Before Bukangi, Busan already had a star. Now it finally has a name: Oncheoni. For 17 years, otters have been living in Oncheoncheon, a stream that runs through the middle of Busan. The first one showed up on August 15, 2009. People cooling off by the water called 119 and reported a seal. Rescuers arrived ready to catch it, realized it was an otter, a Natural Monument, and backed off. You can't just catch one. Busan's history with otters goes back even further. A 1997 news clip of Busan men washing an otter in a rubber basin has passed 6.5 million views on YouTube. Since Bukangi showed up, people have started calling that otter "Bukangi's senior." Today, Busan MBC calls the Oncheoncheon otters the stream's local celebrities. A couple seen so often that people on the walking path just stop and pull out their phones. Experts think a female came up from the Suyeong River looking for food, decided to stay, and started a family. Everyone in the neighborhood knew them. Nobody had ever named them. Then a shark wandered into North Port, and Busan learned how to name a wild animal. Bukhang, plus a friendly "-i." Bukangi. So when an otter climbed out of Oncheoncheon this week and walked right past people on the path, the internet started naming it within hours. The reel hit 1.55 million views in about ten hours. We called it Ondali at first. Then the news picked a name. Newsis, SBS, MBN, YTN. Within a day, every report called it the same thing: 온처니, Oncheoni. YTN said it looks like the frontrunner. It's the same formula as Bukangi. Bukhang + i = Bukangi. Oncheon + i = Oncheoni. So we're following the name. From here on, it's Oncheoni. And Oncheoni was never alone. It's a family that has been here all along, in the same sea Bukangi swam in from. Nobody caught Bukangi. Nobody is allowed to catch Oncheoni. Before Bukangi, there was Oncheoni. $ONCHEONI C3vMBZpB9zfwFiABhFGkaJWC8fAgePscQnzZ1jSRpump

Bukangi is on a clock. Oncheoni isn't. The canal at North Port is about 23.5°C right now. Dusky sharks like 18 to 26. According to News1, the water could fall below 18 as early as next month. So now Busan is watching one thing. Does Bukangi head back out to sea, or stay into winter? Oncheoni has no deadline like that. Otters were first caught on camera at Oncheoncheon in 2009, and Busan MBC calls them 17-year regulars. On Lunar New Year's Day this year, an otter was spotted fishing off Marine City, in the same sea Bukangi came in from. Bukangi is the fall visitor. Oncheoni lives here. $ONCHEONI

Not the stream this time. The street. Posted on October 11. A young otter crossing an empty road at night, a short walk from Oncheoncheon. It climbs onto the sidewalk, sniffs around a drain grate, then keeps going. The person filming was a tourist. The otter showed up right outside where they were staying. Oncheoni's family lives where Busan's people sleep. $ONCHEONI

Sunday afternoon at Oncheoncheon. Oncheoni didn't wait for the night shift. Filmed on October 11, in broad daylight. Oncheoni pops up next to the rocks, dives, then climbs right onto the stone bank under the walking path. A few seconds on land, then back into the water. A wild otter, a few steps from the people walking by. $ONCHEONI

Nobody asked for these. People just keep building them. Bukangi showed up on September 18. Three days later someone made a live board. People at the park tap "I see it now" or post a photo, and it updates with the time and the spot. Now there are three: the board, a fan game, and a site called Today's Bukangi. The bigger the story got, the more of them appeared. Now it's Oncheoni's turn. The video took off on October 5, and two days later oncheoni.com was registered. It's called Today's Oncheoni. Someone spots Oncheoni in the stream, sends a report or a photo, and it pops up on the map as a dot. None of them are official. None of them are mine. Just people who got attached. Oncheoni is walking the same road Bukangi did. $ONCHEONI C3vMBZpB9zfwFiABhFGkaJWC8fAgePscQnzZ1jSRpump

Bukangi, early. Oncheoni, now. Left: Bukangi's coin in its first days. Flat and under $20K, even with the shark already all over the news. Then the crowds showed up, and it ran to around $2.5M. Right: Oncheoni today. Under $4K on October 9. $6.36K now. In the same two days, JTBC's Oncheoni clip passed 2.87 million views, and Chosun Ilbo asked if Oncheoni is the next Bukangi. People are finding Oncheoni. $ONCHEONI C3vMBZpB9zfwFiABhFGkaJWC8fAgePscQnzZ1jSRpump

2.87 million views in about a day. That's JTBC's 50-second clip of Oncheoni. The headline put it plainly: "After Bukangi, now Oncheoni." Chosun Ilbo ran the same question: is Oncheoni the next Bukangi? The news has already picked the next one. Bukangi's coin peaked at about $2.5M market cap. Oncheoni's sits around $6K today. Bukangi then. Oncheoni now. $ONCHEONI C3vMBZpB9zfwFiABhFGkaJWC8fAgePscQnzZ1jSRpump

Oncheoni was very likely released from a wildlife rescue center. Wild otters keep their distance. Oncheoni strolls right past people. And releases like that do happen in Korea. In November 2019, a rescued pair was raised, trained, and set free in a wetland in Daegu. Now it's limping. Watch the front leg. Oncheoni's story keeps getting stronger. $ONCHEONI $altai C3vMBZpB9zfwFiABhFGkaJWC8fAgePscQnzZ1jSRpump

2011년 8월 31일. 북아일랜드 포트러시 항구에 돌묵상어가 들어와 4시간쯤 머물다 떠났다. 아이들은 물가에서 지켜봤다. 이틀 뒤 지역 의회가 경고를 냈다. 가까이 가면 최대 벌금 5,000파운드. 영상 조회수는 2,400만 회 가까이. 그런데 이 상어를 직접 본 사람은 거의 없다. 부캉이는 4시간 만에 떠나지 않았다. 9월 18일 부산 북항에 나타났고, 3주가 지나도 그 자리에 있었다. 벌금도 없고 경고도 없었다.그동안 약 120만 명이 직접 보러 왔다. 명예홍보대사까지 됐다. 포트러시 상어는 한나절 구경거리였다. 부캉이는 3주 동안 도시 하나와 정을 쌓았고 마스코트가 되었다

Busan is asking whether Bukangi had pups. Oncheoni doesn't need to. It's already a family. Oncheoni is the otter family of Oncheoncheon, a stream that runs right through the middle of Busan. It's the city's next star after Bukangi, and the news has already given it a name. Now people are crowding the banks to catch a look, the same way they did at North Port. Bukangi came alone. Oncheoni has been here all along, with family. $ONCHEONI C3vMBZpB9zfwFiABhFGkaJWC8fAgePscQnzZ1jSRpump

밤 자갈밭에 나온 온처니 가족. 10월 4일, 온천천. 수달 몇 마리가 물가에서 뒤엉켜 놀다 다시 물속으로 들어간다. $ONCHEONI

Oncheoni's dinner, two at a time. Two otters on the rocks at Oncheoncheon, one of them eating a fish. By the end of the clip, a line of people had stopped on the path above to watch. $ONCHEONI

방문객 120만명 돌파한 부캉이 연휴가 끝나면 150만명 이상 돌파할 것이다 n.news.naver.com/article/015…