Mr. Hong is concentration personified, with his puckered brow and pursued lips. A “hmmm” escapes as he scans the seemingly endless field of black and white chips. Mere seconds pass before he firmly places his white chip down. To the untrained eye, the spot he picked appears just as good as any of the other vacant spots on the 19×19 board grid. Mr. Hong knows better. The spot he chose has a distinct tactical advantage – one which his opponent may not understand for several turns. Such is the way of Baduk.

Meet Hayoung. She’s a typical Korean girl leading a not-so-typical life. She lives on Jeju-do with her father, who owns a restaurant on a bluff overlooking the ocean. He also happens to be King of the East Sea. Hayoung dreams of one day becoming the world’s greatest chef, but those dreams were recently shattered when judges at an international cooking competition called her cooking “trash.” She’s a determined young girl though, and one day she’ll make her dreams come true with a little help from her friend, Kenegito.

It’s a cold day on Halla Mountain. Gnarled trees cast ghastly shadows on the forest floor. We’re hunting a group of Koreans who’ve taken cover on the far side of a ravine. I take up a defensive position with Zach and Pete on the opposite ridge. As the wind blows bitter cold through the leaves, we see figures in camouflage fatigues moving through the underbrush. I flip the safety off my AK-47 and watch in silence as they break through a tangle of thorn bushes. My finger hangs wearily over the trigger as we wait for them to come into range. I feel my heart beating in my chest as I work to steady my breath.

Rumour has it that there are some beautiful things under the waters of ocean surrounding this rock of an island, but believing is in the seeing. There are two options for viewing these underwater wonders: scuba gear or submarine. The latter is more practical and easy with two submarines operating on the South side. The Seogwipo submarine is located at the very end of the point in Seogwipo harbour (past Cheonjiyeon falls), and shares a building with a boat tour place so enter the left side for the submarine. Apparently the tour is fairly popular and reservations are recommended. It starts off with a boat ride out through the harbour to the submarine docking area. The boat has an open seating area so the more intrepid voyagers are treated to the sight of squid boats heading out to the fishing grounds and people fishing off the lighthouse platform. On the way back the boat circumnavigates the islet so the unique rock formations can be viewed.