Nurimaru APEC House

Next to Seoul, Busan or Pusan is Korea’s second largest city. Home to close to four million people, it is also the country’s largest seaport. It takes about 2 hours and 40 minutes by KTX (Korean speed train) to reach Busan from Seoul and 5 hours and 30 minutes by bus. To think that Busan is roughly 450 kilometers away from Seoul, (you might want to look at the map of Korea to see that Seoul to Busan is like traveling from almost the northern tip to the southern tip of the country) the traveling time speaks highly of the present state of Korea’s highway and railway system, extensive and in tip top shape.

I remember Busan as the host of the 2005 Asia Pacific Economic Conference (APEC). And aside from having the heads of states of the 21 member economies in attendance, there was also one structure that shared the limelight with these leaders, the Nurimaru APEC House.


Built on Dongbaek Island in Busan, this 2,994.52 square meter building was constructed at a cost of 19.4 billion won. It is a modern style building perfectly blending with traditional Korean “arbor” style. The name Nurimaru comes from the Korean words “nuri” meaning the world and “maru” meaning summit. Nurimaru APEC House literally means “the house where world leaders gathered and held the APEC Leaders’ Meeting”, a most fitting name for a structure that was specifically built for the said event.