Kkakdugi University

Twenty Seoul-based foreign journalists on last November 19 and 20 visited the Jeju Olle Road as part of their Jeju Press Tour program sponsored by the Korean Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

Traditional Jeju Culture and Haenyeo (sea women)

The twenty foreign journalists, though still somewhat fatigued from the intense reporting they had for the G20 Seoul Summit, participated in the Jeju tour with great zeal and curiosity, especially for the much talked about Olle Road and Jeju haenyeo.

On the first day of their tour, Jeju greeted the journalists with an unusually clear, azure sky and a picture-perfect coast line.

At the center of attention in the tour was, of course, the haenyeo – Jeju’s sea women. A journalist for Tokyo Newspaper expressed his special interest for Jeju haenyeo, saying although Japan also has something like sea women he had never seen the Jeju haenyeo. As four, five haenyeo dove into the sea and began their “sea-picking” routine, the group of visitors all flocked to the water in excitement to take photos.

Haenyeo dive into 20m deep into the ocean and collect sea products, holding their breath for as long as two minutes. Holding breath is hard enough; but doing that in the middle of cold sea water, swimming AND collecting things? What an amazing feat!

As one of the haenyeo, a 76-year-old sea veteran, pulled out of the

But sadly, what used to amount to 15,000 Jeju haenyeo has now plummeted to a mere 5,600. And most of them are in their sixties and seventies. Those in their thirties are just a handful now, less than a dozen.

Perfect Harmony of the Sea and the Cliffs

The foreign journalists were once again amazed and awed by the beauty of Seongsan Ilchulbong, a peak that rose from under the sea in a volcanic eruption over 100,000 years ago.

Seongsan Ilchulbong is located on the eastern end of Jeju Island and there is a huge crater at its top. With the 99 sharp rocks surrounding the crater, it looks like a gigantic crown. While the southeast and north sides are cliffs, the northwest side is a grassy hill, forming a truly distinctive ambience.

The journalists concluded their first day with a visit to Chyeonjiyeon Waterfall, and their second day was finally the much anticipated Olle Road.

The Olle walking path opened its first route in 2007 and is now furnished with 22 routes of 357km. In the local Jeju dialect, “Olle” was originally used to refer to the narrow path between the street and one’s doorstep. The hiking trail was founded by Myung-Sook Suh who was inspired upon hearing from a certain English tourist that he had healed his hurt soul walking the Jeju roads.

The route the journalists trod that day was Route 10 which is a course a little more taxing than a leisurely walk. You will be able to enjoy a scenic view of cliffs and the ocean. This particular route was declared as “Jeju Olle-Switzerland Friendship Road” last April upon establishing an MOU with the Swiss tourism administration. After the good amount of exercise followed, of course, a sumptuous meal composed of just-caught Jeju sea food and makgeolli.

At the end of the delightful tour, the journalists expressed their wish for having more nature-oriented tourist spots like the Jeju Olle Road. Although they may be somewhat less convenient than those equipped with first-rate technology and amenities, sometimes what we want these days are places that are preserved as they originally were – somewhere we can rest and heal our jaded souls.

En realidad no se si ese domingo fue el Culto para lo que era la Víspera de Navidad, sin embargo se realizo un muy bonito evento. Primero se realizo el culto normalmente, pero despues de eso se realizo unas pequeñas presentaciones, siendo el itinerario mas o menos de esta manera:

Primero se realizo el Culto basado en el Evangelio de Mateo Capítulo 2 versículos del 1 al 11.
Segundo lectura de los jovenes, de que aprendieron con respecto a esa lectura(ahi participe yo)
Tercero lectura de niños de lo que aprendieron sobre esa lectura
Cuarto se procedio a unas cuantas presentaciones, en las cuales se cantaron villancicos, tocaron instrumentos, Canté, y bailaron los niños ^-^.
Quinto se realizo entrega de regalos a los miembros de la iglesia
Y por último se realizo una cena preparada por la gente de la iglesia.

Este día fue interesante, a pesar de que me habia comprometido a faltar a este evento debido a que mis compañeros de grupo tenian que hacer algo importante no nos logramos reunir, por eso me fue posible asistir a este foro.

El evento se dividio en 3 partes: IDEA CHALLENGE, MICE FORUM, BUFFET.

En lo que fue el "IDEA CHALLENGE" estudiantes que se encuentran en la Academia Mice, hicieron grupos los cuales su meta consistia en crear una idea de algun evento, exhibicion o convencion para hacer que la gente este atraida a lo que es la ciudad de Daejeon ^-^. Las ideas estuvieron bastante ingeniosas, pero como ya antes dije solo eran ideas de eventos, que se vayan a realizar es otra cosa.

