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Stay in Busan, Access Broader Job Opportunities... “Residency-Based Remote Work” Opens New Possibilities

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Busan Metropolitan City, led by Mayor Chun Jae-soo, announced that the Busan Residency-Based Remote Work Support Program, launched for the first time this year, has demonstrated the potential for a new employment model that allows people to live in Busan while carrying out work commissioned by companies outside the region.

The Busan Residency-Based Remote Work Support Program connects professionals living in Busan with project work from companies outside the region, enabling them to access a wider range of job and career development opportunities without having to relocate.

Unlike the conventional model in which people move to where companies are located, the program is distinguished by connecting jobs outside the region with talent residing in Busan.

This year, the City launched the program as a new pilot project using KRW 130 million in incentive funding secured after winning the Grand Prize in the metropolitan government category at the Ministry of Employment and Labor’s 2025 National Local Government Job Awards.

Through the program, Busan-based talent has undertaken actual projects with companies in the Seoul metropolitan area and overseas in a range of fields, including development, design, and artificial intelligence (AI).

Examples include a designer who relocated to Busan and continued to carry out design projects while living in the city, as well as a professional with overseas work experience who settled in Busan and took on assignments for a startup expanding into the United States and for a foreign-invested company.

One participant who operates a development company in Busan expanded the scope of work undertaken for companies in the Seoul metropolitan area from website, online community, and company-operated online store development to AI technology and architecture design. In another case, a young person enrolled at a university in the Seoul metropolitan area participated in planning and AI development projects for a Seoul-based company while living in Busan.

The program has also provided new employment options for professionals who had difficulty participating in economic activity because of time and location constraints. One such participant, who had interrupted a career due to childbirth and childcare, was able to resume professional work through remote projects.

Through this pilot project, the City confirmed the potential to broaden the range of jobs that can be performed from Busan, extending beyond employment with local companies to work commissioned by companies outside the region.

Whereas conventional local employment policies have focused on creating jobs by expanding hiring at local companies and attracting businesses to the region, residency-based remote work represents a different approach. It takes advantage of the characteristics of digitally enabled work to connect workforce demand from companies outside the region with talent in Busan.

In particular, the model is expected to help local talent remain in Busan by offering young people and professionals, who might otherwise move to the Seoul metropolitan area in search of jobs and career development opportunities, the option of living in Busan while working beyond regional boundaries.

Meanwhile, on August 21, the City held the 2026 Busan Residency-Based Remote Work Program Performance-Sharing Meeting and Discussion at BEXCO Exhibition Center 2. Participants and stakeholders shared the outcomes of the pilot project and discussed ways to develop it into a sustainable residency-based employment model.

Participants emphasized that rather than simply increasing the number of projects, it is important to continuously secure high-quality assignments suited to participants’ careers and areas of expertise and to establish a structure in which one-time projects can lead to follow-up projects and long-term contracts.

They also noted the need to establish pathways from project experience to actual employment and career development by linking participants with long-term contracts and hiring opportunities at participating companies.

The City plans to comprehensively analyze the outcomes of this year’s pilot project and feedback from participating companies and individuals to determine areas for improvement.

It will consider measures to strengthen the program’s sustainability, including expanding efforts to identify projects from companies outside the region, improving matching based on participants’ expertise, and creating opportunities for follow-up projects.

Through these efforts, the City plans to develop the initiative into a residency-based employment model that connects people living in Busan with diverse job opportunities beyond regional boundaries and ultimately enables them to build their careers and grow while remaining in Busan.

Kim Gi-hwan, Assistant Mayor of Digital Economy Office, said, “For talented people to remain in the region, above all, they need job opportunities that allow them to fully demonstrate their capabilities while living in Busan.”

“We will create an environment in which people do not have to leave in search of jobs, but can live in Busan while connecting with high-quality job opportunities across the country,” he added.