Jeju Province (Jeju and ), officially Jeju Special Self-Governing Province (Jeju: ; ), is the southernmost province of South Korea, consisting of eight inhabited and 55 uninhabited islands, including Marado, Udo, the Chuja Archipelago, and the country's largest island, Jeju Island.formerly transliterated as Cheju Island or Cheju Do, the island was also previously known as Quelpart to Europeans and as Saishū during the Japanese occupation of Korea. The province is located in the Korea Strait, with the Korean Peninsula to the northwest, Japan to the east, and China to the west.
The province has two cities: the capital Jeju City, on the northern half of the island, and Seogwipo, on the southern half of the island. The island is home to the shield volcano Hallasan, the highest point in South Korea. Jeju and Korean are the official languages of the province, and the vast majority of residents are bilingual.
Jeju Island was first settled by humans 8,000 to 10,000 years ago and the Tamna Kingdom is the earliest known civilization on the island. Beginning in the 5th century AD, the kingdom would become a tributary state of various Korean Kingdoms until being annexed into Goryeo in 1105. The island was invaded by the Mongol Empire in 1271 and later became part of Joseon in 1392. Joseon ruled the island brutally and multiple uprisings occurred. Jeju Island, with the rest of mainland Korea, was annexed by the Empire of Japan in 1910. Following Japan's surrender in World War II in 1945, the islands became part of South Jeolla Province in the United States Army Military Government in Korea, before becoming a separate province on 1 August 1946. On 1 July 2006, the islands were designated a Special Self-Governing Province; it is now one of three special self-governing provinces, the others being Gangwon State and Jeonbuk State.
History Early history
The earliest known polity on the island was the kingdom of Tamna.
According to the legend, three demigods emerged from Samseong, which is said to have been on the northern slopes of Hallasan and became the progenitors of the Jeju people, who founded the Kingdom of Tamna.
It has also been claimed that three brothers, including Ko-hu, who were the 15th descendants of Koulla, one of the progenitors of the Jeju people, were received by the court of Silla, at which time the name Tamna was officially recognized, while the official government posts of Commander, Prince and Governor were conferred by the court upon the three. However, there is no concrete evidence of when the "Three Names" (Samseong-Ko, Yang and Pu) appeared nor the exact date of when Ko-hu and his brothers were received by Silla. The "Three Names" Founding Period may be assumed to have occurred during the Three Kingdoms (Goguryeo, Baekje and Silla) Period on the mainland of Korea.
Taejo, founder of Goryeo, attempted to establish the same relationship between Goryeo and Tamna as Tamna had had with Silla. Tamna refused to accept this position and the Goryeo court dispatched troops to force Tamna to submit. Ko ja-gyeon, chief of Tamna, submitted to Goryeo in 938 and sent his son, Prince Mallo, to Goryeo's court as a de facto hostage. In 1105, (King Sukjong's 10th year), the Goryeo court abolished the name Takna, which had been used up to this time and, from that year on, the island was known as "Tamna-gun" (district) and Goryeo officials were sent to handle the affairs of the island.
Tamna-country was changed to Tamna-county in 1153, during the reign of King Uijong and Choi Cheok-kyeong was posted as Tamna-Myeong or Chief of Tamna. During the reign of Gojong of Goryeo, Tamna was renamed "Jeju", which means "province across the sea".
In 1271, General Kim T'ong-jŏng escaped with what remained of his Sambyeolcho force from Jindo and built the Hangpadu Fortress at Kwiil-chon from where they continued their fight against the combined Korean government-Mongolian army, but within two years, faced by an enemy army of over 10,000 troops, the Sambyeolcho was annihilated.
After Mongol invasions of Korea, the Mongol Empire established a base on Jeju Island with its ally, the Goryeo army in (Tamna prefectures) and converted part of the island to a grazing area for the Korean and Mongol cavalry stationed there. After the Sambyeolcho Rebellion was crushed by the Yuan authorities, Tamna prefectures were established and were used to graze horses, until 1356.
In the beginning of the 15th century, Jeju Island was subjected to the highly centralized rule of the Joseon dynasty. During much of the Joseon period (1392–1910), Jeju islanders were treated as foreigners and Jeju was considered as a place for horse breeding and exile for political prisoners. In the 17th century, Injo of Joseon issued an edict prohibiting islanders from travelling to the Korean mainland. Consequently, Jeju islanders staged several major uprisings, including the Kang Je Geom Rebellion (1862), Bang Seong Chil Rebellion (1898), and the Lee Jae Su Rebellion (1901).
Modern history Japanese occupation In 1910, Japan annexed Korea, including Jeju, inaugurating a period of hardship and deprivation for the islanders, many of whom were compelled to travel to the mainland or Japan for work. Residents of Jeju were active in the Korean independence movement during the period of Japanese rule. On Jeju, the peak of resistance came in 1931–32 when haenyeo ("sea women") from six eastern villages launched a protest against the Japanese-controlled Divers Association. Before it was brutally crushed, the protests spread and eventually 17,000 people participated, with over 100 arrested in Korea's largest protest movement ever led by women and fisheries workers.
Jeju uprising, 1948
The brutal and often indiscriminate suppression of the rebellion resulted in the deaths of thousands of civilians and insurgents, and the imprisonment of thousands more in internment camps. 14,000 to 30,000 people were killed in total during the 13 month uprising.
