The Jeju Weekly Issue 69

Vol. IV No. 69

FRIDAY, March 9, 2012

Parties name their choices for Jeju’s three National Assembly seats

angelakim@jejuweekly.com

With political parties announcing their candidates for the 19th general election, many politicians on Jeju are feeling slighted by their own parties and are hinting at running as independents.

In Jeju there are three seats up for grabs, two in Jeju City and one in Seogwipo City.

On Feb. 24, the Democratic United Party (DUP) announced its official nominations.

For Jeju City District A, Kang Chang Il, 60, was named. For District B, the party selected two candidates Kim Woo Nam, 56,

and Oh Young Hoon, 43, for nomination.

From March 8 to March 10, the party will collect online and offline votes. A decision will be made based on the candidate’s approval rating.

Also on the 24th, the DUP named Kim Jae Yoon, 46, for the Seogwipo City seat despite comparable approval ratings held by other candidates.

According to a recent survey with a 95 percent confidence level and a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points conducted by J-nuri, Media Jeju, and Jeju Today, with a sample of 500 randomly Continued on page 2

‘It was a great struggle. But it was worth it’ Meet a remarkable haenyeo who dove Jeju’s waters for over 70 years

By Song Hannim contributor@jejuweekly.com

www.jejuweekly.com

Publisher : Song Jung Hee Editor-in-Chief : Todd Thacker Assistant Editor : Darryl Coote Designer : Yi Miri Address : Rm. 306 Jeju Venture Maru Bldg. 217 Jungang-ro, Jeju City, Korea Phone : +82-64-724-7776, 702-8885 / Fax : +82-64-724-7796

Candidates clash in April 11 selection

By Angela Kim

Spring has sprung A light rain falls on spring flowers at Gwaneum Temple at the foot of Mt. Halla.

Photo by Douglas MacDonald (Flickr.com/photos/dmacs_photos)

All along the black basalt shores of Jeju stand haenyeo, the women divers who embody the island’s living history. They plunge into the sea, breaths held, searching the ocean floor for seaweed, abalone, octopus, and more.

The sea is numbingly cold, but that does not stop these women from going into the water.

Many serve as the main breadwinners for their families. In a Confucian culture where men were the heads of the households, the haenyeo are a rare example of Jeju matriarchy.

So Ae Soon, 87, is possibly the most senior haenyeo on Jeju. She has lived her entire life in Hado village, on the northeast of the island not far from Seongsan Sunrise Peak. Diving from the age of 15, she has spent over 70 years underwater harvesting sea products and selling them to support her family.

“It was a tough life that no youngling these days would understand,” said So. “My body wasn’t strong enough to get into the deep water, so gathering seaweed and mostly agars was my main harvest.” With the small amount of money she earned from selling these at the local market, she managed to raise seven children who are now happily living with children of their own on Jeju.

In her late teens, she experienced the devastating Japanese colonization period in Continued on page 3

02 Jeju Now

The Jeju Weekly

FRIDAY, March 9, 2012

INSIDE Jeju Now

page 4 Saenuri Party

SickKids - JDC MOU

In Focus

page 5

Song Bong Gyu’s ‘frontier spirit’

Culture

page 6

Horse meat and health

Opinion page 7 Departing Jeju with three lessons learned Book Reviews

page 10

Continued from page 1 selected potential voters, Kim Jae Yoon is leading the group with an approval rating of 29.2 percent, closely followed by Moon Dae Lim, 46, (22.4 percent) and Ko Chang Hu, 47, (10.8 percent).

Soon after Kim Jae Yoon’s nomination, he issued a press release thanking rivals Moon Dae Lim, Ko Chang Hu, and Yang Yoon Young “for competing in good faith” and emphasized that “All three candidates are valuable assets for Jeju’s development. If we all put our hands together, we could win.”

Ko and Moon strongly disagreed with their party’s decision.

At a press conference on Feb. 27, Ko announced his decision to leave DUP and run for Seogwipo City without any party affiliation. Two days later Moon also held a press conference, asking DUP to reconsider its nomination and to hold a primary election within the district.

Moon argued that the party’s decision is in violation of the “Seogwipo citizens’ right to choose.” The following Monday, however, his request was overruled.

Shortly after the party’s ruling, Moon wrote on his Facebook page, “I will not be discouraged … [I] will not give up,” implying he might leave the party to run for election as an independent.

On March 5, the Saenuri Party (the ruling party, previously known as the Grand National Party — Hannara) also announced its second batch of nominations for the 19th National Assembly Election.

For Jeju City District A, Hyung Kyung Dae,

NEW SERIES ‘Nothing to Envy’ (2009) & ‘Waking Up in the Land of the Morning Calm’ (2011)

Seogwipo Spots

page 11

Democratic United Party

By Angela Kim

www.jejuweekly.com

This is the first in a series of articles by staff reporter Angela Kim on the state of garbage collection, disposal, and recycling in Jeju. — Ed.

My Jeju

page 13

United’s lone Australian

Music

page 14

Indie stars play Jeju

Unified Progressive Party

73, and Kang Moon Won, 52, will be subject to a nomination contest. The final nominee will be chosen via telephone survey, and announced by March 18. The two rejected candidates — Jang Dong Hoon, 47, and Shin Bang Sik, 34 — are both uneasy with the party’s decision.

According to the recent survey, Jang’s approval rating was relatively higher than that of Kang Dong Hoon. But, Kang Chang Il (DUP) had the highest approval rating with 36.6 percent, followed by Hyun Kyung Dae (Saenuri Party – 14.8 percent) and Jang Dong Hoon (Saenuri Party – 14.6 percent). Shin Bang Sik had an approval rating of 7.6 percent, and Kang Moon Won had 7.2 percent.

On the morning following Saenuri’s announcement, Jang Dong Hoon held a press conference at which he asked the party t0 reconsider its decision. He asked for an explanation within 24 hours.

Shin quoted Socrates: “The law is harsh, but it is the law,” at his press conference on March 7, accepting the result of the nomi-

As of this writing (the afternoon of March 7), Saenuri has yet to release its nomination for the Seogwipo City district. Currently, three candidates (Kang Ji Yong, 52, Kim Jung Sik, 53, and Jeong Eun Seok, 50) have submitted their applications to run for the party. Also, Ko Chang Hu and Moon Dae Lim have announced a single candidacy agreement. Please go to our Web site for all the latest developments. — Ed.

Korean National Assembly seats top 300 On Feb. 27, the Korean National Assembly decided on election district partitions and the number of assembly seats. There will be 300 seats, with 246 to be held by regional representatives and 54 by proportional representatives. Out of 174 lawmakers in attendance, 92 voted yes to the changes, 39 voted no, and 43 abstained.

It was decided that election districts in Paju, Gyeonggi, and Wonju, Gangwon, will each be divided into two. And a new district will be added in Sejong City, Chungnam. Gyeonggi and Jeolla provinces will each lose a district.

The number of seats in the Korean National Assembly has gradually increased since 2000, when it was reduced from 299 to 273 due to the IMF crisis. For the 17th general election, the assembly brought the number of seats back to 299. In 2008, the assembly reduced the number of proportional representatives from 56 to 54, yet maintaining the total number of 299 seats.

How much do you know about Jeju waste disposal?

angelakim@jejuweekly.com

Surf-themed eatery Soesokkak Stone Café

New Progressive Party

nation. He added, “I respect the constitution and regulations of the party.”

There are three specific reasons for the party’s decision to hold nomination contests.

Most of the time they are called when the party deems two candidates equally matched.

Next, when there is a field of candidates with high approval ratings, nomination contests discourage defections that can negatively impact the party’s approval rating. Lastly, a contest is held in districts where the party is faring badly, so as to increase its profile among the public.

Boo Sang Il, 40, will represent Saenuri in Jeju City District B and will compete against the winner of DUP’s primary election — either Kim Woo Nam or Oh Young Hoon. The New Progressive Party will be represented by Jun Woo Hong, 49, and Kang Jung Hee, 57, will run as an independent.

With Jeju earning a UNESCO-affiliated “Triple Crown” title for designation as a Biosphere Reserve (2002), a World Natural Heritage (2007), and becoming part of the Global Geopark Network (2010), most people think of Jeju as free of pollution.

However, with the island’s population nearing 600,000 and roughly 10,000 travelers arriving each day, Jeju generates more garbage than the national average.

According to government statistics, the national average for waste generated daily by a single person is 1.04 kilograms. Jeju has a slightly higher average of 1.07 kilograms per person.

The amount of domestic waste Jeju produces per day has gradually increased from 580 tons in 2006 to 649 tons in 2010 (not including the roughly 195 tons of food waste collected each day). There are over 400 full-time sanitation workers.

As some early birds may have noticed, starting at 6 a.m. garbage trucks pick up sorted waste from designated collection areas (called “Clean Houses”) set up in neighbor-

hoods around the island. Combustible waste is sent directly to incineration plants (accounting for 28 percent of total waste yearly) and incombustible waste (19.1 percent of the total) to one of the island’s 10 landfills. The Jeju government used to dump waste at sea, but stopped this practice in 2006.

There are five landfills each in Seogwipo and Jeju cities. Jeju landfills take up 323,509 square meters and have a capacity of 2.6 million cubic meters of waste. At present, the island’s landfills are 84 percent full.

Recyclable waste is dropped off at sorting facilities where eight categories of materials like paper, scrap metal, iron, plastics, glass bottles, and Styrofoam are sorted then sold to recycling companies on the island for profit.

Last year, the provincial government reported about 52 percent of all domestic waste was recycled.

Some 95 percent of food waste is recycled.

The rest is incinerated. Annually, Jeju City’s Food Waste Resource Recovery Center processes 4,300 tons of food waste and turns it into 4,775 tons of fertilizer, which is then sold back to the public.

However, due to a lack of infrastructure, most medical waste, asbestos, and engine oil are currently taken to the mainland for processing. About 564 tons of medical waste and asbestos from Jeju are processed on the mainland every year.

“Regardless of some issues, I believe Jeju’s

waste processing system is substantially better compared to others,” said Chief Officer Kim Soo Byung for Jeju City’s Living Environmental Division. “The ‘Clean House’ [system] is a very advanced sanitation facility. It helps Jeju residents be aware and comply.”

Since 2006, the provincial government has invested 21.6 billion won (US$19.3 million) to install 1,406 Clean Houses on the island.

Each unit costs about 15 million won to install and approximately 500,000 won for maintenance a year. Clean Houses are equipped with roofs, garbage bins, surveillance cameras, and lighting. Kim said they have also saved the city money by reducing labor costs.

The program, however, is encountering problems at the grassroots level, with a NIMBY (Not In My Back Yard) attitude regarding the sight, smell, and noise associated with Clean Houses on local streets. Additionally, the Clean House system is only effective if citizens play an active role in recycling and garbage disposal.

Jang Yeong Jin, an officer within the Environmental Policy Division of Jeju Special Self-Governing Province, emphasized the role of citizens.

“If residents don’t sort their garbage accordingly at the Clean House, the process is greatly slowed down,” Jang said, adding this results in sanitation workers not being able to keep garbage and recyclables separate.

The Jeju Weekly

FRIDAY, March 9, 2012

Jeju Now 03

‘It was a great struggle.

But it was worth it’ Photo by Song Hannim

Meet a remarkable haenyeo who dove Jeju’s waters for over 70 years

Continued from page 1 Korea between 1910 and 1945.

