Jeju,
'The Island of World Peace'
- Enhancing profile before 2007 ASTA Int'l Destination Expo

Jeju, Korea's southernmost island province, still keeps the spirit of peace intact - its residents have nurtured after harmonizing the power of nature from ancient times and overcoming scars of past tragedies.
Jeju is striving to become a peace hub in the Northeast Asia after the island province was officially declared "the Island of World Peace" by the government of President Roh Moo-hyun last Jan. 19, Kim Tae-hwan, governor of Jeju Province, said.
The designation of Jeju as the Island of World Peace originates from the island's characteristics - "no thief, no beggar and no gates" - and the island province's overcoming the Jeju April 3, 1948 incident in which the then government crushed a civilian armed uprising over ideological conflicts, causing immense loss of lives, including innocent residents. Inheriting ancestors' spirit of peace, Jeju has been catapulted as a center of international diplomacy as the island has played host to a series of summit talks in the recent years and it has pursued civilian exchanges for the cause of peace, he said. Jeju is also expected to establish itself not only as a Free International City as a space of openness and but also as the one with the image of the Island of World Peace.
From a mid- and long-term perspective, Gov. Kim said, Jeju has been pushing for a grandiose project for the development of the scenic province as a Free International City in Northeast Asia. "If and when the Seven Leading Projects are completed by 2011 as planned, Jeju Island is expected to transform itself as a world-class tourism destination and a hub city of Northeast Asia guaranteeing the free movements of human beings, goods and capital and wider corporate activities", he said.
Jeju has been awarded the right to play host to the 2007 ASTA International Destination Expo, the world travel congress by the American Society of Travel Agents (ASTA), one of the world's tourism organizations, outside the United States. The island will be the first local government in Korea to hold the ASTA travel congress in 2007 on the heels of the 53rd PATA Annual Meeting it hosted in 2004.
Gov. Kim said Jeju hopes to capitalize on the upcoming international travel congress in its bid to raise the profile of the local tourism industry, particularly its efforts to attract inbound tourists from the Americas. "The island attracted approximately 390,000 inbound tourists, including about 130,000 Japanese and some 150,000 foreigners from the sphere of Chinese ancestry, but Jeju is less known to the Americas," he said. "It is significant in that Jeju's winning the right to host the ASTA International Destination Expo could serve as a good opportunity for the island to leap to be Korea's full-fledged, prime international tourist and conventional destination", he said in an interview with NewsWorld.

Jeju to publicize the venue of 2007 ASTA Int'l Destination Expo
The 2007 ASTA International Destination Expo will be held during March 2007 at the Jeju International Convention Center and top-class hotels on the island. The 2007 ASTA International Convention Center is expected to attract about 2,000 participants from 80 countries, equivalent to the figure recorded by the 2004 ASTA World Travel Congress held in Hong Kong.
The major events of the 2007 ASTA International Destination Expo include seminars for Korean and foreign travel professionals, fairs and educational programs, and they will be accompanied by diverse social activities and tours to the province's tourist attractions.
The Jeju provincial government plans to participate in the 2005 ASTA World Travel Congress, slated for November 6-9 in Montreal, Canada and operate its own pavilion designed to publicize Jeju's tourism and the upcoming 2007 ASTA International Destination Expo in Jeju. Jeju Island also plans to conduct massive activities aimed at publicizing Jeju to the participants of the 2006 ASTA International Destination Expo, slated for 2006 in Prague, where Jeju will throw a dinner party as the host of the next ASTA convention.
Jeju's large-sized publicity delegation is going all out to make preparations for hosting the 2007 ASTA by benchmarking the 2006 ASTA International Destination Expo in Prague in such areas as overall operation, publicity, events, folklore performances, conference process, accommodations and transportation.
The island also plans to turn to such diverse media as satellite broadcasting screen commercials, the Internet, and tourism magazines to publicize Jeju's holding the upcoming congress and its preparations.

