Tag: Jeju

This will likely be the first of many visits by US ships to the controversial ROK naval base on Jeju island:

A US Aegis destroyer visited South Korea’s naval base on the southern resort island of Jeju on Saturday, becoming the first foreign warship to visit the base since it opened in February last year, officials said.

The 8,400-ton USS Stethem arrived at the base at around 9:50 a.m. for a two-day stay, after participating in the Foal Eagle joint military drills with South Korea in the East Sea from March 17-21, according to the officials.

The soldiers will take part in various programs to boost ties between the two countries and rest before heading back to the vessel’s home port in Japan, they said.

The residents of a nearby village held a press conference and protested the ship’s entry, saying it would bring “catastrophe” to the “peaceful” island.   [Korea Herald]

You can read more at the link.

A street located on the southern resort island of Jeju remains silent on March 4, 2017, after China reportedly ordered local travel agencies to stop selling tour products for South Korea. China has been expressing strong hostility toward South Korea’s decision to allow the deployment of an advanced U.S. missile defense system in the country. (Yonhap)

Here is a real dirtbag that hopefully will be spending the rest of his life in prison:

A man who killed his pregnant girlfriend also attempted to murder his ex-lover, a court said Monday.

Daejeon High Court, sitting as an appeal court, sentenced the man, 37, whose name has been withheld, to 35 years’ jail, increasing the initial 30-year sentence because of his “inhumane sin.”

The court said the man went to Jeju Island with his girlfriend last November to search for a place to open a restaurant. The couple spent a night at a motel and next morning had an argument over financial issues. The man then tried to strangle the woman because she “disrespected him.” When he found she was not dead, he made another attempt using a hairdryer cord.

The man then put the woman’s body into their rental car and set the vehicle alight to make her death look like it was the result of an accident. [Korea Times]

You can read the rest at the link, but the guy was recently out of prison for trying to kill his ex-girlfriend.

A farm on the southern Jeju Island is covered in tangerine peels laid out in the field to dry on Dec. 7, 2016. Dried tangerine peels are a popular tea ingredient. (Yonhap)

South Korea has another cultural property recognized by UNESCO:

Female divers of Jeju Island made it into the UNESCO’ cultural heritage list Thursday, boosting South Koreans’ hopes to preserve the traditional symbol of women’s empowerment and attract more tourists to the resort island.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization on Wednesday added “haenyeo,” or sea women, to its list of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity during a session in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

It marks Korea’s 19th cultural asset to win the world body’s heritage status.

UNESCO’s intangible cultural heritage committee said the haenyeo culture shows a region’s unique cultural identity and cultural diversity. The listing is expected to raise awareness of the importance of jobs for women and promote communication with other communities with traditions similar to haenyeo, it said.

The world organization also said the haenyeo culture reflects female empowerment, best represented by haenyeo’s inclusion in the workforce.  [Yonhap]

You can read more at the link.

Via a reader tip comes this news of Chinese tourists behaving badly in Jeju again:

Jeju airport is grappling with overflowing garbage from Chinese tourists.

Gates for international flights on the third floor of Jeju International Airport are teeming with rubbish from duty free goods purchased by Chinese tourists, according to Jeju newspaper Jemin Ilbo.

When tourists purchase duty free goods outside the airport, they have to pick them up from a designated area at the departure gate. The problem arises when the tourists rip the wrapping from the items at the gate before boarding, to reduce their size and weight. Then they leave the rubbish on the floor.

Staff from duty free shops and cleaners have asked Chinese tourists to use dumpsters, and even gave them garbage bags. The Korea Airports Corporation in Jeju has also taken action by increasing the number of cleaners at the gate from two to three.

“We will keep reinforcing the sanitation team at the gates for international flights,” an official from the airport told The Korea Times.  [Korea Times via reader tip]

You can read more at the link.

Jeju's haenyeo are one step closer to making the #UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage list after a recommendation from a subcommittee. #Jeju pic.twitter.com/Pu4ekS66IU

— The Jeju Weekly (@JejuWeekly) November 1, 2016

Tangerine farmers on the country’s resort island of Jeju harvest the ripened fruit on Oct. 30, 2016. (Yonhap)

It looks like this how the ROK government has decided to show its citizens that is doing something about the amount of crime committed by Chinese tourists on Jeju island:

According to the Beijing News and other local Chinese newspapers on Sunday, over 100 Chinese tourists were refused entrance to Jeju Island by Korean immigration authorities over China’s week-long national holiday last week, and the tourists were reportedly detained at the Jeju International Airport for hours, some even days, before returning to China.

“A number of tourists were refused entry for various reasons, and detained [at the airport],” the Beijing News reported on Sunday. “The room contained simple facilities, like electric outlets, and had no bed or blankets.”

The Chinese paper reported that a Chinese citizen surnamed Zhang and his wife were detained at the airport because they could not provide papers for their accommodation reservations at the island.

The paper added that over 100 Chinese tourists were detained at Jeju International Airport during the national holidays, staying at most five days.   [Joong Ang Ilbo]

You can read more at the link.

The police on Jeju have launched a crackdown on Chinese tourists due to them committing 95% of petty crime by foreigners on Jeju island:

In downtown Jeju on Sunday night, booming sounds echoed down the streets as three drunken Chinese men pounded on a video arcade in front of a game room. A few passing women were so startled they let out shouts of surprise, but the men only kept on whooping loudly.

“After a Korean woman was murdered in a cathedral in Jeju,” said Park Soo-jung, a 32-year-old resident of Jeju, “seeing big Chinese men scares me.”

On Sept. 22 in Yeon-dong of Jeju, an area often crowded with Chinese visitors, police officers tried to prevent two Chinese tourists from jaywalking.

“Do not jaywalk!” the officers called out to them in Mandarin Chinese.

One of them, a 42-year-old Chinese man surnamed Ma, reportedly answered, “Why are you picking on us when everyone else is jaywalking?”

Ma was charged 20,000 won ($18.26) for breaking the law. He was just one of about 40 found jaywalking within two hours in downtown Jeju.

“After the cathedral incident, we’ve heightened the crackdown against crimes committed by Chinese tourists,” said Kim Chang-hyun, head of a local police team in Jeju. “Once the sun sets, I start worrying what kind of crimes committed by Chinese tourists I’ll be seeing that night.”  [Joong Ang Ilbo]

You can read more at the link.