Nearly three weeks have passed as of Tuesday since a shark, now the most famous of its kind in Korea, got trapped in a canal at a waterfront park in the southeastern city of Busan, despite local authorities' rescue attempts. The shark was first spotted Sept. 18 in the narrow canal at the city's North Port, located some 330 kilometers south of Seoul. For the next two days, nearly 20,000 visitors came to see the shark, a fivefold increase compared with the park's usual daily average of about 2,000 visitors during holidays. Public interest spiked dramatically during the Chuseok holiday, which fell on Sept. 25, with a daily average of 120,750 visitors flocking to the waterfront park between Sept. 24 and Sept. 27. The shark has been affectionately named "Bukang-i" after Bukhang, or North Port, as well as serving as an honorary ambassador of Busan. As of Monday, 1.02 million people have visited the park to see Bukang-i, according to the Busan city government. Initially, local maritime police and authorities tried to drive the shark away, but the animal refused to leave the channel, prompting of