SEOUL, South Korea — What do you do when a shark refuses to return to the open ocean and stubbornly insists on returning to an urban canal?
This is the issue vexing authorities in South Korea’s southeastern port city of Busan.
A 10-foot, female dusky shark entered a saltwater canal in the city’s North Port Waterfront Park on Sept. 18 and has since defied all efforts — using nets, water jets and divers — to return her to the open sea.
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The latest operation by coast guard crews and city officials succeeded Wednesday. But on Thursday, the shark was back in the canal.
The shark has been dubbed Bukhangi (“The Cutie of North Port”). South Koreans are highly interconnected and trend-centric — factors that turned Bukhangi into an online sensation and drew an estimated 1.6 million people, including President Lee Jae-myung, to the canal banks to view her.
Local businesses have been energized, merchandise has popped up, and she has been named an official mascot by City Hall.
Though Busan boasts Korea’s most popular swimming beach, Haeundae, Bukhangki poses little risk. Duskies have been implicated in only one fatality — a highly unusual shoal attack on a swimmer off Israel — in 2025.
However, there are fears that she is not feeding properly, and with temperatures dropping this week after an unseasonably long summer, new concerns are rising: Duskies customarily live in tropical waters.
As of Thursday, it was unclear what steps authorities would take next.
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