Saturday, August 20, 2011

Ready Action! Find the spots of Dramas in Jeju


Due to the beautiful scenery and 1000 different faces, Jeju Island has been chosen as a background of advertisements, movies, and dramas. There is a saying that if the drama is filmed in Jeju Island, it will definitely succeed, because the scenery has a huge impact itself. Due to the success of dramas, more and more tourists are naturally coming to see Jeju Island. Drama makers choose Jeju Island as the best location for filming because of its picture-like and exotic scenery. Let’s get out of the small drama sets, and take a look at the filming locations in Jeju.


Rediscovered by <My name is Kim Sam-sun>, Sungsan Ilchul peak

“My name is Kim Sam-sun”, which was broadcast on MBC in 2005, produced a lot of great scenes and famous quotations with the best viewer ratings of 50.5% of the year. One of the great scenes was when “Hee Jin” (Jung Ryu Won) and “Henry” (Daniel Henny) climbed up the mountain and talked, looking down the scenery of Jeju. The wide meadow and the transparent ocean not only helped the scenery look more beautiful and dramatic but also attracted lots of tourists to the place even after the drama ended. Then, where is the location that made the drama stood out? 

<Sungsan Ilchul peak, which was designated as the 420th Natural Monument
as well as the filming place of “My name is Kim Sam-sun” >
(Photo: Hani news)

World Natural Heritage, Sungsan Ilchul peak which was designated as one of the eight best attractions in Korea is the spot of the drama. Sungsan Ilchul peak has been chosen as the best attraction among others with its unique history, culture and nature by the Ministry of Culture and was recognized the possibility of development. To be selected as one of the best places, it should be recommended by many people, and pass a peculiar judging procedure such as documentary review, online vote, and in-situ survey. How could Sungsan Ilchul peak proudly be acknowledged?
Sungsan Ilchul peak, which is considered the first among ten sceneries of Jeju, has beautiful scenery . When you go up along the western steep ridge, on the top, there is a wide crater, which looks like the ocean has been moved to Baengnokdam at the top of Mt. Halla. Sungsan Ilchul peak, which is now at an elevation of 182m, is a rare volcanic edifice that was exploded under water among other craters. Due to the explosion caused when lava was mixed with water, lava was broken down into fine volcanic ash and was piled up around the circumference of the crater like a shape of cone. Originally, it was a volcanic island, however, a pile of sand and gravel connected the space between the island and the land side of Shinyang beach. At the top of Ilchul peak, there is a crater with a diameter of 600m, an elevation of 90m as the height of ground floor and the area of approximately 80,000pyeong. This place was used as a farm, but now it is a field of tall wild grass where Woodo can be seen with human eyes.
Even a long time ago, the sunrise view from the top of Sungsan Ilchul peak has been the best among ten places with good sceneries in Jeju. The sunrise above a horizontal line beyond the surging blue ocean dyes the whole ocean, catches people’s heart and makes them admire it. It was designated as a regional monument until July 19, 2000 when it was designated as a natural monument. It is now a treasure of Jeju, which attracts more and more tourists and gives more inspiration than the drama itself.


Attractive Scenery of <Tamnaneundoda>, Woodo

<Tamnaneundoda> is a fantasy tale of what happened in Chosun Dynasty in a mysterious Jeju island It handles the 21st century style of communication happening in 17th century, which exceeds the wall of civilization, race, social status, and sex. Through the travel by different young men and women from different places, the drama gave the viewers an opportunity to think of their past where fantasy was real to them.
Another main character of <Tamnaneundoda> is the scenery of Jeju which was shown as a background on drama. It was because the extensive land, high sky, transparent cloud and ocean, and ocean breeze that tickles our nose made a good combination of nice scenery, and they made viewers unable to stop looking at it. Even though the drama ended, <Tamnaneundoda> is still remained in our heart as attractive one. One of the most representative filming locations in Jeju was a peaceful island, Woodo, which looks like a cow which lies across the east side of the ocean.