“The Japanese took over most of the land and harvests that were produced. People were extremely poor, especially food,” said So. “But thankfully, they didn’t bother to take away the sea products that we had collected. I guess they were more interested in things that would make lots of money.”

Although the Japanese occupation might not have affected So directly, the Japanese administrators did take notice of the many resources that Jeju’s ocean had to offer.

Researcher Kwon Mi Seon, from the Jeju Haenyeo Museum, points out that a huge amount of sea resources were taken away

black rubber wetsuits, essential for insulating the diver’s body from the cold ocean.

“Before there was a rubber wetsuit, we wore ‘sog-ot,’ which was a white cloth used to cover parts of our body,” said So. “Of course, it was freezing cold to dive into the water with clothing that was hardly waterproof. But it was part of our job as haenyeo. Withstanding the coldness.”

After a day in the ocean, the haenyeo would gather around a bultuk, or fire place, to change into dry clothes and warm themselves.

This nature-friendly lifestyle of the haenyeo has long been a subject of worldwide interest. However, as the last

www.jejuweekly.com

It was part of our job as haenyeo.

Withstanding the coldness of the ocean by the Japanese during this era. The whole haenyeo community was detrimentally affected by diminished stocks, particularly of abalone and sea slugs.

“This forced some haenyeo to leave Jeju, to dive the ocean around the mainland, and even that of Japan so they could earn a living. It was a way of survival for them.

These haenyeo were called ‘chul-ga haenyeo,’” Kwon said.

Haenyeo garner substantial respect as a Korean cultural asset because they embody the spirit of strong, independent women.

Somewhat overlooked, though, are their diving skills. With just a wetsuit, goggles, fins, and a net, haenyeo manage to stay under water for more than two minutes at a depth of up to 10 meters — all with a single gulp of air. When they resurface, they exhale with a sound that resembles a whistle, locally know as sumbisori.

Mastering these techniques as a modern haenyeo seems tough enough, but back in the old days, it was tougher. There were no

few thousand working haenyeo age, and with few people wanting to take up the occupation, this culture may be nearing its end.

Last year, Jeju decided to promote a fiveyear project to have the haenyeo nominated as a UNESCO World Intangible Cultural Heritage. In order for this to happen, haenyeo culture must first be recognized as a Korean National Intangible Cultural Heritage.

“Someday, haenyeo may no longer be a real job but a mere part of Jeju history,” said So. “But it certainly is a unique culture and technique that needs to be preserved. I would be so proud if the haenyeo’s lives, including mine, would be acknowledged as a world heritage. It was a great struggle.

But it was worth it.”

If you would like to learn more about haenyeo, visit the Haenyeo Museum located in Hado village, in the Gujwa district of Jeju City, or go to www.haenyeo. go.kr (in Korean).

Haenyeo photos by Douglas MacDonald

04 Jeju Now

The Jeju Weekly

MOU to bring SickKids’ know-how to JDC Healthcare Town

Third from left, SickKids CEO and President Mary Jo Haddad stands next to JDC Chairman and CEO Byon Jong Il. Photo courtesy Jeju Free International City Development Center

By Darryl Coote darrylcoote@jejuweekly.com

The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids), a world-renowned medical institution in Toronto, Canada, with the Jeju Free International City Development Center (JDC) have agreed to look for ways

to work together and create a state of the art children’s hospital within the Jeju Healthcare Town through sharing information. The memorandum of understanding (MOU) was signed on Jan. 16 at the hospital in Toronto by SickKids CEO and President Mary Jo Haddad and JDC Chairman and CEO Byon Jong Il. Set upon 1.5 million square meters, the

FRIDAY, March 9, 2012

Jeju Healthcare Town is one of the JDC’s six core investment projects to transform Jeju into a international city and free economic zone (free international city).

The health care town will include a medical resort (Wellness Park), a medical complex (Medical Park), and a medical research complex (R&D Park) and will cost 784.5 billion won (US$701 million).

According to a SickKids’ press release, they are “investigating its potential role in advising on the design, development and implementation of a children’s health-care facility in Jeju Healthcare Town.”

“It will mean a lot that one of the world’s best and most respected children’s medical services is” working with the JDC, said JDC Healthcare Town General Director Boo Won-Kyun to The Weekly about the recently signed MOU. He continued that SickKids collaboration with the JDC will potentially be a huge draw to the town once it opens for people from China and the mainland. SickKids will benefit along with the health care town in that both their reputations will spread throughout Asia.

“The development of this relationship with JDC is part of our broader mandate to be an active participant in the global paediatric advanced care community,” said Raymond King, director of Business Development with the Office of International Affairs at SickKids. “It provides us with the opportunity to share our knowledge and expertise in the field, gained from over 137 years of experience as an institution, so as to fulfill our vision of ‘Healthier Children. A Better World.’”

Boo explained that SickKids will not establish a branch hospital within the

town, but will advise, consult, supply software, and offer their extensive knowledge on child care for the establishment of a children’s hospital on the island.

After the initial stage if there are particular opportunities “to participate in the development and implementation of the paediatric facility, we would then look at formalizing a contract,” King said.

Albert Oh, medical projects dept. assistant manager at the JDC, explained that this means if the two organizations decide to further their relationship and sign a contract that when the hospital is completed it will be locally staffed but the techniques and skills employed will have been developed by SickKids.

“Through SickKids International, we seek to enhance global child health systems while reinvesting in local improvements to benefit children and families here in Ontario,” Haddad said in a press release. “SickKids is pleased to be able to explore opportunities to provide high-quality paediatric advisory services on Jeju Island.”

Oh said that SickKids’ involvement within Jeju Healthcare Town will not only encourage other reputable institutions to become involved in the project but that when the town is complete it “will benefit children patients from nearby countries.”

Founded in 1875, SickKids is a respected not-for-profit hospital and one that has advanced medical care practices for children and is noted for its cutting edge research particularly on genetics. This MOU is only one of several the hospital has made throughout the world with the purpose of improving paediatric care.

Despite costs, seed development key to agricultural competitiveness Researchers at the Citrus Breeding Center and Korea Seed & Variety Service address farmers’ concerns

By Angela Kim

www.jejuweekly.com

angelakim@jejuweekly.com

This is the second of a two-part report on the royalties of certain plant varieties in Jeju. — Ed. As of Jan. 7, 2012, all plant genera and species in Korea fall under plant variety protection, as per the provisions of the International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV) conventions.

About 60 percent of Jeju farmers cultivate the mandarin (Citrus unshiu Marcow), or citrus hybrids like Hallabong.

Approximately 98 percent of citrus grown on Jeju was developed in Japan.

According to the Rural Development Administration (RDA), this could potentially cost Jeju mandarin farmers up to 1 billion won (US$900,000) in royalties within the next 10 years.

Many Jeju farmers worry about the royalties they will be facing. However, The Jeju Weekly interviewed two experts who believe that the costs will not cripple the industry.

Yang Mi Hee, a senior researcher and examiner at the Korea Seed & Variety Service (KSVS), emphasized that the goal of plant variety protection is “to increase agricultural productivity to better farmers’ lives.”

For farmers, the price of seed may increase in the short term, but in the long term, intense competition will eventually reduce costs.

“The farmers’ concerns over royalties have radically simmered down compared to that of 2002,” said Park Young Chul, a researcher at the Citrus Breeding Center within the Jeju Special Self-Governing Province Agricultural Research and Extension Services.

Currently, a mandarin tree costs about 7,000 won. Park

estimates royalties to be around 10 percent of the tree cost.

He believes that this is “affordable.”

Both experts strongly emphasized the importance of the plant breeding industry. Park explained it was “necessary for the Korean agricultural industry to move forward,” while Yang said, “Seed breeding is a fundamental element in agriculture.”

In developed countries, about 30 percent of breeders are private, yet in Korea about 90 percent of breeding occurs in government facilities. Upon joining UPOV in 2002, the RDA began to sponsor plant variety breeding and development. To foster the plant breeding industry, the Korean government had established the Seed Center under KSVS to provide private breeders with information, findings, and techniques.

Starting this year, the Korean government will be investing 491 billion won ($440 million) over the next 10 years into the Golden Seed Project, which also includes the mandarin. The Golden Seed Project is a governmentcentered seed breeding program to develop plant varieties, especially those farmers heavily rely on overseas, to increase exports. Mandarins are one of the 20 strategic items.

The provincial government is also striving to achieve two main goals: breeding, and improving the quality of currently planted varieties.

Plant breeding processes are rather complicated. On average, a mandarin tree takes about seven to 10 years from seeding to blooming. Five more years are required after flowers bloom to examine the quality of the fruit.

“That’s why Jeju, or Korea, should invest more on plant breeding now than later,” said Park.

Early last year, the Citrus Breeding Center was established by the provincial government under Jeju Special Self-Governing Province Agricultural Research &

Photo by Cho Gyewon

Extension Services (ARES).

The Citrus Breeding Center uses the “cuttage” technique, which utilizes cut branches as seedlings to save time.

Every year, researchers go around Jeju farms looking for mandarin trees with “mutant branches.”

In 2006, Jeju ARES successfully developed sangdo josaeng after nine years. As of Feb. 2012, 12,000 seedlings of the breed were distributed to Jeju farmers free of charge.

The Citrus Breeding Center plans to register three more Citrus unshiu Marcow with KSVS by 2014.

“I wouldn’t worry about royalties,” Park said, referring to the concerns of mandarin farmers. Out of the 15 species of mandarin on Jeju, only six are left unregistered and are still in the grace period. However, those six are planted in less than 100 hectares.

“We expect the impact to be minimal,” he said.

Yang also had advice for farmers: “When one is planning to renew species grown in a farm, he or she should doublecheck the breeder’s rights and registration.”

An interview with Hallim Park founder and octogenarian, Song Bong Gyu angelakim@jejuweekly.com

The octogenarian founder of Jeju’s largest tourist attraction has spent his life thinking big.

Song Bong Gyu created Hallim Park on a vast 300 km2 expanse of empty, sandy land on the northwest of the island beginning some 50 years ago. He used “frontier spirit” to transform it into a destination of nine gardens with unique themes that attracts an average of 1 million visitors a year.

But his contributions and community spirit began long before the idea of the park.

“I’ve done everything to better Hallim,” Song told The Weekly at his office in the park.

Like many Koreans born in the early part of the 20th century, Song has a long and storied past.

During the Second World War, he went to elementary school in Japan.

When the war ended, he returned to Jeju and graduated from Jeju Agricultural High School (now called Jeju High School). He entered Sungkyungwan University in Seoul to study political science, but then in 1950 the Korean War began forcing him to drop out.

Looking for ways to contribute to the community, he took up teaching science at Hallim Middle School in 1951.

“I was teaching a chapter on electricity, but then realized that there’s no electricity in Hallim. It was impossible for students to understand the concept of electricity without seeing it,” he recalled.

His frontier spirit saw the light.

With a group of students, he began to collect recyclable waste to raise money to buy an electric generator. In the end, he and his students not only managed to buy a generator, but also to purchase equipment for the school broadcasting system.

As a new teacher, he proposed to his colleagues the idea of building a technical high school in Hallim. All 15 teachers at Hallim Middle School thought Jeju first and foremost needed an agricultural high school. To persuade students and their parents, he paid a visit to each house every day after school.

A year later, with the support of students, parents, and the governor, Hallim Technical High School was built.

“To this day, alumni of the high school play key roles in Jeju’s development,” said Song.

His active participation within the community led him to be elected in August of 1956 as the youngest provincial assemblyman.

