Jeju greets visitors with its unique landscape and a distinctive ocean scent for each season. The towering summit of Mt. Halla (1,950m) is visible from anywhere on the island, while the fragrance of the surrounding sea is always adrift on the wind.

The island’s volcanic activity created its landmark oreum (parasitic cones), as well as its fields and coastline. Strangely shaped stones stimulate the imagination. These rocks have been used to create Jeju Stone Park on a site measuring some 300 hectares. At this park, with its display of rare stones and relevant artifacts, one can experience the myths and legends behind the island’s abundance of stone. It presents aspects of the local stone culture beyond the familiar rock walls found all over the island.

Korea’s largest island, Jeju forms a roughly oval shape stretching 75 kilometers from east to west and 41 kilometers, at its widest, from north to south. It is located off the southernmost coast of Korea, lying between China and Japan. The four seasons are distinct, though the climate is mild. The temperature rarely falls below freezing in winter, except at the summit of Mt. Halla.

With Mt. Halla at its center, the island is a treasure trove of subtropical, temperate, and even polar plant life, and a paradise for butterflies and insects. It is a habitat for several thousand species of plants and animals. Various types of seeds have been carried to the island by the Kuroshio Current and Taiwan Warm Current, among them the Poison Bulb, which is native to Africa but can be found growing on the Jeju coast.

The largest island in Korea, Jeju forms a roughly oval shape stretching 75 kilometers from east to west and 41 kilometers, at its widest, from north to south. It is located off the southernmost coast of Korea, lying between China and Japan.

Spring: A field of rape flowers in full bloom in front of Mt. Sanbang

Summer: Hamdeok Beach

Autumn: A field full of cosmos flowers

Winter: Snow covers the flanks of Mt. Halla

JEJU, THROUGH A POET’S EYES

The black mountain ridges writhe. Clusters of oreum awaken, ready to gather and rush off somewhere. This is the break of dawn on Jeju.

The wind and light live together on Yongnuni Oreum. Pure white Grass-of-Parnassus flowers sway to and fro. The fields are filled with wildflowers. People call these rolling hills bulging up out of the flat land by the name of “oreum.” Jeju Island is home to more of these parasitic cones than anywhere else in the world. You could climb one a day for a year and still have more to see.

Here and there, the larger oreum include modest traditional tombs, surrounded by stone walls. Here, it seems that the end of one life is the beginning of another. The stone figures of young boys, covered with the moss of ages, have become friends of the deceased. Those who made the statues and carved the sublime expressions that capture the happiness and sadness of humanity are now among the nameless inhabitants of the island.

From afar come the calls of a herder rounding up his horses. Cows roam about, grazing on the meadows. The oreum are home to vegetable gardens offering bracken, wild greens, medicinal herbs, and comfort to the weary. These age-old landforms were strongholds during the struggles of the island people, and a resting place for those who had lived out their lives.

Oreum at sunrise

Manse Hill on Mt. Halla, surrounded by a sea of clouds

The wind on the oreum does not slumber easily. It is delectable, filled with the salty scent of the sea. Climb up to the top of an oreum and look out at the vast open sea and Mt. Halla. The winding ridges of the mountain and its surrounding oreum, the rounded thatched-roof houses and the coastline, the valleys, the meandering stone walls around the fields, the round tombs—Jeju is a land of graceful curves.

Near Yongnuni Oreum you can find Darangshwi Oreum, the queen of them all. On a bright, moonlit night, the moon is cradled in its crater. The oreum is like a woman’s ample breasts, like women lying down or hunkered over. The deep, sunken craters are the wombs of the earth, containing all creation and all destruction.

Jeju is a land of light. The light and wind atop an oreum create unimaginable color. The photographer Kim Young Gap was so enraptured by this incredibly dazzling light that after a visit he ended up settling here. For a long time, he would gaze out mesmerized by the light of the oreum and the light of the earth that flowed over Yongnuni.

At 1,324 meters, Sara Oreum is the highest of Jeju Island’s 386 oreum. A mysterious lake is hidden in its crater. Sara Oreum was opened to the general public in the autumn of 2010. It was the first of the 40 oreum in Mt. Halla National Park to be opened.

