Jeju-do is the biggest island in Korea.
It has been called as Samda-do (means that it has a lot of 3 kinds of things) as it has strong wind, many stones and many women. Due to such environment, Jeju people sometimes seem to be strong. It is said that Jeju people tend to speak shortly. It may be because the words are hard to be delivered due to strong wind. So, sometimes people’s words may be heard a little bit tough. And as Jeju people have lived in the island, they have the temperament of islander, while they are quite closed and exclusive. As Jeju-do has obtained all supplies from the land from old times, level of dependence is quite high even these days. Also, people on land are investing to Jeju-do quite a lot. Therefore, it is said that Jeju people have come to be on guard for people from the land. Such awareness of Jeju people lies in the bottom of people’s mind even these days of development of modern civilization. But, Jeju people have GwyeonDang culture (means relative culture), having a very warm heart.
Jeju-do has wonderful natural environment. Jeju-do, composed of volcanic island, creates an illusion that the volcano erupted just yesterday, and lava flowed from the volcano and suddenly stopped, as if we could feel the heat of lava. The shape of Jeju-do is like a sweet potato. This Jeju-do is divided into two parts from east to west with Halla Mountain as the center; the north part is Jeju-si (Buk-gun in the past); and the south part is Seogwipo-si (Nam-gun in the past). Mt. Halla stands high at the center of Jeju-si and Seogwipo-si, and it is divided from east to west like a folding screen. Red sun of the morning rising from the eastern sea like lava starts to shine Mt. Halla at the side of Seogwipo-si, and temperature of the Seogwipo area is higher than the northern area of Jeju-do getting sunlight by average 2℃. Hence, it is said that mandarin produced in Seogwipo-area is more tasty and sweeter than other mandarins.
Also, it is said that typhoon generated around the coast of the Philippines in Aug. and Sep. hits Mt. Halla standing out like a folding screen as it moves toward north, and it usually strikes the China in the west or passes toward Japan. So, most typhoons miss Korea, and only one or two typhoons influence on Korea. In the south part of Jeju-do, endless ocean, the South Pacific is spread before the eye of visitors in its cobalt blue. And in the coastal waters of the north part of Jeju-do, there are quite many fishery resources, full of splendid lights of fishing boats.