In the summer of 1970, as a member of the governor’s advisory group, he was given a chance to go to Osaka, Japan.

Coincidentally, “Expo ’70” was being held there at the same time. Among many exhibitions, Japanese-style

gardens drew his attention. He took hundreds of photos.

“I knew what Jeju needed.” He was confident back then, and he is still.

A year later, he poured all his money in the purchase of 29 hectares of land in his hometown.

“I bought the land only to realize that it was wasteland. Everyone said I was out of my mind, even my family,” he said.

“There was nothing here, but I knew it would be a great spot for a park.”

One of Song’s fellow octogenarians and friend, Kimnyoung Maze Park founder Frederic Dustin, witnessed his plan for the park when it was still a dream. In an email to The Weekly, Dustin described Hallim Park as “undoubtedly Jeju’s crowning achievement for one-stop floral diversity, meandering pathways ... and eye-catching beauty almost any time of the year.”

But this wasn’t apparent in 1963 or ’64 when Dustin, Song, a US Aid officer, and an official from the Cultural Properties department of the Jeju Education Office visited the site by Jeep.

“Arriving in a wild, vast, wind-blown expanse of sand-dunes, some dwarfing the Jeep and even Mr. Hyon — who must have been at least a full six feet tall — we were met by Mr. Song and off we went, trudging for some time through the white, clinging, wind-driven sands,” Dustin recalled. “Mr. Song quietly exclaimed, sweeping his arms to include all that was visible, ‘I will make this whole area into a beautiful, landscaped park’ and I thought to myself ‘utter madness!’”

With a truck, Song went to the park everyday and one by one picked the black basalt stones from the sandy soil.

Then he bought some land near Isdore Farm where all farm animal excrement ended up. He drove to Isdore Farm several times a day to bring fertilizer back to the park.

The toughest part of all, he said, was to provide enough water for the vegetation at a time when there were no waterworks. He had to manually pump water from a well and carry it over to the plants every day.

“I could only sleep well when it rained,” he said. But Song believes that he was “lucky.” When the plants needed rain, like just after the planting of flowers or trees, he said it would usually rain.

He also cited his luck when, in 1983, no one on his team was injured while they tried to link the Hyeopjae Cave and the Double Dragon Cave.

“I would have quit the whole project if

Song Bong Gyu Photo by Angela Kim

someone got hurt. But I knew that god was on my side,” said Song.

“There were other obstacles on the way, but I overcame all of it. After the park officially opened to the public in 1982, everything went very smoothly,” he said. At one point, the visitor count for a single day hit 13,600.

“By 2001, the [operation of] the park was stable. I wanted to give something more to society,” he said, referring to his establishment of a scholarship foundation. In 2001, celebrating his 70th birthday, he established the Jaeam Culture Foundation to help those in need. Every year he donates 100 million won to the foundation, which then distributes the funds to scholars, students, and organizations on Jeju.

“It is my way of paying back to those who helped me. I could not have done it alone. Countless people have helped me through the process,” Song said, pointing out that many people have donated their rock and bonsai collections to the park, among other philanthropic gestures.

As a strong believer of frontier spirit, Song expressed concern about the younger generation, their place in society, and the status quo.

“Many people settle too easily, and do not challenge themselves enough,” he said, adding that “frontier spirit does not mean abandoning your hometown to be a greater person. Everything has to come from and go back to the community.”

To learn more about Hallim Park, go to www.hallimpark.co.kr.

By Angela Kim

‘Frontier spirit’ helps build Jeju’s largest tourist attraction www.jejuweekly.com

In Focus 05

The Jeju Weekly

FRIDAY, March 9, 2012

A waterfall on the grounds of Hallim Park Photo by Darryl Coote

06 Culture

The Jeju Weekly

FRIDAY, March 9, 2012

Jeju horse meat culture and health

By Oh Young Joo contributor@jejuweekly.com

Professor Oh Young Joo is author of “Understanding Jeju Food Culture” and “Horsemeat Dishes for Health,” and is a specialist in Jeju local cuisine. He teaches nutrition at Cheju Halla University. — Ed. Horse farming on Jeju started in 1276 when Yuan Kublai Khan, grandson of Genghis Khan, occupied the island and brought with him some 160 horses by ship. The horses were put to pasture around the eastern village of Susan. It was a big success.

The Mongolians then built and operated massive ranches for their military horses and ever since then Jeju has been Korea’s largest horse supplier. There is even a Jeju saying: “Send a horse to Jeju, and send a man to Hanyang [Seoul],” meaning that the island’s weather and environment are ideal for raising horses, and its people have outstanding skills breeding them.

www.jejuweekly.com

Horse meat consumption culture from Mongolia Historically, Jeju people respected the horse for its many uses. They were used for food, transportation and communication, during wars, and for commerce. To the people of Jeju, its skin, fat, milk, bones, hair, urine, and feces were put to use, whether as food or for military or medicinal applications. But before the Mongolian invasion, Jeju citizens used horses only for transportation. Then, the citizens of Jeju noticed that the Mongolians slaughtered and ate the weak and older horses and from then on, eating

horse meat spread throughout the island.

In Mongolian culture, honored guests were treated to horse meat and during weddings the bride and groom may receive the head of a horse as a gift. Horses were offered as sacrifices to the gods.

During the Goryeo Dynasty (918-1392), Koreans held feasts with horse meat to honor the Yuan envoy. Jeju presented horse meat jerky to the palace’s ancestral rites table during the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910).

When horses were in short supply, King Sejong, well-known for his management of Jeju horses, would restrict the butchering and consumption of horse meat. In fact, he exiled 650 Jeju citizens for eating horse meat to Pyeongan-do, an area in the north of the Korean peninsula known then as the “harsh land.” After that, eating horse meat became one of the great taboos in Korea, reinforced by the saying, “If you eat horse meat you will have bad luck for three years.”

Despite the king’s efforts, he could not

Spicy horse meat stew Ingredients horse sirloin 600g, dried red pepper 20g, cinnamon 10g, fennel (spice) 10g, small green onion 15g, ginger 15g, clear rice wine 20g

stop people from eating horse.

At that time famines were common in Jeju because the island experienced frequent natural disasters. So the people of Jeju risked punishment from their government and ate horse to combat hunger. Along with famine, the Jeju people experienced poverty and many people would pull together to buy a single horse.

Under the Japanese colonial rule, the Japanese built a horse meat processing plant in Hallim and manufactured canned meat as war supplies during the Pacific War. Horse meat dishes and health Jeju people love horse meat. There is a saying: “Beef is not enough for a meal but horse meat is enough.”

Horse meat is a tasty, nutritious food, and slightly sweet due to glycogen, a type of sugar the animal creates and stores for energy. Horse meat contains three times the amount of glycogen than beef or pork.

Horse meat is high in protein but low in

1. Dice the meat into big pieces. Add the diced meat to clear rice wine, ginger, small green onion mix.

Refrigerate for 12 hours.

2. Deep fry the meat in oil at 180°C. 3. Add 500 ml of water, ginger, dried red pepper, onion, cinnamon, fennel, salt, and soy sauce to the frying pan and boil.

4. Simmer for 90 minutes.

(Translation by Yang Young Jae)

crown daisy 30g, 1/4 block tofu, 1 shiitake mushroom, shredded devil’s tongue jelly 50g, 1/4 onion, clear rice wine 140ml, soy sauce 125ml, sugar 100g, soybean paste 15g 1. Mix clear rice wine, soy sauce, sugar, and soybean paste and set

Horse meat hot pot

to boil to create the sauce.

2. Cut the Chinese cabbage leaf into 7 by 4 centimeters. Cut onion, green onion, and shiitake mushroom.

3. Soak the crown daisy in cold water.

4. Dice tofu into 3 by 4 centimeters and fry. Blanch the shredded devil’s tongue jelly.

5. Slice the meat.

6. Fry the vegetables and the meat.

When cooked, pour the sauce from step 1 on top and let simmer.

Ingredients lean horse meat 200g, Chinese cabbage leaf 40g, green onion 60g,

Jeju should add 2 more ‘plenties’ to its traditional 3, says scholar

By Angela Kim angelakim@jejuweekly.com

Jeju is known for its three plenties — stone, wind, and women. Yet, Jeju Culture Research Institution President Kim Yoo Jeong posits a novel idea.

With his recently published book “Jeju’s Natural Characteristics and Tombs” (2011), Kim argues that Jeju has “five plenties” and that the traditional three on their own are not capable of encompassing all of Jeju’s culture.

“Understanding the five plenties will widen the prospect of Jeju culture,” Kim told The Weekly during an interview from his Jeju City office.

What are the five plenties of Jeju? Kim strongly believes that drought (water) and horses should be considered as additions to the three plenties.

Over the course of tens of thousands of years of volcanic eruptions, during which many tons of basalt stones were ejected

fat. Horses are active animals and consume lots of energy. Their meat — unlike the double-edged sword that is the combination of protein and fat in pork and beef — contains one-third the fat of beef.

Horse fat quickly dissolves in the human body because the meat contains high levels of unsaturated fatty acids. It is especially rich in linolenic acid and omega3 fatty acids like DHA, which prevents arteriosclerosis.

Horse meat is good for those who suffer from anemia because it contains high levels of iron. Its color is redder than other meats because it is full of myoglobin, a type of iron which colors muscle, and is why horse meat is called a fountain of iron. It has four times the amount of iron of pork and twice that of beef. In addition, the iron in horse meat is absorbed quickly and efficiently into the body. Horse meat is highly recommended for children and pregnant women.

Jeju Culture Research Institution President Kim Yoo Jeong. Photo by Angela Kim

and scattered all over, Jeju was created.

Jeju’s geographical location also meant that the island was in the path of monsoons and other meteorological phenomena from the Pacific Ocean.

As a result, the people of Jeju used the available materials — the characteristic black basalt rocks — to create stone walls that were durable against wind.

The Jeju haenyeo (traditional diving

women) culture was derived from drought because the lack of water caused villages to spring up around the shore. The constant lack of a steady water supply forced farmers to raise crops that grow well without much water like barley, millet, beans, and buckwheat. Droughts also led to the development of Jeju earthenware (called onggi) in which rain water was collected and transported.

An additional water-free technology on the island was the outdoor toilet — which also served as a pigpen — to recycle human waste as food for pigs and as fertilizer for crops.

Another of Jeju’s symbolic structures — the black stone walls and the three post gates called jeongnang — are important to Jeju culture for several reasons. Kim believes that the abundance of horse links these two structures to the essence of Jeju culture.

“Everyone knows that there were a lot of horses on Jeju, but this wasn’t included in

the three plenties,” Kim said. The reason was that the stone walls cannot be fully understood without considering Jeju’s long history of raising horses.

From 1273 and for the next 100 years, he continued, the island was controlled by Mongolians. Three years after arriving here they brought 160 horses from Mongolia. Since then, Jeju has always had a large population of horses and historically the villagers needed to construct stone walls to prevent them from entering their houses and farms.

He emphasised that in order to understand Jeju, you need to understand its cultural climate. “The combination of natural resources and production gives insight into Jeju people’s lives,” he said.

The five plenties can also be found in local myths. “Mythology was created through the lives and history of the Jeju people,” Kim said. Islanders prayed to Jeju gods who had specific duties related to one or more of the five plenties.

Kim said that the purpose for writing this book was for the public to understand the “cultural differences between Jeju and the mainland.”