The road to Sara Oreum, which passes Sanjeong Lake, is the way to Mt. Halla. One path up the mountain, beginning at Seongpanak, sparkles with the crimson of maples, the green of broadleaf trees, and the bright red of kamatsuka berries. For the residents of Jeju, Mt. Halla is a life force as well as the foundation of their imagination. Seen from above, it is like a plush carpet. Halla is the peak from which one can reach out and touch the Milky Way. As you lie down in her crater and look up at the heavens, the stars come pouring down. It is a mountain of myth, a maternal mountain—and a lonely mountain, but one that comforts all who come within its sturdy embrace. It is a mountain that stands up to typhoons and to external pressure, protecting all those in need of comfort.

KIM YOUNG GAP

In 1985, a young photographer relocated from Seoul to Jeju with a plan to remain for two or three years as he photographed the island. Kim Young Gap soon became obsessed in his quest to discover the “hidden beauty”—the “flesh” and “bones”—of Jeju’s landscape. This coupled with his own deeply felt connection to the island’s natural environment (“My being becomes grass, trees, insects; I am assimilated into their life”) and he would not leave the island, until his untimely death from a degenerative disease in 2005. According to his wishes, his body was cremated and his ashes scattered beneath a persimmon tree (once struck by lightning) that stands at the entrance to his final Jeju home.

A unique feature of Kim’s process was his technique of returning to the same location day after day, sometimes for months on end, in order to achieve the best possible portrayal—in terms of the interplay of light and shadow, the relationship between sky and land, or some ineffable quality that only he could sense. He also took photographs of the same location in contrasting seasons, displaying them together in order to indicate the changeable nature of the land. He integrated the elements—fog, rain, clouds, wind, sunlight—into his art, even including the raindrops that fell on his lens.

Park Hyun-il, Kim’s former student and longtime friend who continues to manage the gallery in which Kim’s art is housed, says “He became one with the beauty he sought.” Kim encouraged others to experience his work with the same heartfelt connection, and thus refused to name his photographs in order to allow for a unique impression on the part of each viewer.

Kim produced some of the most remarkable photographs of Jeju to date, displaying his deep understanding of and relationship to this island. Yongnuni and Darangshi Oreum were among his favorite subjects.

With numerous exhibitions and two posthumously published books about his work, he is celebrated, along with painters Lee Jung Seop and Byun Shiji, as one of Jeju’s greatest artists.

Gallery Dumoak, a former elementary school converted into Kim’s final studio and home, now displays much of his work. “Dumoak” is one of the old names for Mt. Halla. The gallery is located in a rural area near Samdal Village, south of Seongsan Ilchulbong in the easternmost part of Jeju.

Gallery Dumoak, a former elementary school converted into Kim’s final studio and home, now displays much of his work.

Think of what can be found there. Large boulders embrace the trees, and the trees embrace the boulders. These places where rocks and trees intertwine are called gotjawal. They are primeval forests, manifesting Jeju’s unspoiled character. Nowhere is the wilderness instinct stronger than in Jeju, a volcanic island that burst forth in a pillar of flame two million years ago. The swift yet steady lava has left its traces everywhere. Camellia Hill in Seonheulgot also bears the mark of fire. This gotjawal is a treasure trove that evokes the essence of life. It is here that the lives and history of the people of Jeju have been shaped. Here, they made charcoal, picked berries, and cut down trees to build homes, in a forest sheltering all sorts of rare plants, roe deer, and other living things.

So it is with the path up Geomun Oreum. This ancient forest speaks: “You humans are part of nature, too, and so you should adopt the ways of nature.” It tells us to be humble. Here we must walk more slowly, working our way along the forest path with our heads bowed respectfully.

A geological park is Jeju, a single dot on the sea. Unlike the Mediterranean or other oceans, the sea here cries out with all its being. How can the color of the water look so different from one village to another? It changes from indigo to sapphire, deep blue, and even inky black.

The volcanic island of Jeju is also famous for its dense forests. Forests are filled with life, supporting a huge variety of organisms.

Wild roe deer live in Mt. Halla National Park.

