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Busan Metropolitan City Expands Its Global Hub City Vision by Strengthening Cooperation with North America and the Arctic Region and Expanding Advanced Industries

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Busan Mayor Park Heong-joon will depart today (Jan. 4) for a four nights and seven days visit to three U.S. cities—Anchorage, Nome, and Las Vegas—through Jan. 10.

First, from Jan. 5 to 6 (local time), Mayor Park will visit Anchorage and Nome in the State of Alaska to strengthen the cooperation network with Alaska, a strategic foothold for North America and the Arctic region.

On the morning of Jan. 5, a signing ceremony will be held at Anchorage City Hall for the Friendship and Cooperation City Agreement between Busan Metropolitan City and the City of Anchorage.

Through this agreement, the two cities plan to build a substantive partnership across a broad range of areas, including ports and logistics, tourism, energy resources, and people-to-people exchanges.

That afternoon, Mayor Park will pay a courtesy call on the Governor of Alaska to exchange views on potential cooperation between Busan Metropolitan City and the State of Alaska in the areas of economy and industry.

In addition, to explore the feasibility of logistics cooperation linked to the Arctic shipping route, he will visit the Port of Anchorage to review the status of port operations and the underlying logistics infrastructure.

On Jan. 6, Mayor Park will visit the City of Nome, which is drawing attention as a key stopover on the Arctic shipping route. He will meet with the Mayor of Nome and officials from the Port Authority Commission to discuss measures for expanding exchanges among Arctic-region cities and securing strategic hubs along the Arctic route.

He will then visit the planned site for the Nome Deepwater Port Development Project, a key initiative being pursued by the Trump administration to strengthen leadership in the Arctic. By examining port operating conditions near the Bering Strait and future development trends, Busan Metropolitan City will explore its strategic role and direction for cooperation in preparation for the revitalization of the Arctic shipping route.

Through this visit, Busan Metropolitan City plans to further strengthen its standing as a global maritime city leading the era of the Arctic shipping route.

Starting Jan. 7, Mayor Park will attend CES 2026, the world’s largest consumer electronics and IT exhibition held in Las Vegas, to review the latest trends in the global technology industry and to explore ways to combine Busan Metropolitan City’s ongoing advanced strategic industries policies with global innovation technologies.

Mayor Park will visit the Integrated Busan Pavilion to encourage the 28 participating companies and to review the current status of networking with global buyers and investors. He will also continue on-the-ground sales diplomacy, including directly examining opportunities for Busan-based companies to expand overseas and connect to investment.

In addition, he will meet with the Vice Chair of the Consumer Technology Association (CTA), the organizer of CES, to discuss expanding the continued participation of Busan companies in CES and strengthening global exhibition cooperation.

In particular, Busan Metropolitan City achieved strong results this year at CES, winning a total of 13 Innovation Awards, including two Best of Innovation Awards. This is evaluated as a symbolic achievement demonstrating that the technological capabilities and market potential of Busan companies have been recognized on the global stage.

Mayor Park will also visit Allegiant Stadium, the home stadium of the Las Vegas Raiders of the National Football League (NFL), to directly examine best-in-class operational practices of a world-class integrated sports and entertainment facility incorporating advanced technologies. Together with the Raiders’ president, he plans to exchange views on strategies for operating global sports teams, developing foundational infrastructure, and expanding tourism and cultural industries through sports content.

Mayor Park emphasized, “Securing cutting-edge global technologies through CES, along with cooperation with Anchorage, a key logistics hub in the Arctic region, will be a major turning point for Busan to leap forward as a Global Hub City,” adding, “Through fostering future strategic industries and strengthening city branding, we will continue working to make Busan a city of innovative growth that draws the world’s attention.”