“Jeju culture is very autogenous and creative,” Kim said. Regardless of numerous influences from invaders, like that of Japan and Mongolia, the islanders had managed to protect Jeju’s indigenous cultural assets and customs.

The Jeju Weekly

FRIDAY, March 9, 2012

Opinion 07

Departing Jeju with three lessons learned

Adam Montgomery and friends.

By Adam Montgomery contributor@jejuweekly.com

Editorial illustrator Stephen Krohn is from Tucson, Arizona where he earned a BFA from the University of Arizona in painting and drawing.

After university, he joined the Peace Corps and headed off to Chittagong, Bangladesh for two years. He has been living on Jeju for the past three years pursuing many of his passions, including hiking, the outdoors, and bird watching.

Letters to the Editor Please keep your letters under 600 words and include your full name and contact information.

www.jejuweekly.com

Facebook.com/JejuWeekly Twitter.com/JejuWeekly Gplus.to/JejuWeekly KoreanNewsFeeds.com editor@jejuweekly.com

Advertisers!

Spread your message in a high quality, color newspaper.

The Jeju Weekly provides strategic distribution and outstanding service.

Type: Print ad, Internet banner ad Advertising cost Size (height Ă— width)

Cost (KRW)

Paper ad

Page Page 1 Page 2, 3 Page 4, 5 2 pages spread Last page

13.6 Ă— 8 (cm) 10.2 Ă— 24 (cm) 13.6 Ă— 24 (cm) 2 full pages Full

3,050,000 2,880,000 3,072,000 13,440,000 6,960,000

pull-out

Traveller’s Guide page 1 Traveller’s Guide page 2, 3 Traveller’s Guide last page

10.2 Ă— 24 (cm) 10.2 Ă— 24 (cm) Full

2,880,000 2,160,000 6,000,000

Internet banner ad

Main page, top Main page, center Main page, bottom

70 Ă— 400 (px) 90 Ă— 400 (px) 120 Ă— 960 (px)

6,000,000 4,000,000 3,000,000

(duration: 1 month)

Ů˜ 9$7 WUDQVODWLRQ DQG GHVLJQ IHHV QRW LQFOXGHG

Tel. 064-724-7776, ads@jejuweekly.com

I think Rod Stewart said it best when he sang the words “I wish I knew what I know now when I was younger.� I feel the same way after a year teaching English on Jeju. As I sit here in Incheon Airport, preparing to leave Korea and reminiscing on my time in Jeju, I cannot help but think of all the things I wish I knew a year prior.

The first thing that comes to mind is how unnecessary it was to take my job so seriously. Do not get me wrong; I am not advocating being lazy and incompetent in your work, only that a lot of Korean workplaces can be stressful environments, especially private education academies, called hagwons.

When parents start to complain or students start to drop out, some hagwon directors feel the pressure and need someone to blame. Unfortunately, all that blame can be transferred to the teachers causing extra pressure to be placed on their work performance. I wish I would have not gotten caught up in the stress and pressure; that surely would have made my life on Jeju more enjoyable.

Second, I should have gotten out more and enjoyed what the island has to offer.

(This might have happened if I was not taking my job so seriously.) Anyone living here for a year will probably visit the big tourist highlights like Mt. Halla and Seongsan Sunrise Peak, at least once as I did during my time in Jeju. But I came to realize that one time is not enough.

One of the beauties of living in Jeju is how the four seasons create different landscapes and sceneries throughout the year. I climbed Mt. Halla in the summer, but never saw the colorful leaves the climb has to offer in the autumn, nor the bright snow in the winter. To truly appreciate the sights of Jeju, they need to be visited throughout the year.

It also took a while to dawn on me all that the island has to offer. There is a lot of hype and advertising, almost to the point of over saturation, on the major tourist attractions. While those places deserve a lot of attention, I usually enjoyed local, lesser known sights and events more. A few that come to mind are the Cherry Blossom Festival, the Haenyeo (women diver) Museum, and the Moseulpo Yellowtail Festival.

I wish I would have attended more events like these and explored more off-thebeaten-path locations. To do that however, it helps having local Korean friends, which leads me to the last thing I wish I knew.

I spent too much time hanging out with English-speaking Western friends. While I do not regret those friendships made or the time spent with them, I could have made a better effort to branch out and get to know locals. To do that, I needed to put more effort into learning Korean and avoiding the Western bars and hangouts.

As I departed Jeju, I found it extremely difficult to say goodbye to the Korean friends that I did make. Saying goodbye to a friend is never easy, but maybe this time it was so challenging because I do not know the next time I will be able to spend time with Korean nationals.

It is interesting how all three lessons learned over the past year are interconnected. If I spent more time away from work, I would have seen more of the island and met more people. If I had met more people, they would have introduced me to more places and would have relaxed me from the pressures of work.

I did not intend this to be a sappy article full of regrets and missed opportunities.

My only intention was to hopefully pass on some insights to those teachers who only have a year on the island. Take advantage of that time now because before you know it, you will be sitting in Incheon Airport, waiting to depart Korea.

www.jejuweekly.com

08 Discover Jeju

By Andrew Elwood contributor@jejuweekly.com

Two days was too long to wait. So on my third day on Jeju, back in November 2010, I took the 5.16 bus to the Seongpanak Rest Area to begin climbing Mt. Halla. This hike was the first of many; one for each season.

The Seongpanak Trail is a 9.6 kilometer (6 mile) course that rises 1,200 meters (3,937 feet) from 750 meters above sea level at the visitor center to 1,950 meters above sea level at the summit. Up and down that’s a 12-mile hike with 1.5 miles of vertical travel.

There are strictly enforced cutoff times for summiting so it is best to get an early start.

The Seongpanak Trail first opened in 1974 and out of Mt. Halla’s five courses it is one of the most

The Jeju Weekly

popular. Last year, out of the 1,089,383 visitors to Mt. Halla, the Seongpanak course received 36 percent of all traffic for a total of 393,800 visitors.

According to the manager of the Seongpanak Visitor Center, Seo Seung-wan, an increase of hikers coming to see the autumn leaves and the presence of students on field trips from the mainland means that fall is the trails busiest season.

“I go hiking at Halla most often in the Fall. Usually the leaves are beautiful at the end of October,” said hiker Erin Pettinger.

Even though the initial hike in late fall 2010 took place just after the peak period for autumn color, it was still a rewarding experience. The weather was cool, dry, and the trail was devoid of the snow that the ensuing winter would bring in record amounts. During the 45 minutes spent at the summit a front of clouds rolled by skirting the peak creating a dramatic display.

FRIDAY, March 9, 2012

Jan. 22, 2011, was an exceptional day for hiking. A thick layer of snow blanketed the trail and the evergreen trees sheltering Seongpanak. The sky was impossibly blue.

Winter is a great time to hike Seongpanak. The rocky sections which require balance and concentration become smoothed over with a foot or more of snow. It was easy going. A word of warning: due to high foot traffic the snow on the trail becomes dense and thoroughly compacted, however, deviate from the trail and you’re likely to plunge deep into the lesstrodden snow flanking the path. Use caution when passing other hikers.

The azaleas bring many hikers to the slopes of Mt. Halla in the spring. The brilliant colors of the mountain during this time provide a nice contrast to winter’s pristine white landscape. Along with the budding flowers a brand new Visitor Information

FRIDAY, March 9, 2012

Center is opening this spring. Speaking through a translator, Seo had this to say about the new building: “At a cost of 3.495 billion won and under construction for two years, the Visitor Information Center was completed in February and will begin operations in March or April.” He also explained that the first floor of the contemporary building will provide videos and photos of Mt. Halla from each season, information and guidelines for visitors, and a student learning center; the second floor houses the Seongpanak management department. Yet another great reason to hit the trails.

Three out of four isn’t bad. The summer excursion was a damp affair on a slippery trail damaged by the recent typhoon. The hike was conducted in a dense mist that often condensed into periods of drizzle and rain. However, while trying to get warm at the Continued on page 10

The Jeju Weekly

Discover Jeju 09

10 Book Reviews

The Jeju Weekly

FRIDAY, March 9, 2012

www.jejuweekly.com

‘Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in ‘Waking Up in the Land of the North Korea’ by Barbara Demick Morning Calm’ by Jeffrey Miller Reviewed by Jenna Houts

Reviewed by Todd Thacker

contributor@jejuweekly.com

toddthacker@jejuweekly.com

“But now she couldn’t deny what was staring her plainly in the face: dogs in China ate better than doctors in North Korea.” These are the thoughts of a young Dr. Kim after she defected to China and eventually South Korea from the totalitarian regime of North Korea.

Dr. Kim’s story of her life and defection from North Korea is one of the halfdozen narratives recounted by Los Angeles Times reporter Barbara Demick in “Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea” (2009).

This haunting true story reveals the real human rights violations and tragedies that take place on a daily basis in North Korea. While Western media focuses on the threats of the country’s nuclear program, North Koreans are defecting in search of a better life in countries where they can feel free.

Entry for foreigners, especially Americans, to North Korea is extremely limited and it is difficult to procure visas.

Therefore, Demick relies on the stories of defectors to paint a bigger picture of life in North Korea. Demick’s Orwellian accounts depict devout and patriotic citizens among tacit dissenters. For fear of being denounced as unpatriotic, the ones who doubt the ubiquitous benevolence of the Supreme and Dear leaders, Kim Il Sung and Kim Jung Il, must watch their every move.

However, breaking through the fog of totalitarian propaganda, understanding that tyranny abounds and not prosperity, and finally having the courage to flee the country is the greatest challenge of all.

Jun-Sang, a student in Pyongyang, had this epiphany while watching a poor, orphan child sing about how Kim Il Sung has protected him.

“He would later credit the boy with pushing him over the edge. He now knew for sure that he didn’t believe. It was an enormous moment of selfrevelation, like deciding one was an atheist. It made him feel alone. He was different from everybody else. He was suddenly self-conscious, burdened by a secret he had discovered about himself.”

Demick insightfully wrote, “But North Korea is not an undeveloped country; it is a country that has fallen out of the developed world.” North Korea was briefly a thriving economy, steps ahead

of its southern counterpart. But the longterm effects of a communist and tyrannical elite have driven North Korea into the depths of poverty. This dramatic fall from grace, while still maintaining loyalty for its leaders among the masses, is a testament to the power of propaganda. However, the individuals in this story discuss how they began to see the cracks in the logic, they saw people dying from starvation and their hopelessness, and began to wonder if life could be better somewhere else.

What might surprise many readers are the defectors’ desires to return to their homeland or their regrets for leaving.

Not only do they miss their family members, they miss the familiar. South Korea is like a different planet, and some defectors never learn to adjust to being an alien in a new world. North Koreans enter the mighty world of commerce and freedom and don’t know how to adjust.

They are shocked by couples holding hands and kissing in public and baffled by paper money and how to make a purchase among the varieties of options.

At the same time, other defectors relish in their new found freedom and learn to take advantage of all the opportunities a democratic society offers.

“Nothing to Envy” is a captivating and insightful narrative that depicts the cruel realities of North Korea. To the outside world, North Korea is a forbidden place, and Demick’s book unlocks many of the mysteries of the mysterious kingdom.

Continued from page 9 summit my attention was focused by the collective gasp of the other hikers. For five minutes the sky opened up just over the summit to reveal the crater lake, a view that was unquestionably worth the slog.