La segunda parte, "MICE FORUM", pues se le dio a conocer a los jovenes que participan en lo que es MICE como voluntarios(incluyendome), y la gente que esta trabajando en eso, de como MICE ha ayudado al turismo no solo en lo que es Corea sino tambien a la Ciudad de Daejeon. Pues se nos ofrecio informacion desde el punto de vista cultural, turistico, y economico. Y puedo decir de que si se ve que ha ayudado en algo.

Por último se procedio a lo que mas me llamaba la atención jajaja.....el Buffet!! wuhuuuuuuuu!!
Estuvo delicioso, aunque el banquete se ofrecio un poco tarde para la hora que deseaba. Pero en si estuvo muy bien todo.

Chairwoman Lee Bae-Yong of the Presidential Council on Nation Branding on November 15 gave a lecture for the KBS program “The Road to First Class.”

The lecture was on the subject of Korea’s nation brand and the impact of the G20 Seoul Summit.

“Made in Korea” Impact

“Despite the increasing sales of Korean products globally nowadays,” Chairwoman Lee explained, “they still get about a 30% discount compared to similar products made by some other nations because of Korea’s undervalued nation brand.”

Giving examples of French perfume and wine which are products backed up by the country’s strong nation brand, Lee emphasized the importance of nation brand in generating economic profits.

“We need to work on increasing trust and preference for so-called “Made in Korea.” Also, it is getting more and more important nowadays to have strong “software” such as cultural content, human resources and spiritual values as well as hardware.”

Lee also touched upon Korea’s numerous timeless cultural heritages, saying, “I wish to share Korean values and spirits that are imbued in those historic and cultural legacies with the world. Korea’s astounding growth in the 20th century was made possible only because it was backed up by such virtues as harmony, sharing, communication, regards for life and nature.”

“To raise Korea’s nation brand, it is important to have active civic participation. The Council will make best efforts to achieve the goal with 5 major areas of work that we designated which include contributing to the international community, cultivating global citizenship, promoting multiculturalism, developing attractive culture and tourism, and showcasing advanced technology.

Let us pay some attention to the newly developed Korean grafted cactus that comes under such sweet names as “seolhong,” “hoohong,” and “saekdong.”

The usual association with cactus is some thorny, misshapen, rough-looking plant standing under the scorching sun in the desert.

Well, time to shatter that association.

The grafted cactus of Korea comes in numerous splash colors (red, pink, yellow, orange….) and sizes (a cute little cauliflower-like thing the size of your fist!).

The Rural Development Administration(RDA) exhibited its newly developed grated cactus at the horticulture fair held last November 11. The Korean grafted cactus has been garnering excellent reviews from the worldwide horticulture market with its annual volume of export exceeding USD 2 million to over 30 countries including the U.S. and the Netherlands, the leading floriculture nation.

At the flower fair, a series of rigorous eval!uation was conducted on the presented cactuses including how vivid the color is, how firm it is, its capacity to produce “baby” plant, its commercial potential and so on.

After passing through a set of meticulous tests and screening, 4 qualified cactuses will be selected to be distributed to the farms. Then they will first undergo a test production to be followed by mass cultivation. The RDA aims at USD 3 million annual export by 2012.

Well, at this rate, not reaching for stars!

The no. 1 search word related to Jeju Island of Korea is hands down the “Ollegil (Olle Road).” Just thinking about taking a walk on Ollegil, especially in the autumn with all this beautiful foliage, lifts one’s mood.

Some while ago, though, before Ollegil came to be such a hot tourist spot, the first thing that came to one’s head thinking about Jeju used to be the “haenyeo,” the sea women; they are female divers in the Korean province of Jeju.

The women born in Jeju had to earn a living either by farming crops or picking sea products. The haenyeo often represents a harsh and strenuous life.

What used to amount to as many as 15,000 haenyeo in 1970 has now plummeted down to a mere third of that number; and most of them are over seventy years of age at that, meaning that haenyeo are fast disappearing.

In light of this sad reality, The LA Times published a feature article on Korean haenyeo, their traditions and current situations.

Haenyeo, Epitome of Toughness

The haenyeo is assumed to have first appeared in the primeval! era when people started turning to the sea for food. It goes similar for the haenyeo of Jeju as well, based upon the age of the shrines on the island built for the safety of fishermen and haenyeo. There are several ancient proverbs and old sayings as well that describe Jeju haenyeo’s physical strength and their tough lifestyle.

There is one saying to the effect that Jeju haenyeo don’t stay in bed for more than three days after giving birth to a child, stressing their toughness. Another saying goes “Born as a Jeju woman, she should be able to support her household, no problem.”