Gwaneumsa Trail, in Mt. Halla National Park, is reminiscent of primeval forest.

On a day thick with fog, the melancholy melody of a shaman’s song drifts plaintively on the Jeju seas. The song has a more somber tone than even the black rocks of Jeju. It is the sound of prayers for the souls of those lost at sea, and for the well-being of those who rely on the sea. In the second lunar month, Grandmother Yeongdeung, the wind goddess, arrives on the breeze. Jeju is a paradise for 18,000 deities. Mt. Halla, the ocean, caves, every village—all are permeated with mythic roots. As if to speak for this kingdom of the gods, each village maintains a shrine, where the villagers perform rituals.

The sea around Jeju Island differs in color from region to region.

Hyeopjae Beach

Sagye Beach

Yongmeori tuff ring and cliffs

The beauty of the island has been created by the wind and the waves. Beyond Soesokkak, in Seogwipo, the coastlines of Oedolgae and Daepo-ri and the seaside cliffs of Yerae-dong draw exclamations of wonderment. They were born of Jeju’s volcanic creation. They are the traces of lava flows stopped in their tracks. The land of the volcano, Jeju is an island of fire, its stones carved into layers and marked by the wind. They are the masterpieces of the gods, shaped by the wind and the waves.

It is exhilarating to stand before the stone pillars (jusangjeolli) that rise straight up out of the ocean. Long, long ago, when the volcano erupted, it spewed forth molten lava. That lava writhed and flowed like a red river down to the ocean, its tears stopping as soon as it met the water. The power of the lava produced such celebrated natural attractions as Mt. Halla, the lava caves of Geomun Oreum, and Seongsan Ilchulbong, or “Sunrise Peak”.

Daepo Jusangjeolli, black hexagonal stone pillars piled on top of each other. They unfold like a folding screen as if a god elaborately piled up blocks of stone.

The entire island is a geological park. There are stone cairns, stone dikes, tomb embankments, salt fields. Riddled with holes, the basalt is filled with the wind. The people of old cut these rocks and shaped them into the items they used in everyday life.

Volcanic formations in the shape of all sorts of animals, rocks with faces like people, and the age-old folklore of Jeju: the place to experience these things is the Jeju Stone Park. This is a garden of myth imbued with the legend of Grandmother Seolmundae, the giantess who created Jeju Island, and her of 500 sons. Time there flows slowly, like the lava itself. Those in a hurry would be better off not stopping by.

The splendor of Seongsan Ilchulbong is not to be missed, offering such a magnificent sunrise that people pay homage to the breathtaking scene. A mountain that exploded out of the ocean! It is even more graceful when seen from a distance, rather than up close; its majesty is greater when seen from above.

So why do sad eyes gaze upon the rugged coastline of Seongsan Ilchulbong? To gain a true picture of Jeju, you have to learn about its scars. Only then will you realize why this island, covered with brilliant yellow rape flowers under the spring sunshine, is so entrancing, why the camellia flowers are even redder than its once molten lava.

Measuring 180m in height. Seongsan Ilchulbong is a tuff cone formed by hydrovolcanic activity in shallow seas around 5,000 years ago. It arose from the accumulation of volcanic ash during a violent reaction between hot magma from underground and seawater.

Visitors to Jeju Stone Park can see works of art made by the volcanoes themselves.

Seongsan Ilchulbong, a designated UNESCO World Natural Heritage Site, seen from the air

Jeju Island has withstood various upheavals. Such was the fate of an island located in the center of Northeast Asia. On the coast of Seongsan Ilchulbong is a series of cave openings. These are the Jinji Caves, dating from the Japanese colonial period. The people forced to carve out these openings were the powerless residents of Jeju.

Six decades ago, the island was caught in the vortex of the April 3rd Uprising (1948–1954), a tragedy of modern Korean history. One of the bloodiest incidents rooted in the ideological clash between the left and right after liberation from Japan, the uprising led to a horrendous loss of human life between April 1948 and the winter of 1949. At one time, countless refugees sought shelter on Mt. Halla. None of the wondrous sights of the island was spared the carnage. The Jeju April 3rd Peace Park is dedicated to their memory.