"Free International City"
Jeju is expected to establish itself not only as a Free International City as a space of openness and but also as the one with the image of the Island of World Peace.
The central government legislated the Special Act on Jeju Free International City, designed to contribute to national development and improving the welfare of Jeju citizens by developing Jeju Island as a Free International City.
Jeju Province has implemented the Seven Leading Projects it designated for the successful development of Jeju Free International City. The provincial government has been campaigning for investments from Korea and abroad at the initial stage of the development projects. It is undertaking the projects in earnest under a strategy under which the initial investment activities would have a spillover effect on other sectors.
The following are details of the Seven Leading Projects for the construction of Jeju Free International City:
The provincial government plans to complete the Seven Leading Projects with an investment of 3.5 trillion won by 2011, five projects in tourism and resort sectors and two others in business and high-tech fields.
This coming July, Jeju will break ground for the High-tech Science & Technology Complex Project for biology engineering research, education and business support, based on diverse bioecological resources and clean environment of Jeju Island, which has no special industrial infrastructure other than the tourism industry.
Jeju Province plans to finish administrative procedures of the Ecosystem, Myth and History Theme Park Project and the Resort-type Residential Complex Project within this year and embark on the project in earnest next year.
Besides, there are the Shopping Outlets Project, designed to meet the needs of foreign tourists from Japan and China, the Airport Free Trade Zone Project, aimed at facilitating production, processing and exports related to the airport and ports and developing the logistics industry, and the Seogwipo Tourism Port Project, designed to develop Seogwipo Port into a marine tourism hub. The provincial government is holding consultations on the projects and their designs with the central government.
The provincial government is closely cooperating with Jeju Free International Development Center (JDC) to attract investments from the private sector. A task force will be formed and operated to solve conflicts with the residents of the related districts.
If and when the Seven Leading Projects are completed by 2011 as planned, Jeju Island is expected to transform itself as a world-class tourism destination and a hub city of Northeast Asia guaranteeing the free movements of human beings, goods and capital and wider corporate activities.
The projects will likely spur attractions of corporations from Korea and abroad and development of the island, and help the local industries strengthen their competitive edge, thus raise the residents' income and their living quality.

"Island of World Peace"
The Jeju provincial government played host to an event of inviting Seoul-based diplomats marking the anniversary of the official designation of Jeju as the "Island of World Peace" at the Shineville Luxury Resort in Pyoseon-myeon, Namjeju-gun, from February 9 through 11. The event was aimed at helping not only 48 ambassadors and 112 family member participants gain a wider understanding of Korean culture through diverse programs, but also raising its profile of Jeju as an international free city.
The designation of Jeju as Island of World Peace originates from the island's characteristics - "no thief, no beggar and no gate" - and the island province's overcoming the Jeju Apr. 3, 1948 incident in which the then government crushed a civilian armed uprising. Jeju has also repositioned itself as a center of international diplomacy as the island has played host to a series of summit talks in the recent years and it has pursued civilian exchanges for the cause of peace. They refer to the historic summits where such global leaders as former Soviet President Michael Gorbachev and ex-Chinese President Jiang Zemin visited the island during the Cold War era in the early 1990s to discuss world peace. An inter-Korean sports festival was held in the island in October 2003, with more than 400 athletes and officials from the two Koreas participating. The Jeju Peace Festival, one of the largest non-government events, came among continuing tensions on the North Korean nuclear standoff.
With regards to this, Jeju is exerting the moves to minimize discriminations in social, cultural, economic and other sectors, honor human rights and promote peace and co-prosperity of Northeast Asia.
To this end, Jeju plans to establish the tentatively named Jeju International Peace Center and the Peace Research Institute of Northeast Asia. The island plans to solicit support from the central government in facilitating inter-Korean exchanges and implementing the so-called Island of World Peace Projects, including the one aimed at developing Jeju as a diplomatic center of Northeast Asia, while trying to put peace initiatives into actions by establishing an island-wide institution for implementing peace.