Although each season presents the trail in a unique way, there is a distinct thread that ties together each experience, irrespective of the most recent equinox or solstice: other hikers. An

increase in elevation and physical excursion seems to positively correlate to the level of camaraderie experienced on the Seongpanak Trail. Expect to meet an endless procession of greetings and “fightings” as you near the Baeknokdam summit lake.

Jeju people say, (yecheukhar su eoptneun), which means the mountain’s weather is unpredictable and, although this is true, one can always expect to rely on a Seongpanak

The strength of “Waking Up in the Land of the Morning Calm” (2011) by journalist Jeffrey Miller lies in its core selection of feature articles he wrote for the Korea Times from 2000 to 2006. He intersperses this with social, political, and personal anecdotes as an expat who arrived in 1990.

Korea has changed a lot in the last 22 years.

The book’s concept is promising; he says he came to the project intending to expand upon his blog “My Life in Korea,” revisit how he “survived the 1994 nuclear crisis and the 1997 Asian financial crisis,” and reflect on various Korean War commemoration ceremonies and events between 2000 to 2003 he covered for the Korea Times.

Fortunately, his journalism writing is solid. Unfortunately, that’s where the editor in me draws the line.

His choice of subjects — launching into a lost luggage episode, crowded subways, and (God no!) Itaewon, without much by way of meaningful context — was a complete non-starter. These first pages are weighted down by tedious miscellanea and clichéd section titles like “I Love the Smell of Tear Gas in the Afternoon” that needed serious editorial intervention.

Worse still, the parenthetical asides start coming fast and furious and don’t let up.

Miller should have trusted his journalistic instincts and structured the work so that the most interesting and important passages, episodes, and Korea Times articles, come first. He should have used the space — remember, this is a book of more than 500 pages — for genuine insights.

Let me just highlight a few of the most memorable contrasts I encountered. (I read the ebook so I can’t provide meaningful page numbers.)

Good: His writing can be quite engaging, like this passage: “Almost everyone you meet in Korea enjoys some mountain outing and although they might mistakenly call hiking in the mountains, mountain climbing, there is no dearth of enthusiasm for heading off to Korea’s rugged, rocky edifices and craggy peaks. Most Koreans might tell

hiker’s constant: you will share stories about where you come from, have your picture taken, and swap food with complete strangers. My first Jeju mandarin orange was given to me up on the summit. I’ve also had the good fortune to complete the hike down to the visitor’s center with hikers met at the summit. But perhaps my favorite encounter is when, after telling people that I come from the United States of America, I point just a hair shy of the

you that their national pastime is football or baseball, but I think it’s hiking in the mountains.”

Bad: “Kyongju is to Korea what Kyoto is to Japan,” is where an editor would start applying the red pen. But he goes on, unchecked: “...what Luang Prabang is to Laos, what Siem Reap is to Cambodia, and what Ayutthaya and Sukhothai are to Thailand.”

Bad: Describing his experience renting an apartment in 1993 in the present tense is very confusing and could lead readers to think that “[c]oming up with a couple million won deposit for an apartment can be difficult for some expats as well as Koreans ...”

A couple million won is a few thousand dollars, far from a financial burden for Koreans in 2012. In Seoul there are apartment deposits today that run in the hundreds of millions of won.

Good: Parts 2 to 4 in which he talks about getting his start in journalism and writes about interviewing locals like Horace Underwood, speaking with various US generals and ambassadors, and asking Jimmy Carter a question at a press event are the highlights. He starts each reprinted story with a few paragraphs of interesting background.

Bad: He puts the publication dates at the end of the stories. This is problematic because the book moves randomly from year to year and story to story that it detracts from what are otherwise interesting and well written passages.

Bad: Parts 5 and 6 include his own poetry and an up-to-date conclusion called “Korea Redux” which is, if anything, inexplicably too short.

Despite all this, I do applaud his effort and would recommend a revised second edition. The ebook is priced at a reasonable $1.99 on Amazon for Kindle, which can be downloaded free on iOS and Android devices or as an extension for your web browser of choice.

mountain’s southern ridge, down towards the sparkling coastal city of Seogwipo and say that, “I’m living there now.”

No matter what season, at the peak you can always grab a good perspective on where you’ve been, where you are, and where you’re going to go next.

(Cho Hyun-ju contributed to this article)

The Jeju Weekly

FRIDAY, March 9, 2012

Flavors of Jeju / Seogwipo Spots 11

The simple taste of spring

Recipe

Try two healthy Jeju recipes: Spring sprout soup and wild chive salad 5. Add the washed naengi and boil for 3 minutes. Add salt to taste. Serves 4.

Kkwongmanong Muchim* (Korean: Dallae Muchim, English: Wild chive salad)

By Kim Jung Lim supuleit@jejuweekly.com

The other day as I was walking out of the gate of my house I came across my next-door neighbor holding a basket filled with green vegetables. When I figured out what she was carrying I was surprised because it was naengi (Capsella bursapastoris, or shepherd’s purse). This plant suddenly reminded me of the fact that spring is just around the corner.

In spring on Jeju — and especially in my village in Seogwipo — there are lots of edible greens like naengi and dallae (wild chives, Allium monanthum) that sprout on farms, in the hills, and even near the coast.

Traditionally for the women of Jeju, picking sprouts while on their way home from work was part of their daily

routine. These days you can find women — most commonly grandmothers — in traditional open markets selling these greens. If you walk by one of these markets in your town or village, consider buying some spring sprouts to add to your meals.

They are certainly healthy and delicious.

Nansiguk* (Korean: Naengiguk, English: Spring sprout soup)

Naengi is a Jeju spring sprout. It has lots of calcium and iron, and its nutrition is not affected even when boiled. It also has lots of vitamin A and C, which is effective in alleviating fatigue. If you consult the classic Korean medical text called “Dongui Bogam,” written by Heo Hoon, naengi in a soup is touted to be especially good for liver and eye conditions.

Ingredients

12 to 15 medium-size (between 15 and 25 cm) naengi, 10 to 12 large dried anchovies, A piece of kelp (approximate width: 20 cm, length: 10 cm), 1 tbsp of doenjang (soy bean paste), 1 tsp salt, 400 ml water 1. Prepare the naengi by scraping off the soil from its roots and wash carefully. Leave the roots on the plant.

2. Put the kelp, dried anchovies (organs removed), and water into a pot and boil for 20 to 30 minutes over medium heat.

Pro Tip: If you use the water you washed your rice in, the soup will be thicker.

3. Remove the kelp and anchovies from the pot with a ladle.

4. Put the doenjang into the broth and boil for 3 minutes. If the doenjang is homemade, it should be boiled for about 10 minutes.

Wild dallae picked on the mountainside is known for its strong, spicy flavor. It contains lots of vitamins and minerals, especially vitamin C. For this reason, it is recommended that it be consumed raw. If you do cook the dallae, add vinegar to minimize the deterioration of vitamin C.

Ingredients

20 dallae, 1 tsp of red pepper powder, 1 tsp of salted anchovy sauce, 1 tsp of ground garlic, 1/2 tsp of sugar, 1/2 tsp of vinegar 1. Prepare the dallae by peeling the thin outer layer of the root and wash the fibrous roots in running water.

2. Cut the dallae in half.

3. Add the red pepper powder, salted anchovy sauce, ground garlic, sugar, and vinegar. Stir and serve.

Pro Tip: If the strong flavor is unnerving, store the salad at room temperature for 2 to 6 hours.

References: “Jejudo Food” by Kim Ji Soon and “200 Healthy Foods” by Kim Jeong Sook (*) These are the Jeju names for the dishes.

A perfect burger, lasagna, and more Surf-themed eatery Soesokkak Stone Café makes the grade www.jejuweekly.com

By Jessica Sicard contributor@jejuweekly.com

Neighboring the Soesokkak Estuary and confluence of Jeju Olle trails 5 and 6 is the Soesokkak Stone Café, a small, stone and surf-themed restaurant with a chill ambiance and delicious Western dishes that will surely satisfy the burger lover in you. Strategically located along the famous Jeju Olle trails, this coastal café is ready to satisfy hungry hikers, surfers, travelers, and locals alike.

Upon entering the Soesokkak Stone Café, the homey aroma of Western food pleasantly greets customers as they find their seat.

In agreement with the surfing theme are the menus written on surfboard pins, handmade by restaurant manager and surfing enthusiast Park Min-ho. With projected surfing videos, picnic style tables, and a number of books to read — including a small English section with travel magazines and cookbooks — the

Soesokkak Stone Café offers a cozy atmosphere for customers where they can enjoy some of the West’s most famous dishes.

With more than 10 years of experience cooking Western food, chef Nam Hoon-woo whips up a number of authentic dishes that are difficult to find in Korea.

According to Park, the biggest crowd pleasers are the Hawaiian burger, the lasagna, and the seafood salad, so The Weekly decided to try all three.

As a self-proclaimed burger expert, I was particularly interested in trying the burger, and I am pleased to report that it exceeded my expectations. The Hawaiian burger is a perfectly grilled burger — juicy but thoroughly cooked — topped with cheese, a slice of grilled pineapple and onions, and served with a side of crispy French fries.

The lasagna, Nam’s favorite, was also a delight with a meaty sauce, eggplant, a thick layer of cream cheese and a side of bread. The seafood salad,

featuring mixed greens, fruits of the sea, and pomegranate seeds over a fantastic quesadilla with real cheese and onions, tasted like a hybrid of the West and Korea. While I did not sample the Original Burger, this is also said to be a tasty option and Park’s personal favorite. The menu at Soesokkak Stone Café changes periodically, about every three to four months, in an effort to dazzle customers with exciting new choices and to keep things interesting for Nam and Park.

Condiments available include A1 steak sauce, Tabasco sauce, mayonnaise, ketchup, and mustard. All drinks are nonalcoholic, but the café makes up for this by making Mountain Dew available.

Nam and Park run the entire restaurant themselves, with Park as the restaurant manager and server, and Nam as the chef.

North Gyeongsang province natives, Nam and Park moved to Seoul to work at Gecko’s and then to Jeju Island to help open the Gecko’s in Jungmun. The

Photo by Jessica Sicard

two decided to open a restaurant together where they could continue to do what they do well in a location particularly convenient for surfers, next door to a surfboard rental shop. As the seating capacity for the Soesokkak Stone Café is capped at 25, Park and Nam recommend making reservations for customers traveling from afar.

For more information about

the Soesokkak Stone Café, search for them on Facebook.

(Interpretation by Kim Jung Lim)

Soesokkak Stone Café 999 Hahyo-dong, Seogwipo City Phone: 070-4146-1775 Hours: Mon – Tues: 11 a.m. – 9 p.m.

Thurs-Sun: 11 a.m. – 9 p.m. (closed Wednesdays)

12 Sports / Olle Trails

The Jeju Weekly

FRIDAY, March 9, 2012

United down Incheon in impressive K-League season opener Big wins early could give the Orange some breathing space

By Darryl Coote darrylcoote@jejuweekly.com

www.jejuweekly.com

It only took two goals for Jeju United to seal the deal against a lackluster Incheon United during an impressive 3 to 1 win at Jeju World Cup Stadium in Seogwipo City, March 4.

This was a necessary win for the team not only to instill confidence within the players but also within their fans who lost much of their enthusiasm for the Orange at the end of last season’s disappointing performance.

This win will hopefully set the tone for at least the next few games for early wins will help give Jeju a cushion for a much longer season than before in K-League history.

