Geojedo (Geoje Island)

Geojedo is South Korea's second-largest island after Jeju, covering about 380 km². A ria coastline more than 443 km long winds around it, forming pebble beaches, rocky islets and sea cliffs, and the island has seen several chapters of Korean history: naval battles of the Imjin War, a huge Korean War prisoner-of-war camp and some of the world's biggest shipyards. It is a short drive from Busan over the Geoga Bridge, which makes it a good base for the south coast.

The island is mountainous, with steep ridges rising right behind the shore. Its highest peak, Garasan at the southern tip, is 580 m or 585 m high, depending on the source. The southern waters around Haegeumgang belong to the Geoje–Haegeumgang district of Hallyeo Maritime National Park, designated in 1968 as Korea's second national park and its first marine one.

History: an island of sea battles and a POW camp

The island is thought to have been home to Dongno, one of the Byeonhan states of the Samhan period, and it has been called Geoje since 757, under the Silla king Gyeongdeok. Being close to Japan, it suffered frequent raids by Japanese pirates during the Joseon era. During the Imjin War, the Battle of Okpo was fought off its coast in 1592 and the Battle of Chilcheollyang in 1597.

During the Korean War the UN forces built a prisoner-of-war camp around today's Gohyeon-dong, holding up to 173,000 North Korean and Chinese prisoners. Opened in February 1951, it was divided into four enclosures of 6,000 prisoners each and 28 compounds, and among the inmates were 300 women. Bloody clashes broke out between prisoners who wanted to go home and those who refused repatriation, and on 7 May 1952 inmates even kidnapped the camp commander, Brigadier General Dodd. Large shipyards opened in the 1970s and early 1980s and the population grew fast; in 1995 Jangseungpo City and Geoje County merged to form today's Geoje City. Two South Korean presidents, Kim Young-sam and Moon Jae-in, were born here.

What to see

• Haegeumgang: rocky islets off Nambu-myeon, designated a Scenic Site in 1971. The name means "Geumgang Mountains of the sea"; it is called Geoje Haegeumgang to distinguish it from the coast of the same name at Mount Kumgang in North Korea. Sheer cliffs and sea caves carved by the waves, above all the "Cross Cave", are best seen from a cruise boat.
• Oedo: a small island about 4 km south-east of Haegeumgang. In 1969 Lee Chang-ho and Choi Ho-suk fell for it, bought it and planted 3,000 citrus trees and 8,000 cypresses as a windbreak on its sweet-potato fields. When the farm failed, they turned it into a marine botanical garden, which opened in 1995; thanks to the mild sea climate, palms, agaves and yuccas grow outdoors. The final episode of the TV drama "Winter Sonata" was filmed here.
• Hakdong Black Pearl Pebble Beach: about 1.2 km of black pebbles instead of sand. The sound of the waves rolling the pebbles was chosen as one of Korea's 100 natural sounds, and the camellia forest behind the beach is a Natural Monument, flowering from late February to March, and the forest is a known breeding site of the fairy pitta. The beach is usually open for swimming from late June to late August.
• Windy Hill (Baram-ui Eondeok) and Dojangpo: a grassy headland in Nambu-myeon with wide sea views, good for an easy walk. Boats to Oedo leave from Dojangpo Port below it.
• POW camp remains: parts of the camp buildings survive around Gohyeon-dong and were designated a South Gyeongsang Cultural Heritage Material in 1983.
• Beaches: Gujora, Wahyeon and Myeongsa are popular summer beaches on the south coast.

Good to know

For a long time the only way onto Geojedo was by boat. The 740-metre Geoje Bridge first linked it to the mainland in 1971, and the New Geoje Bridge followed in 1999. Smaller neighbouring islands were linked one by one: Chilcheondo in 2000, Gajodo in 2009 and Sandaldo in 2018. The Geoga Bridge, opened in December 2010, is 8.2 km long in total: a 3.5 km cable-stayed section, a 3.7 km immersed tunnel sunk onto the seabed and a 1 km land tunnel. It was the first immersed tunnel in Korea, and it cut the bus journey between Gohyeon Terminal and Busan's Sasang Terminal from about three hours to one hour 20 minutes.

Tripto tips

• Getting there: there is no railway on the island. Take a bus from Busan's Sasang Intercity Bus Terminal or from Seoul to Gohyeon Terminal in Geoje, or drive over the Geoga Bridge (toll) or the Geoje Bridge. The bus from Seoul takes about 4.5 hours. Since 2014 a direct express bus has also run from Hadan Station on Busan's subway over the Geoga Bridge to Jangmok, Okpo and Yeoncho. The nearest airport is Sacheon, about an hour by car, and Gimhae Airport is about 1 hour 20 minutes away via the Geoga Bridge.
• Getting around: local buses run infrequently, so a car is much easier if you want to combine several sights in the south such as Haegeumgang and Windy Hill.
• Boat trips: Haegeumgang and Oedo are usually visited together on cruise boats leaving from piers such as Hakdong and Dojangpo. Sailings depend on the weather, so check the day before.
• Swimming: pebble beaches can get deep suddenly, and on summer afternoons the stones are hot, so bring sandals. Taking pebbles away is not allowed.
• Time needed: the southern coast alone fills a full day; with Oedo, plan two days.