South Korea's most beautiful night sea — islands, cable cars, and grilled mackerel
Yeosu is a port city on the south coast of South Korea whose scattered islands, dramatic waterfront cable car, and reputation for the best grilled mackerel (godeungeo-gui) in the country make it a favourite domestic escape from Seoul. The Expo 2012 site has been converted into a year-round attraction, and the view from the cable car over Dolsan Island at night — the sea glittering between dark islands — is one of the most beautiful in Korea. The city's 500-year-old tradition of processing and selling dried seafood continues in the traditional fish market.
Yeosu's greatest moment came in 1592, when Admiral Yi Sun-sin launched his famous turtle ships (geobukseon) from this harbour to defeat the Japanese invasion fleet in a series of engagements that became the most celebrated naval victories in Korean history. Yi Sun-sin's base at Yeosu — Jinnamgwan, the largest single-story wooden building in Korea — still stands and is a national treasure. The city was also the site of the Yeosu–Suncheon Rebellion of 1948, a left-wing military mutiny that became one of the bloodiest events of the Korean liberation period.