 During the seaway opening Monday between Hoedong-ri, Gogun-myeon and Modo-ri, Uisin-myeon in Jindo, thousands of tourists fill the 2.3-kilometer path. |
By Shim Hyun-chul
Staff Reporter
JINDO, South Jeolla Province ― Like Moses' Red Sea miracle depicted in the Bible, the sea at Jindo divides into two, revealing a pathway in the sea. Hoards of people line up to walk the seaway during the 31st Jindo Sea Way Festival at Jindo, South Jeolla Province.
Every year, the water level in the sea located between Modo-ri of Euishinm-yeon and Heodong-ri of Gogun-myeon falls due to a neap tide, creating a long sea trail that is 40 meters wide. Jindo starts the sea trail festival when the sea has parted and the pathway reaches its greatest width. During the one-hour period when the route is completely exposed, visitors can enjoy various Korean traditional dances and performances such as Ganggangsullae and Field Songs. They can also catch fresh seafood such as seaweed, clams and octopi as they walk along the trail.
On May 5, a challenge took place to set a new record in the ``History and Society-People and Place'' category of the Guinness Book of World Records. A total of 5, 632 people out of 18,527 volunteers filled the 2.308-kilometer seaway in order to record ``the largest number of people standing''' in the ``longest seaway in the world.'' The festival committee said that they will submit the figures to Guinness for approval.
The Jindo seaway became known overseas when Pierre Rendi, the former French Ambassador to Korea, wrote about the ``Korean version of Moses' Miracle'' in a French newspaper after witnessing the trail.
For more information, visit http://tour.jindo.go.kr/english/ or call (061)544-0252.
shim@koreatimes.co.kr
