Busan is the world's fifth largest container port. Fukuoka isn't on the list. And yet digital nomads go to Fukuoka, not Busan. The reason is not infrastructure. The two cities answered different questions. Fukuoka asked: How do we get foreigners to live here? Busan asked: How do we get foreigners to stay a while? Different questions lead to different answers. This essay compares the digital nomad policies of two East Asian port cities. It contrasts Fukuoka's "settlement-oriented" strategy built on the Startup Visa, Fukuoka Growth Next, CIC Fukuoka, and Colive Fukuoka with Busan's workation program, classified under "experience tourism." The core difference is who each city called: Fukuoka called out entrepreneurs, investors, and remote professionals. Busan called out employees of outside companies. The sixth essay in Busanloop's "18 Questions for Next Busan" series a daily analytic series published in the lead-up to Busan's June 3, 2026 local election.Translated from the Korean original "왜 부산이 아니라 후쿠오카였나" (DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.20370958).
Hyunseung Kim (2026) studied this question.