (EU) integration and German immigration policy.

The first session will focus on “Policy Structures and Strategies for Realizing an Inclusive City.” Presentations will cover Busan’s policy directions and challenges regarding foreign residents, as well as the strategic orientation of Germany’s inclusive migration policies.

The second session, titled “Practices and Lessons for Inclusive Cities: The Hamburg Experience and Diaspora Communities,” will share German policy cases. Through discussions on successful settlement cases of migrants in Germany and the social integration experiences of marriage-migrant women from Hamburg, the session will propose practical models for achieving participation and coexistence through inclusive policy.

Following each official session, joint panel discussions will be held, bringing together experts from academia, research institutions, and the private sector. The panels will propose actionable strategies and policy implications for Busan’s advancement as an inclusive city.

This forum will address a wide range of core themes for building an inclusive city, including foreign resident policy, expanded civic participation, urban integration strategies, and multicultural understanding. The City expects it to serve as a platform for mutual exchange, sharing diverse social integration experiences accumulated in both Korea and Germany.

Anyone interested in inclusive cities may participate on-site, and online pre-registration is available via QR code. Further details can be found on the Busan Global City Foundation website (bgcf.or.kr).

Lee Jun-seung, Vice Mayor for Administrative Affairs of the City, stated, “It is highly meaningful to host this forum as an opportunity to explore the policy direction of foreign resident affairs under the theme of inclusive cities,” adding, “We will continue striving to provide substantive support for foreign residents and ensure that Busan becomes a city where foreigners also wish to live.”