Jeju prepares for Kim Jong-un's visit by helicopter
Jeju Governor Won Hee-ryong visits Baekrokdam, a crater lake on top of Mount Halla, with journalists on Saturday. Yonhap
By Jung Da-min
Jeju Governor Won Hee-ryong is busy preparing for North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's possible visit to the island.
Jeju, along with Seoul, is one of the most likely locations to be included in Kim's itinerary.
President Moon Jae-in has expressed hope that Kim will travel to Seoul within this year and they will scale South Korea's tallest mountain Halla on Jeju together in a reciprocal show of appreciation to Kim, after the two visited North Korea's tallest mountain, Mount Paektu, in September.
“It would be tough to reach the summit of Halla on foot because unlike Paektu (whose top can be reached by lifts), nothing has been installed in Halla to keep the mountain's nature undamaged,” Won told reporters who climbed the 1,950-meter mountain on Saturday.
“We need to check if a helicopter can land inside the Baekrokdam crater," Won said, referring to the volcanic crater at the mountain's peak.
Assuming Kim would take a helicopter to the top of Mount Halla, the governor said he was considering two practical ways to enable the landing of the helicopter ― enable the landing on Baekrokdam, or at an existing landing area near the Seongpanak trail.
Despite a seeming slowdown on North Korea's denuclearization talks, South Korea is working aggressively to keep the momentum for peace and denuclearization alive. The southern government on Sunday sent tangerines to the North, in response to North Korea's previous gift of mushrooms to President Moon Jae-in during his Pyongyang visit.
Jeju Governor Won Hee-ryong, second row 10th from right, and journalists at Baekrokdam, hold unification flags and a placard that reads “From Halla to Paektu.” Yonhap