Dwaeji Gukbap (Photo by City of Busan/courtesy of haps Magazine Korea)
Busan is turning one of its most famous local dishes into a citywide competition with the launch of the inaugural 2026 Busan Dwaeji Gukbap Competition.
The event will invite residents and visitors to help choose Busan’s top pork soup restaurants through several rounds of recommendations and voting between August and October.
Anyone can nominate a favorite restaurant through August 29 by commenting on related YouTube and Instagram posts or participating in offline surveys.
From those recommendations, 20 restaurants will be selected.
Representatives from the restaurants, food experts and pork soup enthusiasts will then take part in a “Gukbap Summit” on September 19 to discuss the different styles and characteristics of Busan’s signature dish.
From September 28 through October 14, the public can vote for the Top 10 and ultimately the Top 3 by visiting participating restaurants or voting through KakaoMap.
The competition concludes with a three-day Gukbap Showcase at BIFC2 from October 16 to 18, featuring food booths, cooking shows, and other programs.
The three highest-ranked restaurants will be revealed during the Gukbap Awards on October 17.
Busan hopes the event will encourage people to explore pork soup restaurants across the city while bringing more visitors to surrounding neighborhoods and local businesses.