Changkkom

On the shore of Bukchon-ri in Jocheon-eup, Jeju City, a round hole has been punched clean through a lump of black basalt. Like a picture frame, it holds the sea and the small uninhabited islet of Daryeodo. Locals call this rock Changkkom.

A little window in the rock

Changkkom refers to a stone with a hole in it, and it is related to "ttoechangmun", the Jeju word for a small window cut into a door. Among the rough rocks formed where lava met the sea, this is the only one with a hole right through the middle, which makes it easy to spot from a distance. Stand in front of the hole, look out to sea, and Daryeodo, about 700 m offshore, and the breakwater sit neatly inside the round frame.

A scene in the drama Extraordinary Attorney Woo, in which lawyer Jung Myung-seok looks back on his marriage, was filmed here. There are no visitor facilities here, just a rock on the village shore, with no ticket booth, only the sound of the waves.

Around the rock

• Bukchon coastal wall: a stone rampart still runs along the shore west of Changkkom. Jeju's coastal walls (hwanhaejangseong) once ran for about 120 km around the island. They were begun in 1270, during the Goryeo period, when the court sent General Go Yeo-rim with 1,000 soldiers to keep the Sambyeolcho rebels from landing, only for the Sambyeolcho to take Jeju and use the walls themselves. They were repaired against Japanese pirates and foreign ships until the end of the Joseon era, and Bukchon is one of the stretches that survive well enough to be protected as Jeju heritage.
• Yongmul: a spring where fresh groundwater wells up close to the sea. Clear pools among black rocks make it a popular photo spot.
• Neobeunsungi 4·3 Memorial Hall: about 1.3 km away. On 17 January 1949, during the Jeju April 3 events, hundreds of Bukchon-ri residents were killed in a single day; sources put the toll at around 300 or around 400. The village is the setting of Hyun Ki-young's novella Sun-i Samchon (1978), and beside the hall are the "children's graves", stone mounds where the bodies of children were hastily buried and left as they were, along with a stone carved with lines from the novel. The memorial hall opened in 2009 and reopened with new exhibitions in December 2025. Coming here after the calm sea at Changkkom gives you a much fuller sense of what this village has been through.

Tripto tips

• Taking photos: look through the hole from the landward side and Daryeodo sits inside the frame. For the reverse shot, one person sits in the hole while the other shoots from the sea side.
• Hours and fees: open 24 hours and free. There is no dedicated car park; if you park on the village lanes, do not block residents' access.
• Time needed: 20–30 minutes for the rock alone, about an hour if you walk on to the coastal wall and Yongmul.
• Watch out: the ground is uneven basalt and slippery when wet. Wear trainers rather than sandals, and stay off the outer rocks when the waves are high.
• Combine it with: Hamdeok Beach, about 3 km to the west, for a half day on Jeju's northeast coast.