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Busan plans Centre Pompidou branch to open in 2032 amid mixed reactions

Published: 15 Sep. 2025, 14:08 Updated: 15 Sep. 2025, 19:59

Models present creations by Louis Vuitton for the Menswear Ready-to-wear Spring-Summer 2026 collection as part of the Paris Fashion Week on the Place Georges Pompidou in front of the National Centre of Art and Culture Georges Pompidou in Paris on June 24. [AFP/YONHAP]

BUSAN — The southern port city plans to open a branch of the Centre Pompidou in 2032, six years after Seoul debuts its own. The move has stirred debate, with critics calling it wasteful and city officials insisting it will boost tourism and raise Busan’s cultural profile.

The Busan Metropolitan Council said Saturday that its Planning and Finance Committee approved 108.3 billion won ($78 million) in funding for the museum as part of the city’s 2026 property management plan on Tuesday.

The Centre Pompidou ranks among Paris’s three leading museums along with the Louvre and the Musée d’Orsay. It also operates branches in Metz, France; Málaga, Spain and Brussels, Belgium. In 2019, it opened its first Asian outpost in Shanghai, China.

The branch will rise in Igidae Park in Nam District, Busan, as a cultural complex covering 15,000 square meters (161,458 square feet), with two underground floors and three above ground.

If the council’s Administrative and Cultural Committee approves the plan in November, Busan will sign a memorandum of agreement (MOA) with the Centre Pompidou by the end of 2025.

The city signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) in September 2024, but unlike an MOU, the MOA is legally binding. Officials plan to hold a design competition early next year, complete construction in 2031 and open in 2032 under a five-year contract, which may be extended.

"This will give Busan residents the chance to experience world-class culture while also helping attract tourists," said an official from the city’s Culture and Arts Division. "It will also create opportunities for Korean artists to join global art networks."

Concerns remain about the museum’s finances. A city-commissioned report estimated 460,000 annual visitors but projected a yearly deficit of 7.6 billion won, with 5 billion won in ticket revenue against 12.6 billion won in staffing and program costs.

The city countered that the branch would generate an economic ripple effect of 441.7 billion won and create 5,864 jobs. Busan also plans to redevelop Igidae Park into a cultural platform anchored by the museum, adding an Oryukdo Art Center, a seaside forest gallery and an international art center across 1.25 million square meters.

Opposition from civic groups remains strong.

The Committee Against Igidae Overdevelopment and the Pompidou Project holds a press conference at the Busan Metropolitan Council in Busan on Sept. 10 to oppose the construction of the Centre Pompidou Busan branch. [THE COMMITTEE AGAINST IGIDAE OVERDEVELOPMENT AND THE POMPIDO]

"The creation of an art park costing more than 400 billion won, including the Centre Pompidou Busan branch, could destroy Igidae’s ecosystem," said Nam Song-woo, a professor at Pukyong National University and cohead of the Committee Against Igidae Overdevelopment and the Pompidou Project. "If it overlaps with the Centre Pompidou Hanwha Seoul opening next year, the Busan branch’s deficit will grow even larger.

"If the five-year contract is not renewed, the building could end up empty."

Lawmakers from the Democratic Party also voiced concerns.

"Busan signed the MOU with the Centre Pompidou in secret, denying citizens their right to know, and ignored concerns about environmental damage," Jeon Won-seok and Ban Seon-ho said. "If the city pushes forward without measures to strengthen profitability, protect the environment and cooperate with the local cultural community, Busan will only become another deficit-ridden city."

Plans for the Busan branch began with Mayor Park Heong-joon, who pledged the project as a campaign promise. Park started talks after meeting Laurent Le Bon, president of the Centre Pompidou, during a visit to France in January 2022.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY LEE EUN-JI [[email protected]]