Houses are packed on the midslope of the mountains surrounding Busanhang Port.
Refugees who left their hometowns to come to Busan climbed up the mountains to build the villages. As long as there was work, people would go up and down 168 Stairs multiple times a day to the dock, station, and Gukje Market.
Let’s go see Choryang Ibagu-gil, a storytelling path narrated by people who did not even speak the Gyeongsang-do Province dialect.

Choryang Ibagu-gil

Former Baekje Hospital - Namseon Warehouse Site – Choryang Church - 168 Stairs - Kim Min-bu Observatory - Ebagu Archive Center - Chang Kee-ryo Memorial Hall - Yoo Chi-hwan Postbox Observatory

As soon as you leave Busan Station, you will learn the special story of Busan. The starting point of Choryang Ibagu-gil—the magnificent former Baekje Hospital and redbrick Namseon Warehouse Site at the narrow alley across the Busan Station building, where only the walls remain—clearly reveal the passage of time. The two most brilliant buildings of the 1920s bring people back in time to imagine their former glory.

Let’s visit the Choryang Church built by foreign missionaries. This was a gathering place for those who opposed paying tributes to the shrines and carried out anti-Japanese movements. The narrow alley trail along the walls of Choryang Elementary School reveals the passage of time. Photos show the joys and sorrows of the refugees.

There’s no way that the Kkakkomak Shanty Town, which did not even have a road, was equipped with a water supply. Residents had to climb up and down the 168 Stairs to draw water from the well. Now, only the well site remains. The monorail next to the staircase gives visitors a sense of how much time has passed by.

Catch your breath at the Kim Minbu Viewing Point, and head over to the Ebagu Archive Center. The Ebagu Archive Center is an exhibition space that displays little stories on the mountainside road of Choryang. The mountainside town, looking like it would touch the sky, is full of households that have tons of interesting stories to tell. It is a place that narrates the difficulties of life without exaggeration.

Doctor Chang Kee-ryo was a surgeon who treated poor refugees for free without a place that he could call home for his entire life. Learn the beauty of voluntary poverty at the Chang Kee-ryo Memorial Hall “The Nanum,” where Doctor Chang’s noble medical endeavors are celebrated. At the Yoo Chihwan Postbox Observatory located at the end of the mountainside road where the village bus wraps up the journey on Choryang Ibagu-gil, you can see the Busanhang Port.

Have your own chat at the historic alley. While following the stories, you will learn that “Ibagu” is a dialect that means “story,” and that “ Kkakkomak,” means “a difficult path to hike the hill.”
Choryang Ibagu-gil is a journey that continues for us as it did for the refugees.