Island in Geoje, South Korea
Geojedo
(
Korean
:
巨濟島
;
MR
:
K?je-do
), or
Geoje Island
, is the principal island of
Geoje
,
South Gyeongsang Province
, South Korea. It is joined to land by two bridges from nearby
Tongyeong
.
Gohyeon
is the largest town on the island.
Geojedo covers an area of 383.44 square kilometres (148.05 sq mi), the second largest island in South Korea (second to
Jeju Island
). The landscape features several peaks:
Gara
(580 metres, 1,900 ft), Daegeum (437.5 metres, 1,435 ft) and
Guksabong
(400 metres, 1,300 ft). Geojedo is known for its rich deposits of granite. The southern belt of Geojedo, together with part of
Namhaedo
in
Namhae County
, belongs to
Hallyeo Maritime National Park
.
[1]
Geojedo features several natural harbors. Shipbuilding is the largest industry on the island.
[1]
The second and third largest shipyards in South Korea are both located on the island,
Daewoo
Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering (DSME) in the city of
Okpo
, and
Samsung
Heavy Industries (SHI) in the city of Gohyeon (
Geoje
City).
The
Busan?Geoje Bridge
was opened in December 2010 and provides a more direct connection to the city of
Busan
.
[2]
[1]
Etymology
[
edit
]
The name comes from
Korean
Geoje
'Great Crossing Island'; from
巨
'great, large',
濟
'crossing, ferry', and
島
'island'.
History
[
edit
]
During the
Three Kingdoms period
, Geojedo corresponded to one of the twelve states of
Byeonhan
(變한) state called Dokno (瀆盧國; 瀆盧國). During the
Silla
period (新羅時代),
King Gyeongdeok
in 757 A.D. first started to use the name Geoje province "巨濟郡" to refer to the island.
[1]
In the Korea and
Joseon dynasty
period, after the area called Giseong (기성현) was divided from Geoje 거제현 in 1914, the Geoje area was mistakenly called
Tongyeong
(統營郡).
[1]
During this period, the island was a strategic location between
Japan
and the
Korean Peninsula
, and therefore suffered invasion by the
Japanese
.
When the Japanese invaded
Tongyeong
in 1592, the Navy Headquarters of Three Provinces was established in
Geoje
which served as a command for many naval battles in the area. Included in these were the battle of May 1592;
Admiral Yi Sun-sin
led Korean forces to a much celebrated naval victory at Okpo, Geojedo (옥포海戰), as well as on the 28th of July, 1592 at Gyeonnaeryang (견내량海戰) also known as the Hansan Great victory (한산大捷). In the year 1597 the first and only naval defeat to the Japanese in Korean history took place at Chilcheon, Geoje (七千輛海戰).
During the
Korean War
,
UN Forces
established the
Geoje POW Camp
in 1951 for captured North Koreans.
[3]
31 prisoners died during conflicts there.
[4]
: 259?60
Koje Unscreened
(1953), written by journalists
Alan Winnington
and
Wilfred Burchett
, focused on the poor conditions in the camp.
[5]
[6]
In 1953, Geoje became an independent county, and in the early 1970s the shipbuilding industry began producing ships, which led to population growth. In 1995, Geoje finally had a large enough population to be classified as a city (詩).
[1]
Aerial view of
Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering
's facilities on Geoje (2017)
It is now the hub for a major driving force in Korea's economic development, the shipbuilding industry.
[1]
Geoje is the hometown of two
Presidents of South Korea
:
Kim Young-sam
(1993?1998)
[7]
and
Moon Jae-in
(2017-2022).
[8]
It was the final port of call of the
SS Meredith Victory
at Christmastide 1950, when that ship evacuated some fourteen thousand North Korean civilians from Hungnam.
[9]
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
"巨濟島 (巨濟島)"
,
Encyclopedia of Korean Culture
(in Korean),
Academy of Korean Studies
, retrieved
2024-06-10
- ^
"Fixed link connects Busan, Geoje Island"
.
The Korea Times
. 2010-12-13
. Retrieved
2024-06-10
.
- ^
量, 英祖,
"巨濟島 砲로 騷擾事件 (巨濟島 捕虜 騷擾事件)"
,
Encyclopedia of Korean Culture
(in Korean),
Academy of Korean Studies
, retrieved
2024-06-10
- ^
Hermes, Walter (1992).
United States Army in the Korean War: Truce Tent and Fighting Front
. United States Army Center of Military History.
ISBN
9781410224842
.
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the
public domain
.
- ^
D. McFarland, Keith (2009).
The Korean War: An Annotated Bibliography
(ebook)
. Taylor & Francis. pp. 303?304.
ISBN
9781135223953
.
- ^
Edwards, Paul M. (1998).
The Korean War: An Annotated Bibliography
. Greenwood Press. p. 223.
ISBN
9780313303173
.
- ^
崔, 陳 (2008-10-31).
"大統領의 아버지, 누구인가?…가난한 農事꾼에서 巨濟島 甲富까지 ⑤"
.
中央日報
(in Korean)
. Retrieved
2024-06-10
.
- ^
金, 嶺東 (2017-05-09).
"文在寅 故鄕마을 "巨濟서 大統領 두名이나 될 것 같다"
"
.
The Hankyoreh
(in Korean)
. Retrieved
2024-06-10
.
- ^
Productions, RJ McHatton of Inventive.
"Home - Ship of Miracles Documentary by RJ McHatton"
.
www.shipofmiracles.com
.
External links
[
edit
]
Media related to
Geoje Island
at Wikimedia Commons
34°51′29″N
128°37′06″E
/
34.85806°N 128.61833°E
/
34.85806; 128.61833