Busan is good

Busan Metropolitan City Launches Full-Scale Operation of the Hangeul Haetsal Bus, Reaching Every Corner of the Hillside Roads!

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Busan Metropolitan City announced that Busan has been selected as a new operating region for the Hangeul Haetsal Bus under the Ministry of Education’s competitive project, “Visiting AI and Digital Literacy Education, Hangeul Haetsal Bus.”

The number of regions operating the Hangeul Haetsal Bus, which directly visits educationally underserved areas such as rural and fishing communities, has expanded significantly from five in 2025 to ten cities and provinces in 2026: Busan, Chungcheongbuk-do, Chungcheongnam-do, Jeollabuk-do, Jeju, Gwangju, Gyeonggi, Gangwon, Jeollanam-do, and Gyeongsangnam-do.

In this competition, Busan was selected as the best case based on a specialized model reflecting the city’s distinctive characteristics and secured KRW 70 million in national funding, the maximum amount available for this project category. A total of KRW 130 million will be invested in the project, including KRW 60 million in municipal funding.

Busan’s selection resulted from its proposal for a locally tailored adult literacy education model designed to overcome the challenges posed by the city’s super-aged population and geographically isolated environments, including hillside-road neighborhoods.

In hillside-road areas of the old downtown, including Yeongdo-gu, Seo-gu, and Dong-gu, steep terrain makes access to educational facilities difficult. These areas also have a high proportion of older adults living alone, making the establishment of a customized digital education environment particularly urgent.

The Busan-style Hangeul Haetsal Bus Project will begin in September and proceed in three stages: training professional instructors and assistants, operating neighborhood classrooms, and providing mobile experiences through the Hangeul Haetsal Bus while expanding the project’s outcomes.

In Stage 1, approximately 50 instructors who have completed the Digital Assistant Training Course and demonstrated practical field experience will receive advanced training in areas such as generative AI teaching methods, digital counseling psychology, and on-site coaching, further strengthening the professional literacy education instructor pool.

In Stage 2, 25 locations in lifelong-learning underserved areas, including hillside-road neighborhoods and fishing villages, will serve as learning hubs for approximately 150 participants. A variety of AI and digital literacy programs closely connected to everyday life will be offered, including identifying medicine packets with AI lenses and using hospital appointment apps.

In Stage 3, participants will use AI technology to visualize their life stories through pictures and writing, creating and exhibiting works for an AI poetry-and-art exhibition. The Hangeul Haetsal Bus will also travel through neighborhoods to provide people underserved by lifelong learning opportunities with hands-on experience using digital devices.

Further details on the project are available in the notices section of the Busan Women and Family and Lifelong Education Institute website at https://www.bgli.re.kr.

Meanwhile, Busan achieved another notable result in the Ministry of Education’s 2026 Adult Literacy Education Support Program, with more organizations selected in Busan than in any other metropolitan government.

In 2026, the number of adult literacy education organizations nationwide increased by 33 from the previous year to a total of 446. Of these, 74 organizations in Busan were selected, the highest number among all metropolitan governments.

Busan secured KRW 575 million in national funding, an increase of KRW 42 million from 2025.

Further information on organizations operating adult literacy education programs in Busan in 2026 is available on the National Center for Literacy Education website at https://le.or.kr.

Kim Gwi-ok, Director-General of the Youth and Industry-Academia Bureau, said, “Through this selection, we will help older residents who previously missed out on opportunities to learn experience not only the joy of reading and writing, but also gain the confidence to use digital and AI technologies such as kiosks and voice assistants in their daily lives without fear. By bringing education to every corner of the hillside-road neighborhoods, we will continue working to eliminate digital blind spots across Busan.”