The road to Mt. Songak is also steeped in the winds of that history. Even today, hangars built during the Japanese colonial period hug the ground with their gaping maws. Sesal Oreum is marred by scars of the 1948 uprising. If you stop and lower your head, you might hear the work songs of those who endured a harrowing life here on this dry and crumbling volcanic ash soil, long trapped in nature.

Finally, we arrive at windswept Mt. Songak. From here, where even the blades of grass find no rest, we can see two of Jeju’s brother islands, Gapado and Marado. (To see more pristine islands, you must depart from Jeju.) Within Jeju’s territory, we also find the islands of Biyangdo, Chujado, and Udo, along with numerous islets.

The sorrows of Jeju Island can be traced back to the Joseon era. To the locals, Jeju was simply a harsh, arid land—a lonely island where even the little residents had would be plundered by Japanese pirates from time to time. The Joseon Dynasty (1392–1910) used Jeju for a place of exile; the punishment for felons who escaped the death penalty was exile to Jeju. But with the exquisite scenic beauty of the island, the isolation of the exiles was sublimated into art. A notable example is Kim Jeong-hui, a late Joseon scholar and celebrated calligrapher, who was forced to live in exile on Jeju for nine years after falling afoul of political intrigues.

The tomb of an infant at Neobeunsungi, an April 3rd historic site. Government punitive forces slaughtered even children during the incident. In Korea, the graves of children do not have headstones.

At twilight, the oreum turn back into sleeping black mountain ridges. At Chagwido, the glow of the setting sun is bewitching. As you stand atop Suwolbong, a world geological park at the western end of Jeju, the setting sun seems to question you—about the life you have lived, the life you are going to live, and what it is you have lost.

Jeju fills visitors with wonder at the beauty they are constantly encountering. The sunset toward Chagwido, as seen from Suwolbong is one of Jeju’s top sights.

To heal yourself, then, and to find inspiration in your life, throw everything aside and come to this island. You will feel its vibrant energy. Wherever you look on Jeju, your eyes meet the horizon, Mt. Halla, and the oreum. The twisting Olle trails, Saryeoni Woodland Path, coastal routes, stone ways… those who have walked these paths know just how blessed Korea is to have Jeju Island. It draws no attention to itself yet possesses all forms of beauty: a symphony of the south, a land of rapture and sorrow that has survived through wind and rain.

The people of Jeju have cultivated the rough, dry landscape where they live in order to feed themselves, creating beautiful landscapes in the process. Here, a snow-covered Mt. Halla is seen from the green tea field of Dosun.

THE “TRIPLE CROWN” OF UNESCO NATURAL SCIENCE DESIGNATIONS

Jeju has been awarded the “triple crown” of UNESCO designations for natural sciences—Bioreserve, World Natural Heritage, and Geopark. It is the first place in the world to achieve this.

In 2002, Mt. Halla and part of the Seogwipo coastline were declared a biosphere reserve, totaling 44% of the island’s surface area. It was later upgraded to include the whole of Jeju Island.

Five years later, in 2007, “World Natural Heritage” status was bestowed upon Halla’s nature reserve; the title was given to Mt. Halla, the Geomun (pronounced “guh-moon”) Oreum system of lava tubes, and the Seongsan Ilchulbong tuff cone.

Autumn on Yeongsil Trail, Mt. Halla

Spring on Yeongsil Trail, Mt. Halla

The most recent recognition by UNESCO came in December 2010, when the entire island was designated a “geopark” and included in the Global Geoparks Network. In addition to the three sites previously noted (specifically Manjang Cave in the Geomun Oreum lava tube system), six more were identified: the Suwolbong tuff ring, Mt. Sanbang lava dome, Yongmeori tuff ring and cliffs, Jungmun Daepo columnar-joint lava formation (“Daepo Jusangjeolli”), Seogwipo Formation, and Cheonjiyeon Falls.

