Tag: Jeju

‘The Hunger Games’ Theme Park to Be Built on Jeju Island

| August 18, 2017

Maybe it is just me but it seems like there is something inappropriate about a “Hunger Games” theme park considering the movie involves teenagers hunting each other to the death:

Audiences that raved about novel-based science fiction adventure film franchise “Hunger Games” will be able to experience the thrill at a theme park on Jeju Island.

Landing Jeju Development, a wholly owned subsidiary of Landing International Development Limited, said Wednesday it signed with the United States’ Lionsgate, the franchise’s distributor, to build “Lionsgate Movie World” as part of recreational resort complex Jeju Shinhwa World now under construction.

The theme park, built over 122,000 square meters, will be Lionsgate’s first branded outdoor park and the biggest among the studio’s location-based entertainment businesses.

The park will have seven zones, each themed around different blockbuster movies and featuring reproduced streets and towns, rides, 4D experience halls, restaurants, cafes, souvenir shops and entertainment performances. The thematic movies include the “Hunger Games,” “Twilight Saga” and “Now You See Me” franchises and “Robin Hood,” to be released next March.  [Korea Times]

You can read more at the link.

USS Stethem Becomes First US Ship to Visit Jeju Naval Base

| March 27, 2017

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

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

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

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

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

You can read more at the link.

Korean Man Jailed for 35 Years for Strangling and Burning Pregnant Girlfriend

| January 7, 2017

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

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

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

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

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

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

Jeju’s Haenyeo Divers Added to UNESCO’s Cultural Heritage List

| December 2, 2016

South Korea has another cultural property recognized by UNESCO:

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

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

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

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

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

You can read more at the link.

Chinese Tourists Continue to Trash Jeju International Airport

| November 4, 2016

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

Jeju airport is grappling with overflowing garbage from Chinese tourists.

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

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

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

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

You can read more at the link.