<The Scenery of Woodo stands out more than the main characters of <Tamnaneundoda>
(Photo: hankook Ilbo)

Even though the look of the rough and strong female divers of Jeju is interesting, Woodo is certainly the best. Even though the size of the island is small, across the shore, green ocean and black stone walls along the road, a mysterious land with beautiful sandy beach and beach scarps stretch out continuously. You can frequently hear the diving sound of female divers, and it makes sense because Woodo is called as ‘the homeland of female divers’.
There are the eight representative sceneries of Woodo: Day and Night (A full moon in day time, the light of fishing ship during the night time), Sky and Land (the look of Mt. Halla from East Cheonghindong Hang, Sand of Jeedu), Front and Back (Woodo’s front and back scenery), East and West (Cave and Cliff). Additionally, Woodo, the place where the movies <A Love Story>, <Mermaid Princess> were filmed, is a representative tourist attraction with Mt. Halla due to the impressive scenery of lyrical Jeju Island, the mood of cozy green meadow and white sandy beach touching Jeju’s blue ocean.
The place you shouldn’t miss in Woodo travel is Woodo peak. It has marvelous scenery where you can see the whole picture-like view at once. Also, the coral sand ocean in Woodo is a place where you can capture one of the best sceneries. Red algae makes the ocean shine in beach color with exotic mood, providing fascinating view.






Famous Location in <All In>, Subjicoji;


The drama that Lee Byung-Hun and Song Hye-Gyo, two world stars representing Korea, played the main characters was filmed near Subjicoji. After the drama, this place became well-known as the location of the drama, which resulted in lots of tourists coming by. Even after the drama ended, the set was still remained, which got tourists’ attentions. Also “All In” house was built to remember the drama. When spring comes, Subjicoji, sticking out from the east coast of Jeju, shows the great ocean view with the background of Sungsan Ilchool peak with yellow rape flowers.

<“All In” house, the first drama museum restored at Subjicoji> (Photo: the Korea Tourist Service, Inc.)

Shinyang sandy beach at the entrance, the field of rape flowers covered over the meadow at the edge of a hill, ponies eating grass peacefully, beach scarps and legendary Zen rocks are typically wonderful places you can find in Jeju. Especially the shore is made of red volcanic ash called “Songyi”, which is different from other shores in Jeju. Also, fantastic rocks and stones, which disappear and appear according to the flow and the tide are not able to be seen anywhere.


Jeju Folk Village Museum, the background of Oh-Na-Ra, Oh-Na-Ra
<Dae Jang Geum>

Dae Jang Geum, a drama, which was the most popular not only in Korea but also in the entire Asia, is actually a historical drama of Chosun Dyanasty, which a famous actress, Young-Aeh Lee stars. It is so famous that even though the drama ended a long time ago, people still talk about it. Jeju Folk Village Museum, the entire background of Dae Jang Geum, left a town of old thatched- roof houses, which is perfect to film a historical drama.

<Jeju Folk Village Museum is now used as a background in many historical dramas than in Dae Jang Geum> (Photo: the Korea Tourist Service, Inc.)

Jeju Folk Village Museum generally exhibits the organized collection of folk materials, traditionally from Jeju Island starting from 1890s, the end of the Chosun Dynasty. Especially, more than 100 traditional houses are not decorated just similarly, but were restored almost perfectly even from the tiny parts of the house where people lived before including stones and pillars. In this traditional house, there are about 8000 pieces of folk material including household items, farming equipments, fishing equipments, furniture, stone figures placed in front of a tomb and etc. It is a place where the traditional culture of Jeju is preserved, where we can see our flowers and trees at once and where we can compare the differences and similarities with World heritages. Lots of tourists who visit Jeju don’t miss this place and feel the scent of Chosun dynasty.


Wouldn’t it be much greater if you can not only enjoy the interesting drama story, but also the beauty of Jeju Island? If you are inspired by the role of Jeju as a catalyst providing dramas more fun and sceneries, why don’t you actually visit Jeju in person and be the main character of your own drama?

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