Travel
Busan Fishing Village Folk Museum opens new theme exhibition “Busan, The Salt Road”
Haps Magazine Korea
December 3, 2025
(Illustration by Busan Fishing Village Folk Museum/Illustration courtesy of Haps Magazine Korea)
The Busan Marine Natural History Museum has opened its 2025 theme exhibition “Busan, The Salt Road” at the Busan Fishing Village Folk Museum, beginning December 2.
The exhibition occupies a newly updated section of the second-floor Nakdong River Fishing Village Folk Room and highlights the history of salt production and culture in the region.
Once home to the leading salt fields of Yeongnam, the Nakdong River estuary played a central role in Korea’s traditional salt industry.
This exhibition revisits that history by displaying more than 60 items including salt-making tools, everyday cultural artifacts, and archival videos that reflect how salt was produced, transported, and used in Busan before urbanization reshaped the landscape.
The exhibition is organized into three sections. The first, “Busan Salt Fields, Smoke of Roasting Salt,” introduces the production of jayeom, or boiled sea salt, and features tools used in the Nakdong estuary’s salt fields along with footage depicting the daily lives of salt workers.
The second section, “Busan, Yeongnam’s Greatest Salt Fields,” focuses on the prominence of Busan’s salt during the Joseon era, including its role as a state-managed production site, the salt boats that traveled the Nakdong River, and historical documents such as rubbings of the “Songdeokbi,” which commemorates administrative support given to salt workers.
The third section, “Busan, A Culture Seasoned with Salt,” explores the cultural significance of salt in everyday life, from folk beliefs to household uses, while also tracing the decline of traditional salt fields and the rise of modern solar salt production.
More information about the exhibition is available on the Busan Marine Natural History Museum website (busan.go.kr/sea).