Jeju Island, a contrast of maturity & infancy

My first insights into everyday life and attitudes on Jeju Island come before I’ve even been reunited with Casey, my faithful suitcase, after a six-hour Scoot flight direct from Singapore.

In the luggage hall, everyone stands quietly, back from the carousel, then steps forward, takes their bag and leaves. Others helpfully and respectfully make space for them to do so.

It is a rather elegant little choreography — and intriguing to me, as it is so courteous and unusual.

And then, here comes Casey. Do I sense an unusual calm in him? This is not quite what I had expected after a low-cost carrier flight (quite frankly), but a measure of both Scoot’s handling and the atmosphere on this island almost 90km off the coast of mainland South Korea.

Before moving on, I must also report that I am the only Westerner at the conveyor belt (apart from two writers from Sydney in this little group that Scoot and Jeju Tourism have put together to visit the island) — and that will be very much the theme of my days here.

It might feel new to us, but Koreans come here for the clean environment, the produce and food. . . and most definitely for the 29 golf courses. It is one of the main tourism drivers.

For this island of about 680,000 residents and 100 museums welcomed more than 13 million visitors in 2023 — 95 per cent of them Koreans.

In fact, the next morning at the nicely named Maison Glad Jeju, I join the 7am morning rush at the breakfast restaurant to find I am, once again, the only Westerner in a queue of about 30 people waiting to be seated. (Judging by their clothing, the others are itching to get out on the fairways.)

In shops and the Dongmun night market, it is the same.

The tourism industry here likes to call it “the Hawaii of Asia”, and it attracts visitors from nearby China, of course.

Maybe it can be seen as the Hawaii of Asia for its volcanic landscape and coast, but travelling here doesn’t actually feel anything like Hawaii, to me. It feels a bit like travelling in Japan 20 years ago, partly for the lack of Western travellers, English speakers and signage, and partly for the real sense that (despite the big number of domestic and Chinese visitors), international tourism here is rather in its infancy.

It feels young in terms of cultural tourism — which, I think, is what visitors from WA would be here for.

And all that means that for experienced and adventurous travellers (including, dare I say, the intrepid backpackers of 40 years ago), it is an interesting, slightly challenging place, which I think they will enjoy.

Others can join an English-speaking tour, which will also feel adventurous for the landscapes and culture that will be explained by an interpreter. There is now an English Speaking Guides Association with 70 members, of which our excellent guide Oh Jeoung-sil (who uses the English name Janice) is a member.

They are all freelance, and can take individuals, couples, families and small groups, and work for tour companies. I’d suggest starting with Yeha Tour.

It is an easy place to drive, with good roads and mostly modern Hyundai and Kia cars to hire, but while Google Maps will show locations, it won’t give voice commands, and most signs don’t have English.

Having said that, the oval-shaped island is around 70km from east to west and 40km from north to south, and the sun rises in the east and sets in the west, so you couldn’t exactly get lost.

It’s easy to be based in Jeju City, head out to explore, and return in the evening.

IN THE COMMUNITY

Small local communities are pulling together to engage in tourism, in many of the places we visit.

The Haenyeo women divers are already a tight-knit community, with generations diving the ocean to feed and support their families. But they are now supporting one another, and they increasingly engage with visitors, offering the Haenyeo Diving Experience, and with the excellent Haenyeo Museum open. (We published a story on the women divers in June and will have more in a future edition.)

To attract visitors the community in Dongbaek village has drawn on its long history of collecting camellia seeds and crushing them for oil. Strolling behind Oh Dong Jung, a community leader and head of the research centre for Dongbaek’s heritage, we head into a small piece of forest with camellia trees that are up to 300 years old, to collect the seeds.

And I then watch Oh Youjn-tak, head economist of the community project, crush seeds to extract their fine golden oil.

This is used in both beauty products and fine food products, and the Dongbaek Village Tour for visitors then includes a fine bibimbap meal, with a camellia oil dressing. Bibimbap is the Korean meal of vegetables, chilli paste, maybe beef or other meat, sometimes with the addition of an egg, served with rice. And, of course with the pickle kimchi.

Being among these welcoming, beautiful villagers is certainly an authentic experience, and this community project, based on a tradition more than 300 years old, was recognised in October 2024 when Dongbaek was added to the United Nations Tourism Organisation’s list of Best Tourism Villages.

Then, in the small village of Gumsung, young Kang Bo Ram, of the small fashion business Scene of Jeju, is teaching visitors how to dye fabric with natural dyes. With the energy of Kang Bo Ram and support of the community association, this village is looking for a new economic footing.

Jeju is famous for strong women.

And when the elementary school in Myeongwol village closed, it was taken over as a community project, with a cafe, shop, artworks, an outdoor play space and even a chance to pet its dogs.

STRIDING OUT

There are 500 steps to the top of Seongsan Sunrise Peak, but I don’t bother counting them.

I’m too busy looking down at my feet and out at the views — the village growing smaller beneath me, the forest around, the coast and Cow Islands, and the fleet of quite small fishing boats heading out for their night’s work, with lights strung along them to attract squid.

