A ferry is anchored at a harbor of Geumo Island. Geumo is emerging as a popular tourist attraction in Yeosu City with spectacular ocean views from steep cliffs and untouched nature. / Korea Times photo by Park Si-soo

By Park Si-soo

Geumo Island, South Jeolla Province ㅡ Santorini in Greece has attracted millions of travelers worldwide with spectacular ocean views from a cluster of modest white and blue cottages nestled on a waterfront cliff. Another awe-inspiring scene from the island may be the sun going down over the Mediterranean, a blazing palette of reds and oranges.

In this regard, Geumo Island, one of the 317 islands of Yeosu City in South Jeolla Province, is surely a comparable “Santorini” in South Korea that offers the two exquisite natural beauties to visitors.


The crystal blue Pacific Ocean endlessly undulating out beyond fences erected alongside the edge of cliffs projects a sense of rural peace. Things interrupting the bucolic tranquility were only the sound of the engines and horns from fishing trawlers in waters off the island.

Walking through an ecology trail paved alongside the fences provides thrilling chances to meet untouched nature and a feeling that “I’m escaping from the hustle and bustle of daily life.”


The lack of awareness of the island’s existence is the last hurdle to become a perfect tourist attraction ㅡ Geumo is hardly known to local travelers.

Neither five-star hotels nor fancy recreational facilities can be found on the 21st largest island of the country. Instead moderate home stay-style lodging, seafood restaurants and pubs are available on the remote island, which takes roughly one and a half hours to get to by ferry from Yeosu.


Nonetheless, Geumo ward office officials say, the island is seeing an increase in the number of visitors in search of primitive nature, peace of mind and, above all, fresh seafood.

When a group of reporters set foot in Moon Woo-soon’s house while descending from a cliff-hanging ecology trail to request a cup of drinking water, the 76-year-old began boasting about the purity of the island’s water.

“I’ve been living here for decades without any health trouble thanks to the pure drinking water,” said Moon at his red tile-roofed house with a spacious courtyard. He said his drinking water pumped up from underground is famous for helping pregnant women give birth to sons, referring to the country’s obsolete notion of preferring a son to a daughter.

Out in the courtyard his wife and other housewives from neighboring families are making kimchi, a traditional fermented dish made with cabbages, powdered red pepper and other seasonings. Fresh oysters caught from mud flats were added, enriching its flavor.

Seen over the house fence were old, twisted citron trees with branches bent nearly touching the ground with dozens of fully ripening fruit. Far off, a couple of remote neighboring islands could be seen dotting the blue ocean.

Another household in its vicinity was busy trimming fish that had just been caught. A housewife was hooking a 50-centimter-long octopus, which was still wiggling, to hang it on a rope to dry. “It’s the season for oysters, which is energy food,” she said.

A senior resident said Geumo is home to scores of wild goats, deer and other animals who feed on grass and fruit sprouting in abandoned fields.


Yeosu, emerging as travel hub


Along with Geumo Island, Yeosu City is quickly becoming a popular travel destination, breaking from its past image as an industrial city.

Yeosu is promoting its untouched environment ㅡ it is located in an overlapped area between Hallyeo marine national park and Dadohae marine national park, two national parks praised for sparkling clean maritime environment.

Despite the geological strengthes, Yeosu has received less attention than other tourist attractions in neighboring areas largely due to inconvenient accessibility by public transportation ㅡ it takes more than 4 hours by express bus or an old-fashioned train to reach Yeosu from Seoul.

Yet, the railway line for the bullet train KTX will be extended to Yeosu by 2012, enabling people in the northern part of the country to conveniently reach the city in two or three hours. The extension will be completed before the Yeosu World Expo, which will be held from May 12 to Aug. 12 in 2012, under the theme “The Living Ocean and Coast.”

A large, five-star hotel and other forms of fancy residential facilities that can accommodate more than 10,000 visitors are under construction ㅡ part of a project initiated to develop Yeosu as a key tourist attraction in the region following the completion of the expo.

A dock capable of hosting an 80,000-ton cruise ship is under construction at the heart of the expo site, a measure to attract wealthy Chinese and Japanese travelers.