Busan is good

Busan Youth Behind World Design Capital Busan Earn Gold at the Seoul Video Advertising Festival

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Busan Metropolitan City Mayor Park Heong-joon announced that a promotional video for “2028 World Design Capital (WDC) Busan,” produced through collaboration between Busan Metropolitan City and students from the Department of Advertising and Public Relations at Dongseo University, achieved the remarkable milestone of winning the Gold Prize in the Young Creative category at the Seoul Video Advertising Festival held yesterday (the 7th).

The award-winning piece was designed to help citizens and the MZ generation alike understand, relate to, and share the significance of Busan’s selection as the 2028 World Design Capital (WDC). The achievement is all the more meaningful given that the Seoul Video Advertising Festival is a leading stage where the experimental spirit and creativity of young creators from Korea and abroad are evaluated.

Since its initial release last October, the video has drawn public attention by recording high view counts on social media platforms such as Instagram. Building on this success, the creativity and potential of local university students have now been recognized externally through a prestigious awards ceremony.

The video received high praise for combining the fresh perspective of local university students with artificial intelligence (AI)-based video techniques to present, in a refined and sensorial manner, the narrative of “Busan, a city that has grown through design.”

Centered on a storyline linking Busan’s past, present, and future, it conveys the message of “recovery and challenge, coexistence and innovation” through music and visuals.

In particular, the theme song, “Busan: Design Your Life,” begins with Busan’s history of rising from the ruins of war and reinterprets the city’s journey—where design has transformed citizens’ lives—through hip-hop rhythms and AI graphics.

The lyrics include symbolic expressions of urban regeneration and design innovation, such as “a city that bloomed through the ruins,” “abandoned factories turned into cultural havens,” and “the way design changes life,” vividly portraying how Busan has evolved into “a city that designs quality of life.”

The video can be viewed on Busan Metropolitan City’s official YouTube channel, “BusanTube,” under the title “Busan: Design Your Life – 2028 World Design Capital Busan.”

The production incorporated advanced technologies and youthful sensibilities—including AI-based 3D animation, sound mixing, and hip-hop vocals—to deliver a dynamic and contemporary image of the city.

From the planning stage onward, Dongseo University students directly participated in every step of the process, including storyboard development, music concept setting, and AI-based video generation, enhancing the overall quality.

The video has been continuously distributed to citizens through a wide range of channels, including promotional booths at domestic and international design exhibitions, campaign placements on broadcast channels, large monitors at major gateway areas of the city, as well as online platforms such as YouTube and Instagram.

Meanwhile, Busan Metropolitan City plans to continue a series of citizen-participation campaigns this year as well, in collaboration with local university students under the theme of World Design Capital Busan. Based on the success of Busan’s WDC selection, the city will continue to provide local youth with opportunities for creativity and challenge, and with a stage for growth.

Mayor Park Heong-joon stated, “This award is the result of the Seoul Video Advertising Festival officially recognizing a future-oriented city promotion model that combines AI technology and the creativity of the younger generation,” adding, “It will serve as an opportunity to capture Busan’s design philosophy and vision through a new and original perspective and further enhance the brand value of World Design Capital Busan.”

He added, “This project is evaluated as an exemplary case in which a local government and a regional university worked together to encourage the participation of young creative talent and, through that collaboration, expand the city’s value and image.”