Due to last year’s game fixing scandal, which rocked the K-League and drastically hurt its reputation internationally, the league has undergone reform. Like previously, all teams will play a 30-game season, after which the league will be divided into two tiers (the top tier will consist of the top eight teams, and the bottom tier of the bottom eight). Both groups will play an addition 14 games with those in the top eight having a shot at the title, but the two worst teams in the bottom eight will be regulated to the second tier of Korean football.

With the punishment for losing this season great, early wins will give Jeju that needed buffer to prevent them from being in the bottom eight, which, if they continue playing the way they did on Sunday, seems unlikely. But, like last

United take to the pitch for their first game of the season against Incheon United on March 4.

Photo by Darryl Coote

season’s strong early performance, it could very well give way to an unproductive second-half of the season, and early wins may just be Jeju’s saving grace.

Luckily for Jeju (who finished ninth last season), a cold, bitter, and wet Sunday in Seogwipo City did not interfere with them having, and more importantly, keeping the upper hand on Incheon (who finished 13th in the 2011 K-League season).

Last season the two teams faced each other twice with Jeju earning a win and a tie.

The kickoff was accompanied with

fireworks and Jeju quickly took possession of the game and dominated the midfield, pushing the ball deep into Incheon’s end, though resulting in few chances early.

Jeju netted their first goal of the season after 29 minutes with a header by Bae Il Hwan. The Orange were moving down the pitch well and Bae received a near post cross and headed it in past Incheon’s You Hyeon for a goal that obliterated much of the fans’ anxiety. The rest of the half was fairly even, though Incheon did not get a chance on net.

During the second half, and as the clock

ticked down, it seemed less and less like Jeju were playing against a rival. There were several chances for Jeju and they moved the ball efficiently — a completely different team from the end of a disappointing last season and more like the team of 2010 that made it to the K-League final against Seoul.

At the 68-minute mark Santos Jr. — last year’s leading scorer for Jeju — netted his first of the year. Jair squared it to Santos inside the box and he shot home a low finish around 18 meters out. The Brazilians then took to the goal line in celebration.

Jeju continued to dominate and less than 10 minutes later they scored their third. Jair, with an impressive head of steam and control took the ball from half way and, essentially unchallenged, put a shot under the keeper at the 72-minute mark.

Incheon finally responded with a weak shot over the goal keeper at 90 minutes to break the shutout.

Defender Adrian Madaschi and striker Robert de Souza, signed late in the off season, both started and made impressions. Madaschi controlled the back line and moved the ball well up the pitch and played solid defence, while Robert showed creativity and could prove to be a power forward though there were occasional communication problems between him and speedy-midfielder Song Jin Hyung.

Attendance was 6,200 at a rain-soaked Jeju World Cup Stadium. Jeju take on Busan I’Park away at 5 p.m. on Saturday, March 10.

Jeju Olle walking courses 10, 10-1

By Steve Oberhauser contributor@jejuweekly.com

The following is another article in our Hike Jeju series assessing two Jeju Olle walking trails. For an index of the rating system, please consult our Web site (shortened URL: goo.gl/jkxO6). — Ed.

Course No. 10

Grade: 46.0 (4th overall)

Route: Hwasun Beach (start, 0.0 km) salt making place (1) - Hangmandae (2) - Sanbang signaling site (2.4) - Yongmeori Seashore - Hamel’s Museum - Seolkeum Sea (2.9) - Sagye Port (3.6) - discovery spot of fossils (5.7) - Songaksan kiosk (7) - Songaksan (8.4) - Seodal Oreum (9.3) memorial stone (10.3) - Altteureu Airfield (11.7) - Hamo Beach (13.1) - Moseulpo Port, Hamo Sports Park 14.8 km, finish

— Course takes about eight hours to complete A Natural scenery and landscape B Conditions of the trail C Environmental damage / lack of footprint on the area D Bilingual opportunities Crowd control / E compared to how many people are using trail F Facilities around the area G Improvements H Park planning / architecture I Short-term impression factor J Long-term impression factor

5.0 4.5 4.5 4.5 4.5 4.5 4.0 4.5 5.0 5.0

Strengths: Four oreum total. The first two are immense in Sanbangsan and Songaksan. A person could spend a number of hours just at these two places, plus the Yongmeori coast. Leaving Hwasun Beach, there are countless beaches to traverse and trying to get over the sand dunes. This may be the most action-packed course on the whole network of trails. This and more to see.

Weaknesses: Not much. There are a

Olle trail No. 10-1. Photo by Steve Oberhauser

lot of people using this trail, so the environmental impact is obvious. Only minor flaws, nothing serious.

English learning opportunities: Hwasun Beach, dune, smoke mound, Sanbangsan (multiple), Yongmeori Seashore, Fossils in Sagye, Songaksan (multiple), Sesal Oreum, Soetal Oreum, Hamo Beach Quotable: “A relatively unknown site on the southwestern coast of Jeju, Mount

Songak boasts some of the island’s best panoramic scenery. While a great place to bring a camera, Songaksan is also a mountain scarred from a time of instability, and visible reminders of the area’s once turbulent past are apparent.

A trip to the mountain gives visitors a glimpse into the reality of Jeju’s plight during Japan’s war with China and World War II, which is as much a part of the Continued on page 14

My Jeju 13

The Jeju Weekly

FRIDAY, March 9, 2012

EXCLUSIVE

‘K-League is a whole On a small island, a young indie band struggles for stage space different level’ Jeju United’s lone Australian player Adrian Madaschi readies for his first season

By Darryl Coote

By Song Hannim

darrylcoote@jejuweekly.com

contributor@jejuweekly.com

From next month, The Weekly will publish occasional updates from Adrian Madaschi on United’s season, life on Jeju, and about being a player in the K-League. — Ed.

www.jejuweekly.com

The Weekly speaks with local jazz troupe Cafri about the challenges of Jeju’s music scene

It’s been a big year for Adrian Madaschi. The towering 29-year-old Australian center back was signed by Jeju United this past January for an undisclosed term and amount and is expected to help lift the team from last season’s ninth place finish. Madaschi recently sat down with The Weekly at the Jeju United Club House to talk about his expectations for the team, life as a footballer, his time on Jeju, and the upcoming birth of his first son.

“Everything came out really well with Jeju.

Here I am. We’re expecting a baby boy, new experience here in Korea — I just want to get a good start and hope I can contribute to the team and things can be positive. Obviously, that’s what you always hope for in football with new starts.”

With having played in several European leagues, this 2012 season marks Madaschi’s first in the K-League. With his experience in other leagues and having weighed the state of football throughout the world, his decision to enter the K-League was an educated one.

Madaschi first discussed the financial problems the European leagues currently face and that Asian football is on the rise if for no other reason than the region is seeing an economic upswing that allows for the establishment of infrastructure. “I don’t think you can hide the financial backing capabilities of Korea. I think everyone knows there are some big corporations behind ... the push of football here,” he said.

This financial backing is one of the reasons for the growth of football in Asia he said, and this growth is “only going to make the [K-]League stronger, but it is also going to make Korean football, and that the Korean national team, stronger as well.”

An example of that is Jeju United, a team that until 2006 was in Bucheon, and in Seoul even before that, but now in Jeju, with the financial support of SK Energy has created an infrastructure and facilities, not unlike some of the better European clubs.

“This is fantastic. This is unbelievable ... From the gym to the medical area, to the practice fields to the individual villas, to the rooms upstairs, and everything,” he said. “That’s your base. The infrastructure and the facilities are what you use to make everything else better.”

Along with the league, the players are improving as well. It’s getting faster, more physical, and competition is getting tighter. “I’ve just come from a short stint in Australia and I can assure you that the league in Australia has gotten better, its gotten more competitive … but in saying that if I compare them already in the short time that I’ve been here, this is a whole different level,” Madaschi emphasized.

He explained that the K-League players are very technically gifted, know how to play the ball, and are positionally smart. Along with his size, Madaschi is expected to lead from the back line, and as a man not shy of a strong passing game, will try to get plays started by moving the ball quickly up the pitch. Being the only native

United’s center back Adrian Madaschi.

Photo by Angela Kim

English-speaking player on the team, this does present some obstacles with organizing the back line, but Madaschi isn’t too concerned.

“It’s more a case of demonstrating with actions rather than words,” Madaschi said, joking that being of Italian decent, “[I am] pretty accustom[ed] to using my hands” to communicate.

Having visited Jeju once before for a game against the Korean national under-23 Olympic squad, he got his first taste of the island in 2004.

Though the game ended for his Australian side in a loss to the Red Devils, he left with good memories of the island. That experience is another reason why he decided to sign with Jeju.

While here, and away from work, Madaschi hopes to experience some the island’s calmer side. In his short time on Jeju he has already visited several of the waterfalls in Seogwipo City and ventured part way up Mt. Halla. With warmer weather, Madaschi hopes to “take a bit of time out and get up there and relax and just gather [my] thoughts and take [my] mind off football a bit.” A benefit to living in Jeju, he said, is the ability to get away from the city, from the sport, and just be.

Also, he hopes to become a part of Jeju society through exploring its traditions and by trying to connect to the island’s foreign community. He explained that it’s great to be immersed in a new culture, but since Jeju also has the option to connect with those with a similar culture to his own is just an added bonus of living here.

The comfort of a foreign community might be beneficial for Madaschi and his wife for they are expecting the birth of their first child a day after the Orange take on the Pohang Steelers on June 23.

Still unsure about certain specifics of the birth of their child, Madaschi may reach out through Facebook to families in the foreigner community that have already gone through the complicated process of giving birth on the island.

Jeju posted a solid 3 to 1 victory over Incheon United at home this March 4 in their 2012 K-League season opener, and Madaschi has now had his first taste of Korean football and held the back line strong during the match.

He will be expected to do this all season long, and with a child on the way, there is a lot on his plate this year. But with a team sporting a lot of depth, even though there are a lot of competitive teams this year, Madaschi believes they will rise to the top of the heap “You have to be in it to win it … you’ve got to set your goals high.”

Four members of Cafri position themselves on stage. With sheet music on the floor, lights are dimmed to set the mood. For a moment the bar is filled with an anticipating silence. The guitarist walks up to the mic and shyly mumbles the name of the piece they are about to play. “Elephant Walk.”

During an open mic night at a bar near Jeju City Hall called The Factory, many bands or individuals come to show their talents. It definitely is more of a fun, daring stage rather than a professional one. Some are pretty good and some are decent, but it’s hard to get rid of the thought that they are amateurs.

Starting off with shy introductions, the members of Cafri seemed like any other amateur band. However, as soon as their saxophonist hit off a soulful, jazzy note, that thought was proven wrong. Their jazz flow was captivating. And everyone at the bar turned their heads to the stage.

Amused at what these rookies brought to the stage, we indulged ourselves, smoothing into their music with a sip of our cocktails.

They named their group after their favorite beer, Cafri. And when asked how they became a band the answer was simple. “We wanted to play music and perform on stage,” said Kim Ha Eun, the saxophonist.

The band’s journey started off in October 2010, with only two members,

Cafri performing at The Factory, a bar near Jeju City Hall. Photo by Song Hannim

guitarist Jo Young Wook, 21, and Kim Ha Eun, 20, on sax. “There are only a small number of musicians in Jeju. But that made it easy to find our other talented members,” Kim told The Weekly.

Cafri is now composed of five musicians: Jo, Kim, Yang Jun Mo, 19, on drums; Lee Ju Won, 20, on bass; and Yang Seo Hyeon, 18, on keyboard.

Everyone, except Yang, had already graduated high school.