From 3 April 1948, to May 1949, the South Korean government conducted an anticommunist campaign to suppress an attempted uprising on the island. The main cause for the rebellion was the election scheduled for 10 May 1948, designed by the United Nations Temporary Commission on Korea (UNTCOK) to create a new government for all of Korea. The elections were only planned for the south of the country, the half of the peninsula under UNTCOK control. Fearing that the elections would further reinforce division, guerrilla fighters of the Workers' Party of South Korea (WPSK) reacted violently, attacking local police and rightist youth groups stationed on Jeju Island.
The Northwest Youth League, a far-right Korean government-sponsored group made up of refugees who had fled North Korea, actively repressed any and all "communist sympathizers" including a policy of shooting anyone entering or leaving the president's declared "enemy zone". This led to the deaths of hundreds of islanders. Many islanders were also raped and tortured. The isolation of Jeju and a cover up by the Korean government led to public ignorance of the Jeju uprising by mainland Koreans for many years. A 1988 documentary by Thames TV, Korea: The Unknown War and many activities and publications, including Sun-i Samch'on by Hyun Ki Young, by organizations and persons from within Jeju-do and around the world continue to attempt to shed the light on this event. The uprising has become a symbol of Jeju's independence from the Korean Peninsula.
The provincial administrative building was burned to the ground in September 1948 and a new building was completed in 1-do, 2-dong in December 1952.
In 2008, bodies of victims of a massacre were discovered in a mass grave near Jeju International Airport.Song Jung Hee, Islanders still mourn April 3 massacre , Jeju Weekly, 3 March 2010
21st century On 27 June 2007, Jeju Volcanic Island and Lava Tubes was unanimously made a UNESCO World Heritage site at the 31st World Heritage Committee.
On 11 November 2018, it was announced that preparations were being made for North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to visit Jeju during his upcoming visit to South Korea. Kim would be transported to Jeju via helicopter. The announcement came in after 200 tonnes of tangerines harvested in Jeju were flown to North Korea as a sign of appreciation for nearly 2 tonnes of North Korean mushrooms Kim gave to South Korea as a gift, following the September 2018 inter-Korean summit.
In November 2020, South Korean archeologists announced the discovery of a 900-year-old lost slipway off the coast of Sinchangli. Researchers also discovered bright objects, coins and ceramics belonging to the Northern Song dynasty.
Jeju Naval Base
In 1993, South Korea began planning a naval base on Jeju Island. In June 2007, Gangjeong, a village on the southern coast of the island, was selected as the site of the $970 million naval base. Construction started in Gangjeong village in 2007, with planned completion by 2011. The base was designed to be a mixed military-commercial port similar to those in Sydney and Hawaii, that could accommodate 20 warships and three submarines, as well as two civilian cruise ships displacing up to 150,000 tons. Its official name is the Jeju Civilian-Military Complex Port. Jeju residents, environmentalists, and opposition parties opposed the construction claiming that environmental hazards will damage the "Island of Peace" designated as such by the government. Villagers have protested and filed lawsuits to try to block construction and have widely publicized their opposition. The protests caused delays in the construction. The base was completed in 2016.
Logo The script in the official Jeju logo is colored black, to evoke the basalt of the island, indicating that Jeju's traditions should be preserved and developed. The green symbolizes the natural environment of Hallasan and Jeju, blue symbolizes the sea of Jeju, and orange symbolizes "the hopeful future and value of Jeju Special Self-Governing Province".
Administrative divisions Historical In 1273, the Mongolian Yuan dynasty established a military governor on the island. For nearly a hundred years the island was effectively under the complete control of these governors.
During the Joseon period, all of the administrative rights and systems of Jeju Island, which had maintained some independence until this time, were absorbed into the centralized form of government established by Joseon.
In 1402, the titles of Commander and Prince were abolished. In 1416, the island was divided into three major administrative districts: the area lying generally north of Hallasan was headed by a 'Moksa' or county magistrate, while the eastern area of Jeongui-county (today's Seongeup Folk Village) and the southwestern area of Daejeong-county (today's Moseulpo, Daejeong-eup, and Sanbangsan) were each headed by a Hyeon-gam (also county magistrate).
In August 1864, both Jeongui and Daejeong hyeons were removed from the control of the 'moksa' north of the mountain in today's Jeju-si area and were renamed 'Gun" (county) and came under the direct control of the Gwanchalsa (governor) of Jeolla province. Because of strife between these 'Guns' and the Jeju 'moksa', the system was abolished in January 1880, and the two 'Guns' reverted again to 'hyeon'.
In 1895, Jeju-mok was redesigned as Jeju-Bu with a governor (Gwanchalsa) and Vice-governor (Chamsagwan) and a police agency was newly established, while in both Jeongui and Daejeong the offices of 'Gunsu' (county chief) were re-established. The very next year, the office of 'Gunsu' was abolished and the old system was restored.
Then in 1906, abolishing the Moksa system altogether, the Gunsu or County chief system was adopted. In 1910, Jeongui and Daejeong were included in Jeju gun while Chuja-myeon was placed under the jurisdiction of Wando-gun, part of South Jeolla province.
Modern