Korea's Volcanic Paradise — Hallasan, the Haenyeo Divers, Black Pork, and Sunrise from Seongsan Ilchulbong
Jeju Island is a volcanic island 90 km south of the Korean mainland, South Korea's largest island and most popular domestic destination — 15 million visitors annually. The island is built around Hallasan, a dormant shield volcano that at 1,950 metres is the highest peak in South Korea and a UNESCO World Heritage Site together with the 160 lava tube caves on the island's flanks. The haenyeo — the women free-divers who harvest abalone, conch, and sea urchin by breath-diving up to 20 metres — are a designated UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage and one of the most remarkable seafood traditions i…
Jeju was an independent kingdom, Tamna, until 938 AD when it was absorbed by the Goryeo dynasty. Under Mongol occupation from 1273 to 1374 the island was used as a horse pasture — Mongolian horse-breeding techniques left a legacy in Jeju's horse culture that survives today. The island suffered one of the worst atrocities of the post-liberation period in the April Third Incident (4·3 Sageon) of 1948–1954, in which between 14,000 and 30,000 Jeju civilians — up to one-tenth of the population — were massacred by the South Korean government during a counter-insurgency campaign against a left-wing…