Traveling around Hong Island and Heuksan Island
By Kim Jin-heon
Hong Island, which has an area of about 6.5 square kilometers and a population of less than a thousand people, is located 115 kilometers southwest of Mokpo, South Jeolla Province. Its coastal areas have strange rock and bizarre stone formations. It has a variety of plant life such as evergreen trees, broad leaf ones and orchids.
Thanks to its natural advantages, the Korea Tourism Organization reported some years ago that it was the place that travelers hoped to visit the most out of Korea's one hundred tourist attractions.
Last July, this writer left Mokpo seaport and got to Hong Island after a two-and-a-half-hour journey by ferry. As I arrived on the island, I traveled on a cruise ship along the seashore. As if a genius sculptor completed a sculpture over a lifetime, the coastal area was carved in a phenomenal way.
In the afternoon, I climbed a mountain called Gitdaebong (365 meters high). At the summit, Hong Island looked like a lonely island. From there, Heuksan Island looked like just a black shape floating on the sea.
The next morning, I saw Heuksan Island, which has an area of about 20 square kilometers and a population of about two thousand people, on my way to Mokpo by ferry. Instead of a coastal tour, I took a trip to historic heritage sites such as a temple, a beacon, a dolmen park, and a mountain fortress due to my limited schedule. My guide said that the island was well known for being a tourist spot, a center of trade, a migratory bird route and a place of exile.
Recently, a college museum team excavated a historic heritage site, where a piece of earthenware and a gilt bronze Buddhist Statue from the Silla Dynasty were previously found, inlaid celadon from the Goryeo period and pottery from the Song Dynasty were unearthed. This could indicate that the island was a maritime trade port on the East Asian Southern Route.
One of the reasons that the island could be a trade port is that some of the Kuroshio current flows from Shanghai through Heuksan Island to Baengnyeong Island. This geographical trait helped China, Unified Silla and Japan when it came to trade. Moreover, Kuroshio's strong flow in March and May urges more migratory birds to fly more freely through this island.
Additionally, this area always has adverse weather conditions. Thus, no boats are permitted to leave the harbor for a third of each year. Because of this trait, Heuksan Island, which is only 94km away from Mokpo, was used as a place of exile.
Jeong Yak-jeon who believed in Catholicism, was a scholar and a biologist. During the Catholic persecution of 1801, he was involved in the Hwang Sa-young White Paper Incident. As a result, he was exiled to the island, where he taught students and published a book called Jasaneobo, in which Jeong described names, shapes, effects and the mapping of the distribution of fish and seafood for 16 years, before he passed away.
After finishing the tour, I visited a restaurant there. Eating a dish of fermented skate and Heuksan Island “makgeolli” with my friends, we reviewed our travels so far. All the Heuksan Island areas were designated as Dadohae National Marine Park in 1981. Moreover, Jang Island was classified as the Ramsar wetlands in 2005 and Hong Island as a world biosphere reserve in 2009.
The natural beauty of Hong Island, the historic heritage of Heuksan Island, and the unique beauty of its surrounding islands were unforgettable. Their ecological, natural and historic importance has encouraged its citizens and travelers to preserve and cherish the precious heritage.
He is a retired English teacher who published a book titled, "Flower Is Flower."