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Busan’s “Deullak Nallak” Children’s Cultural Spaces Reach 2 Million Visitors as the City Unveils STEP-UP Plan to Get Even Closer to Citizens

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Busan Metropolitan City (Mayor Park Heong-joon) announced that it will hold “Deullak Nallak Policy Talk Talk” at 10:30 a.m. today (December 22) at Deullak Nallak in City Hall, where it will unveil the STEP-UP plan aimed at helping Busan’s Children’s Integrated Cultural Spaces—known as “Deullak Nallak”—take another step closer to citizens.

The “Deullak Nallak STEP-UP Plan” was devised to deliver even better services in response to the program surpassing 2 million cumulative users this year and receiving strong public support. At the event, Vice Mayor for Future Innovation Seong Heui-yeob, citizens, Deullak Nallak operators, and district and county officials will come together to share views and communicate on Deullak Nallak-related policies.

The STEP-UP plan is built around three main pillars: balancing spaces, enhancing content quality, and stepping up services.

[Balancing Spaces (UP)] Expanding Diverse Forms of Deullak Nallak in a Balanced Manner

The City will further expand large-scale Deullak Nallak facilities with high citizen satisfaction in densely populated and high-traffic areas, ensuring balanced development across regions.

In addition, cooperation with private companies, newly built public facilities, and relocated public institutions will be strengthened to create specialized Deullak Nallak spaces. In particular, in connection with projects such as the construction of children’s hospitals, Deullak Nallak spaces will be provided within pediatric wards for young patients and their caregivers.

To further consider underserved areas and vulnerable groups, the City will also operate 90 “Deullak Nallak Connecting Spaces” across the city. These will prioritize the free provision of excellent Deullak Nallak programs, such as “Let’s Play in English,” at local child facilities.

A total of nine Deullak Nallak facilities currently under development—including the “English-Specialized Deullak Nallak” at Busan Global Village (located in Bujeon-dong, Busanjin-gu), the “Marine-Themed Deullak Nallak” at Busan Children’s Grand Park (located in Choeup-dong, Busanjin-gu), and the “Fire Safety Experience Deullak Nallak” at the Saha Fire Station Safety Experience Center (located in Sinpyeong-dong, Saha-gu)—are scheduled to open without delay in 2026 to welcome citizens.

[Enhancing Content Quality (UP)] Diversifying and Structuring Programs That Inspire Learning and Reduce Private Education Costs

Programs will be diversified, structured, and further segmented by theme so that children can learn and dream freely while also helping ease the burden of private education expenses.

The native-speaker English program “Deullak Nallak Let’s Play in English,” which has received strong support from parents, will be expanded to more than 110 locations. Regional hub facilities will be designated to offer specialized programs, including separate classes for four-year-olds and expanded short-term intensive courses. In addition, the City plans to strengthen the competitiveness and accessibility of Busan-style English education by completing the development of a three-level English textbook series for infants and toddlers, providing animated e-books free of charge, and expanding special lectures using Busan-developed English learning materials.

Creative and convergence-based education programs will also be expanded, and through inter-agency cooperation, more than ten high-quality educational programs from other institutions—covering physical play, history classes, reading, science, and more—will be offered in greater variety.

To professionalize program operations, a dedicated support group known as the “Deullak Nallak Content Module Lab” will be newly established. This group will develop and structure programs to continuously introduce fresh content to citizens. In addition, by linking with national government-funded projects, emotionally responsive artificial intelligence (AI) content will be developed and newly introduced to Deullak Nallak facilities.

[Stepping Up Services (UP)] Improving User-Centered Services and Strengthening Operational Systems

User-centered service improvements and operational system enhancements will be pursued.

A new digital content lending service will be launched for 500 households that have difficulty visiting Deullak Nallak facilities. The service will lend book-reading devices and digital book cards providing access to up to 30 digital books per month. This initiative is expected to significantly strengthen Deullak Nallak services for reading-vulnerable groups, including multicultural families.

At the same time, the City plans to further systematize and streamline operations by strengthening evaluations of operational performance at each Deullak Nallak facility, providing operational diagnostics and consulting, improving signage and promotional materials in connection with the Design Capital Busan initiative, and operating an integrated maintenance support help desk.

Meanwhile, Deullak Nallak is a children’s integrated cultural space designed to enhance creativity and imagination. By creating play-based learning spaces that combine analog and digital content—such as child-friendly libraries and immersive experience facilities—within idle spaces across 15-minute living zones, the initiative has achieved tangible results.

Deullak Nallak represents Busan’s unique play-based learning model, integrating child-friendly libraries, digital content experiences and learning, English education, and cultural, arts, and digital programs within a 15-minute living zone. Centered on libraries designed to match children’s perspectives, each space incorporates exhibition areas with media walls for hands-on experiences in science, technology, careers, and culture and the arts, as well as English zones and community zones, flexibly reflecting facility size and local demand. As of December 2025, a total of 108 Deullak Nallak facilities have been created, with 93 currently open and in operation.

Visitor numbers have steadily increased from 170,000 in the first year of opening in 2022 to 900,000 in 2023, 1.5 million last year, and 2 million as of the end of October this year, demonstrating growing public engagement.

This year’s most visited Deullak Nallak facilities were Dongnae Innovation Community Center Deullak Nallak (194,429 visitors), Busan City Hall Deullak Nallak (153,509 visitors), and Noeul I Areumdaun Hadan Complex Center Deullak Nallak (106,910 visitors).

Deullak Nallak has received the Grand Prize at the SDG City Awards hosted by the Asia-Pacific City Cooperation Network and the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, and has played a significant role in establishing Busan as a child-friendly city, including being recognized as the top city for children’s quality of life.

According to data released by the Busan Research Institute in October this year, overall user satisfaction with Deullak Nallak reached 95.7 percent, while the intention for continued use and repeat visits was reported at 97.6 percent.

Vice Mayor for Future Innovation Seong Heui-yeob stated, “The fact that 2 million people have visited Deullak Nallak shows that it has taken root in the everyday lives of our citizens and is providing real support for childcare,” adding, “We will continue to develop Deullak Nallak into an even more engaging and advanced space so that it can always approach citizens with something new.”