Highlights of Jeju's tourist attractions
In Korea the spring season sets in Jeju, Korea's southernmost island, with rape flowers in full blossom on all corners of the island, harbingering the arrival of the new season in February when inland areas of the Korean peninsula still shiver in cold weather.
Because of its geographical seclusion, Jeju has been kept intact to create an aura of mystique, coupled with a unique cultural heritage that has been retained for centuries. Jeju, also dubbed "The Island of Fantasy," is 73 km from east to west and 41 km from north to south, whose total area is 1,845 sq. km with a circular road of 182 km along the seashores in the shape of an oval. It has a convenient traffic access with several transversal roads. The island province comprises eight inhabited and 55 uninhabited islands.
Mt. Hallasan stands high in the center of the island, with slopes down from its summit covered with dark grey volcanic rocks and volcanic ash soil. In 2003, UNESCO designated Jeju as a biosphere reserve, which certifies the true value of the island. Jeju boasts a rich treasure house in its ecosystem as well as its exquisite island culture; a culture molded from a beautiful blend of the Asian continent and the surrounding sea.
Jeju has a mild oceanic climate throughout the year with an average of temperature ranging from a high of 33.5 degrees Celsius (92 degrees Fahrenheit) during summer daytime to a low of 1 degree Celsius (33.8 degrees Fahrenheit) during winter.
The natural environment is carefully preserved. Surrounded by coastal areas are black lava rocks cut in fantastic shapes by the waves. Hundreds of "oreum," secondary volcanic cones await exploration, and the rarest species of flora can be found around Baeknokdam, the crater-lake, which was formed by a third volcanic event about 25,000 years ago. Jeju came into existence between 700,000 and 1,200,000 years ago, when lava spewed form a sub-oceanic volcano. Between 100,000 and 300,000 years ago, when a volcanic explosion formed Mt. Hallasan.
Visitors to Jeju will enjoy an opportunity to glimpse into the island's myths and shaman folklore, stone sculptures embodying faith and sentiment, historic relics and the beauty of Jeju art. They may also experience the leisure and sports activities available, such as golf, backpacking, riding, hunting, wind surfing, food, nightlife and shipping.
Jeju Island shows varying features of each season. To name a few, the most favorite attractions of the spring with ripe flowers are the Mt. Sanbangsan area, the Mt. Songaksan areas and Seopjikoji, which has drawn the public attention as rape flower scenes for filming an SBS-TV hit drama "All-in."
Jungmun Resort, a multi-tourism area and the largest resort in Korea, sprawls along the southern shore of Jeju Island and blends in with its environment. There are many interesting places to visit around Jungmun, such as Yeomiji Botanical Garden, a fishing village, a quaint bridge overlooking the spectator Cheonjeyeon Falls and the Jungmun Beach nestled among high volcanic cliffs. Facilities accommodating visitors to Jungmun Resort include fine hotels such as the Shilla Cheju (PATA Conference headquarters), Lotte Hotel Jeju and the Hyatt Regency Cheju.
The seashore in the resort area is particularly breath-taking, often used as a setting for films, serial dramas and commercials. The huge Yeomiji Botanical Garden is a must-see. There is an ocean-side golf course, and of course the brand-new ICC JEJU, which served as the venue of the PATA Annual Conference.
Cheonjiyeon Falls is well known for columns of water plunging over a tall cliff straight into a pond beneath. A quite path through the woods leads right up to the falls.
Jeju Folk Village is an open-air museum, comprising 81 traditional thatched roof houses, reflecting the lives and culture of 19th-century Jeju islanders.
Seongsan Ilchulbong (Sunrise Peak) is at the tip of a narrow peninsula. From a bird's eye view, it looks like a moss-grown castle because 99 crags encircle its volcanic crater. The view is just a reward for a steep climb.
Manjanggul Cave is 13.4 km, the longest lava tube in the world, featuring a bizarre underground world carved by the hands of nature. The tour course is 1 km of some of the most impressive parts.
Mt. Sanbangsan is 395 meters above the sea level. Old-shaped rocks decorate the scenery in a mystical way. Halfway up is a natural grotto, Sanbanggulsa, and the view from here over the coast and the offshore islands is spectacular.
Sangumburi Crater is one of the three major craters on the island. Sangumburi Crater is on a 438-meter lava mound situated 23 km east of Jeju City. It is a rich habitat where 420 native species of subtropical, temperate and some alpine flowers and plants flourish. Nearby are restaurants serving folksy island foods. Horseback riding and hunting grounds supplement the visit.
Jusangjeolli is one of many unusual rock formations. It gives the impression that a giant once tossed huge hexagonal columns into a pile on the seashore.
Yeongduam Rock is a famous Jeju Island landmark that looks like a dragon's head in the surf. nw