“Since we were in high school, the lack of time and venues made it hard for us to get together often. So for a performance like this we practice two to three hours tops or just hit the stage right away,” Jo said.

You would think that this would mean that their performances would be problematic. However, it was the complete opposite. Turns out these young musicians have been playing their instruments for an average of 10 years and their talents were clearly demonstrated on stage.

However, living in Jeju, there are restrictions that hold these indie bands of young talented musicians from spreading their wings. Jeju is the major hub of tourism in Korea. The whole island yearns to show off its uniqueness to the world. But it is taking baby steps when it comes to promoting its own music culture.

While there are a number of big annual performances and concerts with well-known musicians invited from the mainland, we don’t see many local musicians. Plus, only a few venues exist for an indie band like Cafri to practice and perform.

“Before we found out there were open mic nights at the Factory, we had only been able to perform a couple of times,” Kim said.

Kim and some of the other band members who have recently graduated high school are planning to move to the mainland to pursue their dreams as musicians. For Yang, the youngest member of Cafri, she finds it disheartening to say goodbye to her band members.

“I will have to practice by myself after they all leave,” she said. “It is hard to maintain a band like this in Jeju. To me, they were my only outlet.”

14 Music

The Jeju Weekly

FRIDAY, March 9, 2012

Indie performers Kim Mok In, Dringe Augh to play Jeju March 10

By Shawn Despres

www.jejuweekly.com

contributor@jejuweekly.com

Both signed to Seoul’s Electric Muse record label, one of the top indie imprints in the country, solo musicians Kim Mok In and Dringe Augh will be gigging together in Jeju this weekend at Elliot’s Chair.

Based in Seoul, Kim has played in Jeju twice before. He first performed on the island a few years ago as a member of the folk band Cabinet Singalongs. He also did a small concert on his own last summer at a local guesthouse.

“Of course, I’m excited to play there again — it’s Jeju!” says Kim. “This will be my first show there since releasing my solo debut, so I’ll be playing new songs from it.

And I’m really interested in checking out the atmosphere at Elliot’s Chair. I saw some photos and it looks like a nice place.”

Kim issued his first full-length, “Song of Musician’s-Self,” in December. The disc was recorded in Seoul and in Kim’s childhood home in Cheongju.

“I used my old piano from my parent’s house,” Kim says. “My mother called for a piano tuner to come over before we started recording so that it would sound good on the album.”

A well-crafted blend of folk, jazz, and indie pop, Kim started writing numbers for “Song of Musician’s-Self” in 2009 as Cabinet Singalongs came to an end. He claims the shift from being in a band to being a solo act was a natural process for him.

“When our activities as Cabinet Singalongs were decreasing, as a composer I realized that I hadn’t released any new songs for a long time,” Kim says.

“So I started a blog and began to update it with new demo tracks.”

“The viewpoint of my songs has become more personal. The lyrics have become more important too. I'm very focused on my theme and its expression. I’m drawing a new outline for my music. It’s still a little dim right now, but it will be clear soon.”

Kim and Dringe Augh first met when Augh recorded his 2009 “Individually

Continued from page 12 experience as the 360-degree views.”

— Jon Walker, The Jeju Weekly For the following links, please consult our Web site: The Jeju Weekly, Hike Jeju, Day 17 The Jeju Weekly, Scenic mountain shows its scars The Jeju Weekly, A grand view of Jeju The Jeju Weekly, Sanbangsan Hot Spring Spa; a spa like no other Olle Trail handbook in English Olle, Course No. 10 KTO, Course No. 10

Course No. 10-1

Grade: 38.5 (15th overall)

Route: Gapa Port (start, 0.0 km) Sangdong Bonhyangdang, shrine (0.2) - Jangteko gazebo (0.8) - Netgolchaengyl,

Wrapped” EP and needed a piano player for some tracks. The album’s producer (who also doubles as both artists’ label boss) suggested that Augh use Kim. “Dringe Augh’s style is very different from mine, but as a listener I really enjoy his music,” says Kim. “It was an interesting experience to work on his recording.”

“His sense of humor is very unique. As his music is so delicate, and he usually plays songs without speaking, many people think he’s a shy guy. But he is actually very witty. If the people are lucky, they will get to experience his wit in Jeju.”

Residing in the suburbs of Seoul, folk musician Augh adopted his stage moniker in the late 1990s. While Augh is his family name, he began calling himself Dringe as a university student. After playing electric guitar in a band while at school, Augh decided to self-record an acoustic solo EP in his home in 2001. He started his mandatory military service in 2002 and opted to stay on until 2008 at which point he resurrected his musical career. Keeping the name Dringe Augh made more sense to him after leaving the army.

“I spent six years with the Korean military, so I feel that I should hide my real name when I’m performing,” he says.

“Also I like to keep my stage career separate from my private life.”

Although he seldom performed during his time in the military, Augh continued to practice guitar and write music. After issuing his “Individually Wrapped” EP through Electric Muse, he followed it up with his 2011 “Between the Tygh” record.

Both efforts are filled with quality acoustic folk and have garnered positive praise.

“To me there aren’t many differences between the two albums,” says Augh.

“Most of the songs were written around the same time.”

Augh is waiting for the green light from his label to begin work on his next offering. He has new material ready to go and will be sharing it with listeners in Jeju City. He hopes his music helps create a relaxed environment inside of Elliot’s Chair.

creek (1.7) - Gapa Elementary School (2.7) - telephone building (2.4) - Geomjuri Koji, cape (3.6) - puddle (4.1) - altar (4.4) Bugeundeok (4.5) - Gapa Port 5.0 km, finish — Course takes about two hours to complete A Natural scenery and landscape B Conditions of the trail C Environmental damage / lack of footprint on the area D Bilingual opportunities Crowd control / E compared to how many people are using trail F Facilities around the area G Improvements H Park planning / architecture I Short-term impression factor J Long-term impression factor

4.0 4.0 4.5 2.5 3.5 3.5 4.0 3.5 4.5 4.5

Strengths: From late winter to early summer is the best time to go to the island because the barley fields are in their full

Indie musicians Dringe Augh, top, and Kim Mok In

“This will be my first time playing in Jeju, so I was really excited when I heard about the show,” Augh says. “I like the idea of my music being background music.

I hope people who come watch me in Jeju feel comfortable reading, playing a game, drawing graffiti, or reminiscing about the past while I’m playing.”

Kim Mok In and Dringe Augh play at Elliot’s Chair in Jeju City on Saturday, March 10. They will do shows at 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. Tickets for each concert are 15,000 won. For more information, visit blog.naver.com/elliottjeju.

glory. One of the most serene walks, it has a no-rush feel to it. Perfect to enjoy and spend longer than the recommended course time. Notice the difference in the rocks for landscaping, they are different than those on Jeju’s mainland.

Weaknesses: There’s only three short signs to read in English; since it is an island and basically flat, the views will be limited to some extent. At only five kilometers in length, it might have been able to snake one more time around other parts of the island.

English learning opportunities: Three Olle signs: walls around houses and fields, barley field and wind, six mountains Quotable: “The shortest of the Olle bunch, Gapado’s trail meanders around the island’s perimeter and takes only about an hour to complete. It winds along the stunning shore, where jagged black

rocks jut in striking contrast to the azure water. Piles of prayer rocks, burial mounds smothered in wildflowers, and carefully arranged stone fences provide endless photo opportunities. Even the buildings add to the island’s charm, as many of the colorful houses are covered in vines, and many of the walls have brightly colored murals depicting island life.”

— Susan Shain, The Jeju Weekly For the following links, please consult our Web site: The Jeju Weekly, Hike Jeju, Day 18 The Jeju Weekly, Newest olle trail opens offshore The Jeju Weekly, Savor the charm of an earlier era The Jeju Weekly, Beta-testing the carbonfree future of Jeju KTO, Course No. 10-1

FRIDAY, March 9, 2012

The Jeju Weekly

What’s New 15

News Briefs Seoul plans 1.7 trillion won investment in Gangjeong Naval base contractor gets police go-ahead for explosives use On Feb. 29, Prime Minister Kim Hwang Sik held a national policy adjustment meeting with the Minister of National Defense; the Minister of Public Administration and Security; the Minister of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs; and the Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism to discuss the Gangjeong naval base issue.

During the meeting it was announced that there will be some alterations made to the naval base’s plan, but construction will no longer be delayed.

“It is time for all unnecessary political debate, or consuming conflicts to cease.

It is time for the public, the administration, and the military to work together,” Prime Minister Kim said during the meeting.

In response to the Jeju provincial government request, the Korean government will invest 1.7 trillion won (US$1.52 billion) in 37 regional development projects over the next 10 years. The government will pay 578 billion won using government funds and the rest will come from private investment. The projects will mostly focus on turning the Gangjeong area into a tourism hub centered on the port.

When the 37 projects have been completed, the Korean government

expects it to generate about 1.5 trillion won in production and about 624 million won in value-added inducements. Some 18,000 new jobs are forecast.

On Sunday, Seogwipo Police announced that on March 2, Daelim Industrial Co., Ltd. — the designated contractor for the naval base — submitted an application for permission to use explosives in the construction of the base.

A day after the application, Jeju Democratic United Party members Kim Woo Nam, Kim Jae Yoon, and Moon Dae Rim released an official statement criticizing the use of explosives saying, “The blasting will only cause a bigger catastrophe” and approval should not be given.

Jeju Governor Woo Keun Min and Provincial Assembly Chairman Oh Chung Jin, along with the Jeju branch heads for the Democratic United Party and the Saenuri Party held a press conference at the provincial office on March 5 to request the Korean government to postpone naval base construction in Gangjeong village.

They asked the central government to conduct another simulation to reexamine whether the port can be properly used as a cruise port as well as a military port. Four officials urged the government to delay the blasting.

However, the central government and the Korean Navy did not alter their plans, and on March 7, at around 11:20 a.m. construction companies continued with construction and used explosives

despite opposition from villagers, protesters, and politicians.

(By Angela Kim)

From this semester, no more school on Saturdays On March 3, the first Saturday of the new school year, a total of 184 Jeju schools switched to a five-day school week. For the first time there were no Saturday classes for 108 elementary, 43 middle, 30 high schools, and three special schools for the handicapped.

However, according to a Jeju Provincial Education of Office announcement, many Saturday programs will be offered for students. It said 87 elementary, 38 middle, and 27 high schools will organize programs including art and physical education classes to some 8,000 students. Eighty-two elementary schools will also expand their babysitting services for young students that used to be organized only on weekdays.

A variety of education organizations are also stepping up to offer various programs for students. For example, the Jeju International Education and Information Institute will open on Saturdays and provide its study room and library to students. They will screen a movie at 10 a.m. on Saturdays.

Jeju National Museum is organizing concerts, musicals, plays, performances, and movie screenings on Saturdays from March to June.

(By Kim Jung Lim)

Jeju ‘JUMP’ martial arts show on hold due to injuries The long-running comedic martial arts troupe “JUMP” has put its Jeju performance on hold until further notice.

Speaking to The Weekly by phone, marketing director Kim Sung Ryang explained that some of the actors and actresses are injured. The time it takes from audition to stage is about six months, she said, and therefore the company does not have enough actors to perform in Jeju.

Kim said the company has tentative plans to audition potential actors in March. It may be able to re-open “JUMP” in Jeju sometime this summer.

Since production company Yegam moved the show from Busan to Jeju two years ago, “JUMP” performed every night at Jeju Halla Art Hall of Cheju Halla University in Shin Jeju.