This place very much has island culture and lifestyle.

Around 1.8 million years ago, undersea eruptions saw the birth of Jeju Island. Dust and lava spewed in a tower out of the water, falling to form cones that would eventually expand and erode into what we see today.

While the island is (compared with, say, the Hawaiian islands) young, the soil, though stony, is rich and productive. It seems to me, as I travel back and forth across the island, that just about every little pocket handkerchief of land and garden has been planted with neat rows of vegetables. The small fields are edged by walls made from the volcanic rock — rough pieces just put together with gaps left between so that strong winds will blow through and not topple them, particularly in the typhoon season in August and September.

“I cannot predict Jeju weather or Jeju men,” announces Oh Jeoung-sil, who seems to be able to predict everything else.

The island today is well covered in forest, largely due to the government’s planting efforts of the last 50 years. Pine and cedar trees dominate what is now a widely forested landscape.

The next day we stop by the roadside to step into Saryeoni Forest. It’s a pencil-case of tall beech tree trunks, with a winding timber walkway through.

And the following day, there is a pleasant, sharp, 35-minute loop walk up one side of the Saebyeol Oreum and down the other. The word oreum comes from the language of Jeju, and describes a “small mountain”. Saebyeol Oreum is one of more than 350 small rising extinct volcanoes on the island.

FOOD CULTURE

+ Black pork is the big dish, made from the Jeju Black, a Korean breed of domestic pig which is likened to being “the Wagyu of pork”. The meat looks slightly darker than most other pork and it is usually barbecued in thick slices.

+ Seafood. You name it, from wild octopus to sea urchins and squid, crabs to sea snails, and abalone to fish.

+ For me, bibimbap is the national dish — and bibimbap was the best meal I had on Jeju. “Bibim” means mixing and “bap” is cooked rice, so the name is pretty well self-explanatory. A bowl of warm white rice is served on a tray alongside other smaller bowls of treats to be mixed in. They could be egg, meat or seafood. I was shown by locals how to put the “adds” into a mixing bowl first, then add rice, and thoroughly mix it all up. One essential ingredient is kimchi. . .

+ Kimchi is a staple and cultural pillar. Fermented (or salted) vegetables, it is most usually cabbage or radish. It will be well seasoned, usually with garlic, chili and ginger. Pick it up delicately with your chopsticks.

+ To eat Korean meals, you usually get a pair of stainless-steel chopsticks and a spoon. The chopsticks are for picking up food from dishes; the spoon is for rice and soup. A couple of tips: don’t hold your chopsticks and spoon at the same time (a dining faux pas), and never, ever use your chopsticks like skewers.

ON THE LIST

+ Jeju Global National Geopark has 12 sites, which include lava tubes that visitors can walk inside. There’s a curated, reproduced version of some of this at the island’s World Natural Heritage Centre, along with other information and displays about islands geology and nature.

+ Hyeobjae Beach and Gwangchigi Beach are among those that we visit. They don’t rival Cottesloe, but they do give a breath of fresh air and opportunities for people-watching.

+ The Windmill Coast has lines of wind turbines offshore — part of the Jeju Island commitment to renewable energy and a carbon neutral future. Only about 20 per cent currently comes from renewable sources, but the government of Jeju Island has a vision for “Jeju 2035 carbon neutrality”.

GET GUIDED

My recommendation for English-speaking tours is with Yeha Tour.

A nine-hour private tour of Jeju Island with an English-speaking guide is $US250 per person. It is in an air-conditioned vehicle, with pickup and including lunch. There are two itineraries to choose from. One visits Seongsan Ilchulbong Peak, Jeju Haenyeo Museum, Seongeup Folk Village, Gwangchigi Beach. The other includes Hwansang Forest, Hallim Park, Hyeopjae Beach, O’sulloc Tea Museum and Suweolbong.

There are also bus tours, with a choice of three routes, but be sure to ask for an English speaking guide. They are $US99 per adult. yehatour.com

GOODBYE FOR NOW

As I leave again (with Casey somewhere beneath me in the Scoot plane’s hold, of course), I look down on the productive land — all those little handkerchiefs of cabbages (some destined to become kimchi), lengths of greenhouses and shadehouses, of personalised agriculture and horticulture, and offshore wind farms.

Jeju Island is not “the Hawaii of Asia” for me. It is not even quite South Korea; the Republic of Korea. Officially this oval, face-shaped place is “Jeju Island Special Self-Governing Province” — and everything about that seems true. Yes, it is special. And yes, there does seem to be an independence, determination and self-determination about the place. And it is provincial, in a good way.

+ Stephen Scourfield was a guest of Jeju Tourism Organisation and Scoot. They have not influenced or read this story before publication.

fact file

+ There’s more about Jeju Island at visitjeju.net/en.

+ Jeju Island is a six-hour direct flight from Singapore with low-cost carrier Scoot, after a five-hour flight from Perth. Plan and book Scoot flights to Singapore, Jeju Island (direct from Singapore) and other destinations at flyscoot.com.