BUSAN — South Korea is launching its first multi-region workation pilot program, linking Incheon with Busan and Jeju for overseas digital nomads who work without being tied to a fixed time or place.
The Busan Center for Creative Economy & Innovation said on the 28th that it will run the Korea Nomad Gateway (KNG) program for 10 days from the 6th to the 15th of next month, together with the Incheon and Jeju centers. Twenty global digital nomads will take part, moving in sequence through Incheon, Busan and Jeju while working and experiencing each region.
Participants will spend three nights each in Incheon, Busan and Jeju, sampling local workation infrastructure, local content, startup ecosystems and community networks in each area. Rather than simple tourism, the program focuses on combining actual work with local living to identify demand for longer-term workation stays.
In Busan, work and local experiences will center on older downtown districts such as Nampo and Yeongdo, along with Haeundae. Alongside programs built around the city's maritime and cultural resources and urban lifestyle, the schedule includes a "W-day Global Networking Meetup" connecting global digital nomads with local Busan communities. The event will bring participants together with startup founders and local officials to share experiences and ideas.
In Incheon, participants will move between the older downtown area around the historic open port district and Songdo International City, taking in both the city's past and present. They will also join programs that link Songdo's smart and global infrastructure with the local startup ecosystem. In Jeju, the itinerary spans the older downtown and natural surroundings, pairing work with the island's history, nature and local culture.
The project's defining feature is that it moves beyond city-by-city workation offerings, bundling several cities into a single extended-stay experience through travel between regions. The three innovation centers plan to distribute participants' local experiences and content online and to expand ties with global digital nomad communities.
Over the longer term, the organizers envision developing the initiative beyond a domestic workation network linking Incheon, Busan and Jeju into a foundation for a Northeast Asian digital nomad network.
"We designed this so that participants can move across several cities and experience each region's working environment and local culture, rather than staying in one place," an official from the three innovation centers said. "By connecting the workation infrastructure and content of the three regions, we will offer global digital nomads a new kind of stay and expand exchanges between regions."
