'Santa Bus' driver looks for other ways to spread holiday cheer after being forced to stop operations
Published: 21 Dec. 2025, 17:26
![Ju Hyung-min, a bus driver with Daejin Transportation who has operated a Santa-themed bus since 2016, smiles for the camera after an interview with the JoongAng Ilbo on Dec. 20. [LEE EUN-JI]](https://koreaseafood.online/data/photo/2025/12/21/b12b902e-fc6d-4b3c-a2e6-1831781cc63d.jpg)
Ju Hyung-min, a bus driver with Daejin Transportation who has operated a Santa-themed bus since 2016, smiles for the camera after an interview with the JoongAng Ilbo on Dec. 20. [LEE EUN-JI]
For nine years, Ju Hyung-min marked the start of the holiday season in Busan by putting on a Santa hat and decorating his city bus. Children and tourists alike lined up to ride his “Santa Bus.”
This December, after officials stopped him from operating the bus due to safety concerns, Ju began looking for another way to spread holiday cheer.
The Busan city government banned the Santa Bus on Dec. 11 after receiving complaints that the bus’s interior decorations — including cotton adornments and small Christmas trees — posed a fire risk. The decision brought an abrupt end to what had become a beloved seasonal tradition and a minor tourist attraction since 2006.
Ju started his Santa Bus with his own money in 2016. The bus gained popularity via social media and word of mouth and drew local and international visitors alike, including some from as far away as Japan and Taiwan.
Route No. 187, which runs along the coast from Daejin Transportation’s garage in Gijang County to Daeryong Village, operates three times a day and often carries up to 1,000 passengers daily during the holiday season.
![The interior of a Santa-themed bus crafted over 67 hours by Ju Hyung-min is seen in this photo uploaded to his Instagram. The Busan city government ordered the service to be suspended on Dec. 11 over fire safety concerns, and all interior decorations were later removed. [SCREEN CAPTURE]](https://koreaseafood.online/data/photo/2025/12/21/b2b11702-9ade-440a-9ea7-b26b2d6e98ce.jpg)
The interior of a Santa-themed bus crafted over 67 hours by Ju Hyung-min is seen in this photo uploaded to his Instagram. The Busan city government ordered the service to be suspended on Dec. 11 over fire safety concerns, and all interior decorations were later removed. [SCREEN CAPTURE]
This year, it took 67 hours for Ju to transform the normal city bus into a Santa Bus — longer than usual, as Daejin Transportation recently introduced new hydrogen-powered electric buses with larger interiors, giving him more space but more work.
Ju, a fine arts major, said he began planning months in advance: “I started designing the interior at the beginning of the year, drew up blueprints and even worked on it in Photoshop. I barely went home for four days and only took short naps [instead of really sleeping] while decorating the bus.”
But it took just one hour to undo it all after the “heartbreaking” suspension notice arrived, though Ju admitted that it didn't come out of the blue.
“I thought, ‘So this is finally happening,’” he said during an interview with the JoongAng Ilbo on Saturday. “Over the past nine years, complaints came in every single year when I ran the Santa Bus.”
“I previously started operating the Santa Bus about 10 days before Christmas, so even if complaints came in, I could keep going until Christmas Day,” he continued. “This year, I started on Dec. 1, and that worked against me.”
![Passengers pose for a photo with Joo Hyung-min, a bus driver with Daejin Transportation who operates a Santa-themed bus during the holidays, in this photo provided by Joo. [JOO HYUNG-MIN]](https://koreaseafood.online/data/photo/2025/12/21/e3483977-38c5-48a5-9bfc-4ca183c54e2e.jpg)
Passengers pose for a photo with Joo Hyung-min, a bus driver with Daejin Transportation who operates a Santa-themed bus during the holidays, in this photo provided by Joo. [JOO HYUNG-MIN]
The news did not spread immediately. On the day the suspension took effect, children from a local daycare center visited the bus garage, unaware that the decorations had been removed. Seeing the stripped-down bus, some children cried.
The next day, Ju dressed up as Santa and visited the daycare.
“When I saw how brightly the kids smiled the moment they saw Santa, I suddenly thought, ‘Why did I only wait for them to come to the Santa Bus?’” he said. “That’s when I decided to go out and visit the children myself.”
He plans to visit a YMCA daycare center in Bansong-dong, Haeundae District, on Christmas Eve. He said he has already spent about 4 million won ($2,700) on candy, Santa hats and other gifts, which he originally planned to give to passengers.
“I’ll dress up as Santa, hand out presents to the kids and give them happy memories,” he said.
Ju also agreed to a proposal from the Busan city government to continue the Santa Bus tradition by decorating the exterior of buses rather than the interior. The city plans to operate Christmas-themed buses in collaboration with 10 bus companies — including Daejin Transportation, where Ju works — starting from Monday.
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]]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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