UNSRC Korean Cultural Society

Tourists appreciate the scenic view of nearby islands at a viewpoint on Mt. Dori, Sangjo Island. / Courtesy of Jindo County

By Kim Young-il
Contributing writer

In his interview with Napoleon Bonaparte at St. Helena in 1816, Basil Hall, a traveler and author, introduces an interesting reference to Korea. The Emperor expressed his curiosity about Korean culture. He was quoted as saying, “(It) would be interesting in trying to wear `gat’ (traditional cylindrical Korean hat) and smoking a cigarette with a long bamboo pipe.” He made the remarks when Hall presented a sketch of “Corean Chief and His Secretary” drawn by artist William Havell.

Apparently, Hall had the privilege to interview Napoleon on his way to England after his expedition to the western coast of Korea as his father was Napoleon’s classmate at the military college of Brienne.

According to Hall’s book “A Voyage of Discovery to the Western Coast of Corea and the Great Loo-Choo Island,” on Sept. 5, 1816, he disembarked from his ship the Lyra on the shore of Sangjo Island and climbed up the peak there, Mt. Dori. Fascinated with the spectacular birds-eye view of the hundreds of islands spread out over the open sea, he spent five days surveying and mapping the area.

Descending from the peak, Hall apparently offered a bottle of South African Constantia wine to the villagers to reciprocate the offer of smoking a long bamboo pipe. It is interesting to note that the fortunate person who enjoyed tasting the very first Western wine in Korean history probably was a senior villager from a remote island off the southwestern coast of South Jeolla Province.

When I read this book, I could not resist the temptation of following Hall’s footsteps. During the long holiday earlier this month, we headed for Paengmok Pier to take a ferry to the islands.

The highways were packed with cars from early in the morning. It appeared as if we were locked in the middle of a huge elongated shaped parking lot stretching from Seoul all the way to Gunsan, North Jeolla Province. In a desperate bid to avoid the traffic hell, we tried to zigzag from one highway to another but with no luck.

Suddenly, French economist Jacques Attali’s lecture came to mind ― “Koreans’ roots are from nomads thus they are mobile people. Because of this mobility heritage, Koreans fit well to this IT age; cars, mobile phones and portable computer devices will take care of everything.”

It is said that Korea is now in an unprecedented economic hardship. However, when I saw the heavy highway traffic on Saturday morning, I wondered whether we are really in an economic crunch. Signs of a slump were hardly seen, at least on the highway.

On my trip from Seoul to Jindo Island, yellowish green leaves of persimmon trees attracted my attention. The scenery of refreshing bundles of persimmon enriches Koreans’ sentiment.

Sea of Many Islands

As we got aboard the ferry, we decided to climb the peak of Sangjo Island from where Hall counted 135 islands over the surrounding sea and where he exclaimed, “This is the most shocking view in the world.” Disembarking at Hajo Island pier, we drove on the tiny bridge connecting Hajo to Sangjo Island and headed to Mt. Dori. The weather was cloudy.

When we reached the peak, we experienced a thrilling panoramic view through the sea mist. As the word “Dadohae” literally means many islands, the sapphire waters were dotted with myriads of islands. The seascape was really spectacular and breathtaking. I was just speechless. We came to fully understand why the explorer Hall proclaimed the view as the most beautiful scenery.

This inexplicable scenery was created by the erosion processes following the repeated fall and rise of sea levels during the Pleistocene Era (Ice Age). This spectacular view was indescribable. With a curiosity as to how it would appear under the morning sunlight, we all headed to a motel with the determination to return in the morning.

As it was two hours away from breakfast time, we headed to the Hajo Island Light House. I felt I was totally free from my spring allergies due to clean air. Breakfast was quite nice. It included home-dried grilled yellow corvine, fresh wild edible greens, egg stew, homemade pickled oysters with a freshly cooked bowl of rice.

As I glanced around the restaurant wall, I noticed the movie director Im Kwon-taek’s framed autograph with a phrase, “I had dinner at this restaurant, Nov. 4, 2006.” Apparently he stopped over when he was shooting the movie “Cheonnyeonhak” (Beyond the Years).

We headed to our next destination, Gwanmae Island. As clouds cleared away, our team was in an upbeat mood. I drove to the beach first. The huge, hypnotic white beach seemed too big for a small island. As the gradient of the beach face was so low, it almost gave an impression of flatness. It was the lowest gradient beach that I have seen in this area.

Although it requires a boat trip to view all eight recommended scenes on the island, an exotic boulder and Banga Island can be seen by land. According to a folk tale, Heavenly Angels accidentally dropped the huge boulder lying on the surface on the northern beach. When we interpret it scientifically, the boulder is a tor (core stone), which fell from the top of the mountain and rested on the wave-cut shore platform.

On the northeast tip of the island, there is a tiny island called Banga. At the top of this island, there are many tors exposed. Local folklore metaphorically described this as a man’s organ. It is ironic that in 1816, Hall named this rock “Huntley Lodge” as the rock reminded him of a square-shaped roof of a church. What a different observation of this same rock by East versus West.
These islands offered a lingering affection for us. We promised to revisit them islands in the near future.

While we were heading back to our base camp at Jindo Island for dinner, I suggested to our team that we take deep breaths of this fresh island air to revive our worn out lungs from the polluted air in Seoul.

The writer is president of Woo-Il Company Ltd. He can be reached at yikim@jskt.co.kr.

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