Of particular note is the fact that Mt. Halla has been designated in all three of UNESCO’s natural science categories. One of the Korean people’s three most sacred mountains (the others are Mt. Jiri in the southern region of the peninsula, and Mt. Baekdu in the north), it is especially holy to the people of Jeju Island. Halla is the island’s progenitor, the physical manifestation of a giant goddess called Seolmundae, the “mother” of nearly 400 secondary volcanic cones (“oreum”) perceived by the people of Jeju as kin, and a site of rich biodiversity. Overseeing all of Jeju as a benign ancestor, Halla’s significance to this island culture that cannot be overstated.

The benefit of these recognitions by UNESCO are not only ecological but economic and social as well. Direct social and ecological applications can be found in educational and preservation initiatives. As Jeju enjoys an enhancement of its image through such designations, the tourism and MICE (meetings, incentives, conferencing, and exhibitions) industries also benefit. Jeju’s ability to obtain funding, from both domestic and international sources, increases exponentially. The island’s branding of products for export is also enhanced.

A hidden social benefit is found in the increased value societies place on their resources following external recognition of same. One doesn’t always know what one has… until someone else points it out.

Jeju has additionally been afforded recognition by the Ramsar Convention for three wetlands “of international importance”: Mulyeongari Oreum (2006), Muljangori Oreum (2008), and 1100 Altitude (2010).

Following the recent Geopark designation, Jeju government is organizing “geo-tours” with trained “geo-guides” and is considering other ways to welcome visitors to these sites.

Mulyeongari Oreum, a site designated in 2006 as a Wetland of International Importance by the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands

Yongcheon Cave, part of the Geomun Oreum Lava Tube System, designated in 2007 by UNESCO as a World Natural Heritage Site

JEJU OLLE

A system of hiking trails, the brainchild of Jeju native and former journalist Suh Myung Sook, very nearly encircles the island. Twenty-four trails have been formed to date, three of them on the outlying islands of Udo, Chujado, and Gapado, and the project is scheduled to complete the circumscribing of Jeju by 2013.

“Olle” refers to a path from road to house in the traditional Jeju village. The word is also a homonym for another meaning, “Are you coming?” or “Will you come?” which represents the invitation of Jeju Olle. Inspired by her 2006 trek on the renowned Camino de Santiago trail in western Europe, Suh has created this system of trails as a gift to her homeland. As a result, she has changed the very nature of Korean tourism.

Jeju Olle is now the most popular attraction on the island, and despite what early naysayers—including the local government—predicted, Korean tourists have come out en masse to seek out these trails. Typically focused on short, intense, guided group tours, Koreans have discovered the joys of walking an average of 15 kilometers over four to six hours while immersed in nature. The sociological impact on this harried post-war nation cannot be overstated.

Olle Trail Map

As of October 2011, 24 Olle trails have been created. By 2013, the number of paths will rise to 27. Seen on foot at a leisurely pace, Jeju reveals its beauty in a different form on every trail.

Olle trails Nos. 7 and 8, which pass along the breathtakingly scenic southern shore of the island and connect with one another near Seogwipo, are the most popular by a margin. Walking along these trails, one can view sights such as Oedolgae, Daepo Jusangjeolli, Jungmun Beach, and much more.

An annual Walking Festival began in 2010 and now takes place every November over four days and four Olle trails. In conjunction with this event, Jeju Olle hosts the World Trail Conference, drawing experts from eight other countries across the globe, each of which has its own famous trail. It is the goal of the Jeju Olle Foundation to fully include this system among the world’s greatest trails, a title already bestowed upon it by the world-renowned “Lonely Planet” guidebooks.

“Koreans are driven by fresh memories of war and extreme poverty,” Suh says. “My hope is that Jeju Olle can help us to slow down, enjoy nature, and interact with fellow travelers and locals in a more humane way.”

The Jeju Olle office is located on the coast in Seogwipo, and Olle information is readily available at the airport and all major tourist sites.

Seongsanpo gil, Jeju Olle Trail Route 1

Dombenang gil, Jeju Olle Trail Route 7

Seogwipo Seaside, Jeju Olle Trail Route 6

Soesokkak, Jeju Olle Trail Route 6

Jonmosal Beach, Jeju Olle Trail Route 8

Teukjeonsa supgil, Jeju Olle Trail Route 13