A shark that appeared in Busan's North Port Waterfront Park drew about 600,000 visitors in just 10 days, drawing attention to a growing phenomenon in South Korea: fandoms built around individual animals. The shark, nicknamed "Bukang-i," follows Fu Bao, the giant panda born at Everland, and "Neukgu," a wolf that escaped from Daejeon O-World, as animals that have attracted devoted followings. Analysts say the trend reflects both a deeper sense of closeness to animals and a desire among people worn down by competition and human relationships to find comfort in them.
About 600,000 people visited North Port Waterfront Park between the 19th and the 28th of September to see Bukang-i, according to the Busan city government and other sources on the 30th. Each time the shark surfaced, onlookers cheered or pulled out their phones to take photos and videos. Social media filled with posts sharing the shark's latest location and appearance. As its popularity grew, the city named Bukang-i an honorary publicity ambassador on the 29th.
The attachment was also on display as authorities tried to guide the shark back to open water. When the Busan city government and the Busan Coast Guard deployed five boats on the 29th to steer Bukang-i out to sea, crowds gathered to catch a final glimpse. Some held banners with farewell messages, while others shouted at the shark to come back again. Others questioned whether a shark that had swum in on its own needed to be sent away at all, touching off an online debate over the effort. Fans were no longer simply watching — they were weighing in on where the animal should end up.
Similar fandoms formed well before Bukang-i. The best-known case is Fu Bao, the giant panda born at Everland in Yongin. Visitors flocked to see her day after day, and online fan clubs sprang up. About 6,000 fans gathered to see her off on the day she returned to China. Films, books and merchandise followed, keeping the fandom alive.
Neukgu, a wolf that escaped its enclosure at Daejeon O-World in April this year, also drew nationwide attention. Sightings and messages of support filled social media, and after the wolf was captured, a children's book based on its escape was published. Many rooted for the animal, projecting onto it images of freedom and release.
Popular animals are nothing new, but what stands out now is how people project emotions onto an animal's behavior and circumstances, share its story and form collective fandoms. Experts attribute this to the normalization of pet ownership, which has deepened emotional closeness to animals, combined with fatigue from competition and human relationships and a collective impulse to share enthusiasms through social media.
"As the era of companion animals arrived, the sense of familiarity with animals extended even to wild animals, and people came to project their emotions onto the freedom and sense of release that the wild offers," said Kwak Keum-joo, a psychology professor at Seoul National University. "When a particular animal becomes popular, the collective tendency to cheer for it and enjoy it together also fuels the spread of the fandom."
