Maritime Affairs Construction of the international cruise terminal at Busan Port commenced on August 3, which will develop the Port of Busan into the hub of international maritime tourism. More than 300 people, including Kim Seoung-jin, Minister of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries (MOMAF), Heo Nam-sik, Mayor of Busan Metropolitan City, and citizens participated in the ceremony at the construction site of the international cruise terminal. By injecting USD 5.6million at the dedicated cruise terminal, BPA will construct the terminal by the end of this year. The terminal will be a two-storied building on the 2,212 square meters of floor space and accommodate an immigration center, shopping mall, offices and others. Since the Asian Games in 2002 and APEC Summit in 2005, Busan has been emerging as an international city drawing many cruise vessels at Busan Port. With the absence of a dedicated cruise terminal, however, many passengers boarding at the cruise ships experienced many difficulties. Prior to constructing the cruise terminal, Busan Regional Office of MOMAF already embarked on constructing a dedicated cruise pier with 360m long and 50m wide in 2003 and the pier will be constructed by the end of this year. While 22 cruise ships with 9,930 cruise passengers called at Busan Port in 2002, 29 cruise ships with 24,852 passengers were in 2005 indicating that cruise vessels calling at Busan Port has increased consistently. Cha Min-sik, from Port Operation and Planning Team at BPA said that so far many cruise passengers had difficulties when getting on and off at the general piers and added when the international cruise terminal is constructed, the status of Busan Port will be enhanced contributing to attracting more cruise vessels.