April 3rd (사삼) Jeju massacre museum, Jeju, South Korea

June 20, 2008 by Jim Saunders · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Art Galleries & Museums, Jeju & Korean Culture

With sixty years passing since the Jeju Massacre (4.3 or 사삼) in which twenty-five to thirty thousand people died, a poignant, recently opened, memorial complex sits on the slopes of Hallasan. Chronicling the events of that time, it handles a sensitive subject that still resonates today for many residents and families.

The Japanese departure in 1945 and the ensuing power vacuum on the island saw the rise of various left wing groups that, according to one report, labelled Jeju a “red island” on which “ninety percent of residents have a leftist hue.” Further, the practice “of using Jeju as a place of exile for minority political groups and governmental maladministration gradually built up on the island a separatist psychology.”

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Jeju fashion, Jeju, South Korea

June 20, 2008 by Katarina Kuruc · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Jeju & Korean Culture, Shops & Stores

All right all you fashionistas and fashion-lovers out there. We all know that when it comes to style and fashion in Korea, Seoul is the most obvious choice for the place to be, see and be seen. However, walking around Jeju recently has made me appreciate some of the unique fashion and trends this little island has to offer. Obviously, Jeju does lack the size and amount of retailers, which cities such as Seoul and Busan possess, but I believe that there are definite treasures to be found, eyed and bought.

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Challa Cafe, Jungmun Resort, Jeju, South Korea

June 20, 2008 by Brian Miller · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Coffee Shops, Things to Do

Right next door to Yeomiji Botanical Garden in Jungmun lays the Challa Meditation Gallery. The brainchild of Korean artist Chung Gong, Challa is both an art gallery as well as a café. It offers organic foods and Italian coffee on a scenic local overlooking the valley just beyond Cheonjiyeon Falls. It’s an oasis of calm amidst the unrelenting tackiness and excess of Jungmun.

Challa is a celebration of the possibilities of meditation and respect for nature. Past galleries have focused on farmers and organic farming along with works of modern Buddhist meditative art.

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Daeyoo Land, shooting, rifles, pistols, Jeju, South Korea

June 20, 2008 by Dawn Parks · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Things to Do

Like any true child of the 80s, I know how to shoot - courtesy of the formerly modern technology known as Nintendo and my father, a card-carrying member of the NRA. No daughter of his was ever going to be allowed to stand in front of the TV, rifle cocked. Instead, it was mandated that both my sister and I stand as far away as possible, cord stretched to its limits, with our gun arms fully extended, the target in line with the scope. Other families with elementary-aged children had rules – don’t play with matches, don’t stick fingers in a socket, don’t circumvent the safety precautions of childproof scissors. Our family had only one rule – shoot properly at Duck Hunt. Our family had the only pint-sized electronic sharp shooters in the school system… and the only recorded tongue injury made with childproof scissors.

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Mr Lee’s pet store at the five day market, Jeju, South Korea

June 13, 2008 by Joanna Burgess · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Pets & Animals, Shops & Stores

Living alone in a foreign country can be, for lack of a better word, lonely. Many people look for different ways to fill the void of being alone in an unfamiliar location. Some even resort to caring for a cat or a dog only to abandon it after their year is up. If you’re like me, and you care enough about a pet to not give it a severe separation anxiety disorder after loving it and leaving it behind, you may want to consider another kind of pet that won’t have any hard feelings after you ditch it. Fish may just be the perfect pet for you. They are pleasant to look at, easy to care for, and could care less if you give them away when you are finished in Korea. Enter Mr. Changsoo Lee—another one of the Lees you need to know.

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Interview with Oh Seung Ieek, Jeju UNESCO World Heritage Office, Jeju, South Korea

June 12, 2008 by Jim Saunders · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Outdoor Activities, Things to Do, Things to See

We’re a little spoiled for choice when it comes to UNESCO Natural World Heritage sites on the island. There is Hallasan National Park, a behemoth of a place that has South Korea’s tallest mountain at 1950 meters high. Sunrise Peak, the strikingly formed tuff cone, sits on the eastern coastal tip at Seongsan. Finally, the kilometre long, subterranean, Manjanggul cave stretches out beneath us that is part of a mysterious - not open to the public – larger tube system. Distinct, unique and downright breathtaking, the sites were inscribed on to the UNESCO Natural World Heritage list in June 2007.

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Udo, Jeju, South Korea

June 11, 2008 by Danielle Mader · 2 Comments
Filed under: Outlying Islands

Udo, literally Cow Island in Chinese, is so-called because it is supposed to look like a cow laying down. It is a romantic, intimate place despite the ever-present tour buses trekking along the main roads of the island. There you can find stunning sea vistas, old stone walls complimenting rolling fields and people getting their livelihood from the sea. One fine morning in April, we got up at the crack of dawn to catch the bus out to Seongsan Ilchulbong (Sunrise Peak). It is from the harbour in Seongsan that you catch the ferry out to the island. The ferry is a nice trip in itself - a fifteen-minute boat ride where one can watch the steep cliff of Seongsan Ilchulbong receding and the mounded slope of Udo emerging.

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Popcorn tickets and events, Jeju, South Korea

June 9, 2008 by Jim Saunders · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Festivals and Event Ticketing, Things to Do

In a small, relatively smart office space, a short walk up from Jungang Rotary is one of Jeju’s number one concert and musical ticket vendors. More than just the vendor though, Popcorn CEO Koh Chung Hoon (고 충훈) is the man who helps book the big shows for Jeju with past, notable coups, including The Last Empress (widely regarded as Korea’s first “original” musical) and a Korean musical version of Grease. Popcorn was founded around five years ago when Koh returned to Jeju from time abroad in Austria. On return, he found the island devoid of the shows he’d seen in Europe and found that the Korean produced versions were very much confined to Seoul and the mainland. Koh says at first he had to almost beg to get acts to come here, but, now that he’s well known, it’s not so much of a problem. As time progressed he has been able to branch out into jazz and classical music as well as maintaining a staple diet of musicals - three genres that seem to the most popular among Jeju audiences.