Choryang Ibagu-gil
A steep story route above Busan Station where refugee settlement, port labor, wells, 168 Stairs and hillside institutions turn modern Busan history into a physical climb
Postwar Busan history, refugee settlement, hillside urbanism, working-city history, steep neighborhood walks, small local archives and port views
A 2.67-kilometre hillside walking route of steep streets, the 168 Stairs, an inclined elevator, small archives and memorials, old residential alleys and viewpoints over Busan Station and the port
The route works because the slope is evidence: water, work and housing were all harder here before the stairs became a heritage stop
Character
Before the 168 Stairs became a Busan photo stop, people climbed them carrying water. Choryang’s wartime hillside settlements had no reliable water supply, and residents repeatedly moved between homes above and wells, jobs and transport below
The same slope connected refugees to work. Busan Station, the port and Gukje Market lay downhill; housing spread upward because the flat city was already crowded. The 168 steps—roughly the height of a six-storey building—became one of the neighborhood’s everyday shortcuts
One old well remains near the route. It is a modest object beside a famous staircase, but it explains the hill more directly than the viewpoint does
The experience
The current official Ibagu-gil route runs 2.67 kilometres and takes about 56 minutes on paper, starting near the former Baekje Hospital and Namseon Warehouse site above Busan Station. The road then climbs into the older residential slope rather than following one continuous staircase
The 168 Stairs form the sharpest vertical section. The old monorail once installed beside them has been replaced by an inclined elevator. The replacement travels 52 metres across compound 32° and 40° slopes, using an angle-conversion system that keeps the cabin level as the gradient changes. Elevator World named it the 2026 Project of the Year winner in the Inclined Elevators category
The route mixes small archives and memorials with ordinary neighborhood fabric. Ibagu Workshop keeps photographs and local stories; the Jang Gi-ryeo memorial introduces the doctor associated with Blue Cross Medical Cooperative; Yoo Chi-hwan Postbox occupies a higher viewpoint over the port city
Those stops matter most when they interrupt the climb rather than turn it into an attraction inventory. Retaining walls, stairs, roofs and sudden views toward the harbor make the settlement pattern legible before any plaque explains it
History
Choryang’s hillside expanded dramatically during and after the Korean War as refugees arrived in Busan. With scarce flat land near the station and port, makeshift and modest housing climbed the slopes behind the transport district
Daily movement followed the gradient. Residents descended toward dock work, the railway and markets, then climbed home again. Water had to travel uphill too. Visit Busan records three wells serving the settlement; one survives along the present route
Dong-gu began preparing a storytelling road around these histories before formally launching Ibagu-gil in 2013. Early versions of the route were shorter; the current district route has expanded to 2.67 kilometres and incorporates additional local-history stops
Tourism infrastructure has also changed. The 168 Stairs remain, but current Korea Tourism Organization accessibility information now lists an inclined elevator beside them, replacing the older monorail arrangement
Before you go
The lower route begins close to Busan Station and becomes progressively more residential as it climbs. That direction preserves the historical relationship between transport-and-port work below and housing above without requiring every named stop to be visited
- Access
- The 168 Stairs remain part of the route, with a current inclined elevator beside them that supports wheelchair access to that section
- Transit
- Busan Dong-gu’s current route starts from the Busan Station area, using Busan Metro Line 1 Busan Station Exit 7 as the lower access point