Regardless of these recent setbacks, Yegam confirmed a “JUMP” team will perform overseas and as well as maintaining its regular Seoul show.

In October, audiences in Germany will be able to see the performance. At the end of this year, the team will fly to Japan for performances in Tokyo and Osaka.

For more information, call Yegam at 064-749-0550 or 02-722-3995.

(By Angela Kim)

www.jejuweekly.com

Editor’s Column

K-League and Jeju United coverage at The Weekly

Jeju United's 2012 team. Photo by Angela Kim

By Darryl Coote

darrylcoote@jejuweekly.com

To a reporter, covering sport is ideally what all journalism would be like. It’s exciting. There’s drama,

suspense, and rivalry. There are underdogs and injuries. Obvious clean beginnings and ends to stories. What more could a writer want?

Sports reporters are first and foremost fans of the game. They are invested and hold their home teams

over the coals if they don’t produce and celebrate them when they do.

Over the past few months here at The Weekly, we’ve been preparing for one day — March 4 — the day Jeju United took to the pitch for their season and home opener against Incheon United.

From the end of last season our staff had kept up contacts, watched news feeds on the team, and constantly mentioned United to one another just to keep the team constantly on mind so when the season started up again, we’d be ready. A mental preseason, if you will.

During that time we put together a team of contributor writers (Matt Harris, Ade Alabi, and staff reporter Angela Kim) to cover every game, transaction, and United story, with photos, commentary, and analysis.

And when the season opener finally came, that anticipated Sunday, March 4, we were all there. A photographer on the field, a writer in the stands, and an editor back at the office waiting for copy. The game was exciting, and spirits were high among our team because, well, Jeju won. 3 to 1 on a cold, wet, and uncomfortable Sunday.

Jeju were the better team of the two on the pitch and the scoreboard showed it.

They were quick, agile, made few

mistakes, but over all they embodied Coach Park Kyung Hoon’s “rattlesnake” philosophy. They moved the ball quickly down the pitch and got shots on net.

After the game the team got together to go over notes and photos and sent the story as quickly as possible back to The Weekly office where Todd, the editor, fixed the copy and photos, and threw the story on our Web site. We will try our best to do this all season long so you don’t have to wait (up to a couple of days depending on the game) to get the scores from international football Web sites and forums.

We also have a lot of other stuff planned for this season and will be providing you with up to date info on Jeju United, player profiles, and most exciting, exclusive interviews. In fact, Coach Park and newly acquired Australian defender Adrian Madaschi have both agreed to give The Weekly monthly updates on the team, their progress, or just what they have been up to on Jeju.

There are some things in the works between United and The Weekly and we will definitely keep you posted as things develop. So keep reading the paper and support our team!

16 Calendar

The Jeju Weekly

FRIDAY, March 9, 2012

Community Calendar Exhibitions Kim Heung Soo Permanent Exhibition Jeju Museum of Contemporary Art, 38 Jeoji 14-gil, Hangyeong-myeon, Jeju City.

064-710-7801

Byun Shi Ji Permanent Exhibition Gidang Art Museum, 34 Namseong-ro, Seogwipo City. 064-733-1586

The 4th Exhibition of Jo Young Hee’s Collection Until March 12. Culture & Arts Center, 69 Donggwang-ro, Jeju City. 011-696-4098

Wonchang Lee Ju Rim Calligraphy Exhibition March 13 to 18. Culture & Arts Center, 69 Donggwang-ro, Jeju City.

010-6460-3071

Jeoji Culture Artist Village Resident Artists’ Exhibition Until March 20. Jeju Museum of Contemporary Art, 38 Jeoji 14-gil, Hangyeong-myeon, Jeju City.

064-710-7800

Indian Women’s Life Exhibition Until March 24. Sulmundae Women’s Center, 12 Seondeok-ro 8-gil. Jeju City.

064-710-4246

A Realist of the Modern Korean Art Circle Exhibition

The 3rd Jeju Saxophone Ensemble Concert March 31. 7 p.m. Culture & Arts Center, 69 Donggwang-ro, Jeju City.

010-2695-8255 Free admission

Nanta Everyday 5 p.m., 8 p.m. Jeju Media Center, 82 Sinsan-ro, Jeju City.

064-723-8878 Tickets: 50,000 won, VIP seats: 60,000 won (50% discount for Jeju residents with ID card)

Fanta-Stick Every Tuesday to Sunday 8 p.m.

Jungmun Fanta-Stick Performance Hall in the Sound Island (Soriseom) Museum, 15 Jungmun Gwangwang-ro 110, Seogwipo City. 064-739-7781 Tickets: R seats: 50,000 won, S seats: 40,000 won (50% discount for Jeju residents with ID card)

Sports and Recreation Free Movies from Jeju National Museum Jeju National Museum, 17 Iljudong-ro, Jeju City. 064-720-8027 March 17. 6 p.m. “Fame” (2009) March 31. 6 p.m. “Hairspray” (2007)

Until March 25. Jeju Museum of Art, 2894-78 1100-ro, Jeju City. 064-710-4300

Free Movies from the Jeju Movie Culture Art Center

Fairy Tales and Illustrations: Into the Dreamland

Jeju Movie Culture Art Center, Ildo 1-dong, Jeju City.

064-756-5757, 064-756-5959 March 10. 3 p.m. “2001: A Space Odyssey” (1968) March 11. 3 p.m. “Apollo 13” (1995) March 16. 3 p.m. “The Bodyguard” (1992) March 17. 3 p.m. “Moulin Rouge” (2001) March 18. 3 p.m. “You’ve Got Mail” (1998) March 23. 3 p.m. “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” (2004)

Until April 1. Jeju National Museum, 17 Iljudong-ro, Jeju City. 064-720-8104

Performances Kim Seong Soo & Kim Joong Hyeok Jazz Duo Concert March. 10. 6 p.m. Cafe Seba, 1093-1, Seonheul-ri, Jocheon-eup, Jeju City.

070-4213-1268 Reservations can be made at, blog.naver. com/cafeseba Tickets: 20,000 won (Students: 15,000 won)

Yun Hyo Gan Piano Concert March 10. 6 p.m. Jeju National Museum, 17 Iljudong-ro, Jeju City. 064-720-8027 Free admission

Jeju Wind Orchestra Concert March 10. 7:30 p.m. Culture & Arts Center, 69 Donggwang-ro, Jeju City. 0108215-0717 Tickets: 10,000 won (Youth: 3,000 won)

Bboongbboongi Bubble Show March 10. 1 p.m., 3:30 p.m., March 11. 11 a.m., 1:30 p.m., 4 p.m. Jeju Arts Center, 231 Onam-ro, Jeju City. 1544-7579 Tickets: R seats: 30,000 won, S seats: 20,000 won

10th Jeju Youth Flute Ensemble Concert March 11. 7:30 p.m. Culture & Arts Center, 69 Donggwang-ro, Jeju City.

010-5769-0423 Free admission

2012 Jeju Youth Orchestra Concert

www.jejuweekly.com

& Arts Center, 69 Donggwang-ro, Jeju City. 011-729-7555 Tickets: 15,000 won (Discount: 10,000 won)

March 13. 7:30 p.m. Culture & Arts Center, 69 Donggwang-ro, Jeju City.

064-721-2588 Free admission

ART, the play March 15 to 17. 7:30 p.m. Ara Muse Hall, 102, Jejudaehak-ro, Jeju City.

064-754-4697 Tickets: 5,000 won

51st Halla Wind Ensemble Concert March 17. 7 p.m. Culture & Arts Center, 69 Donggwang-ro, Jeju City.

010-6798-1155 Tickets: 5,000 won (Youth: 1,000 won)

2012 Lee Mi Ja Concert March 17. 2 p.m., 5 p.m. Jeju Arts Center, 231 Onam-ro, Jeju City. 1688-6675 (As for Culture Love members, 1544-7579) Tickets: R seats: 99,000 won, S seats: 88,000 won, A seats: 77,000 won, B seats: 66,000 won

2nd Annual Haiku Death Battle A fundraiser for the Ugidongmul Animal Shelter March 17. 9 p.m. Haebyun Concert Hall, Tap-dong, Jeju City.

Admission: 2,000 won

The Three Little Pigs, the musical for children March 24. 11 a.m., 2 p.m., 4 p.m., March 25. 1 p.m., 3 p.m. Jeju Arts Center, 231 Onam-ro, Jeju City. 02-868-6748 Tickets: 20,000 won

2012 Lee Moon Se Concert March 30. 8 p.m., March 31. 7 p.m. Jeju Arts Center, 231 Onam-ro, Jeju City.

1588-0766, 064-744-0766 Tickets: R seats: 110,000 won, S seats: 99,000 won

Magic Show for Children March 31. 12 p.m., 2 p.m., 4 p.m. Culture

[K-League] Jeju United vs Suwon March 24. 3 p.m. Jeju World Cup Stadium, 33 Worldcup-ro, Seogwipo City.

064-760-3611

NLCS Jeju students’ 70’s style musical, Disco Inferno April 4. 7 p.m. NLCS Jeju Performing Arts Centre, San 1-6 Gueok-ri, Daejung-eup Seogwipo City.

Free admission. Contact Kaye on seniorenquiries@nlcsjeju.kr to get your ticket.

[K-League] Jeju United vs Daegu April 7. 5 p.m. Jeju World Cup Stadium, 33 Worldcup-ro, Seogwipo City.

064-760-3611

Festivals 2012 Jeju International Peace Marathon March 25. 9 a.m. Hallim Stadium, Hallimri, Hallim-eup, Jeju City. 064-748-9021, 064-740-2369 Route: Hallim Stadium Ongpo Hyeopjae Beach Geumneung Shinchang Coastal road Chagwido Courses: Full course for people over 18, fee: 30,000 won, 6 hours.

Half-course for people over 18, fee: 30,000 won, 3 hours.

10-km course for children over 8 years old Fee: 20,000 won, 1 and a half hours.

5-km course for people of any age, fee: 20,000 won (for those under 15 years of age, 10,000 won), 1 hour.

14th Euchae Flower International Walking Festival Near Sanbangsan, Andeok-myeon, Seogwipo City March 30. Events on the eve of the festival March 31. Walking the 5 km, 10 km, or 20 km courses April 1. Walking the 5 km, 10 km, 20 km, or 30 km courses

Seogwipo City Announcements Free Tree Distribution Event Date: March 10, from 9 p.m.

Place: Seogwipo City Hall in Beophwandong, Eup offices, and Myeon offices 2,750 trees of 6 kinds including Cornelian Cherry will be distributed on a first come first served basis. One family can receive two trees. Application is on the day.

For more information, call Seogwipo City Hall. 064-760-3043

Andeok Sanbang Library Program Application period: Until March 14.

Running period: March 20 to June 2.

Programs: Felt cloth craft (for 20 adults), math class (for 20 kids 6 to 7 years old), robot class (for 20 elementary students in 1st to 3rd grade), writing class (for 20 elementary students in 4th to 6th grade) How to apply: Visit the library or call or fax Fee: Participants will be required to pay for part of the materials For more information, call the Andeok Sanbang Library.

064-760-3742. (Fax. 064-794-2419)

Through the lens

After four years of work handcrafting the catamaran Kavenga (“navigating by stars” in Polynesian) owner Ralf Deutsch (in the red hat) moves the vessel to Seogwipo Harbor for launch. The Weekly will profile Mr. Deutsch’s project in the next issue. Photo by Angela Kim