Long ago, the seafaring people of Jeju had many folk stories
surrounding the mysterious rock of Ieodo.
In many of the stories it appears as a final destination for the
husbands and sons who were believed lost at sea. In other stories it was deemed a place of
widows who had lost there loved ones at sea. In one book called “The Southernmost Island Ieodo” one of the legend was
recorded as follows: A woman her father-in-law took in a small rowboat in
search of the woman’s lost husband off the shores of Jeju Island. The woman
calls out “Ieodosanna?” (이어도사나 ?) which means in the Jeju dialect “are you living in Ieodo?”. When they
finally arrived at Ieodo they found the husband there living with another
woman, but in the end the wife and father convinced him to return to Jeju
Island with them in there boat. However,
on their return trip they encountered a storm and were all lost at sea. This legend is so popular that the song sung
by the women can still be heard today among the women skin divers of Jeju
(haenyeo). To listen to Ieodosanna click here
Fact or Fiction?
So
was Ieodo the place of fishermen’s folklore, or heartbreak and no return? Your
guess is as good as ours. The real Ieodo
seems like a likely candidate for the inspiration of these folk stories of the
past. And it’s legendary reputation for
being a place of no return stands up in reality because it poses a nautical
navigational hazard to seafarers. In
fact in 1963 a Chinese vessel the Yuejin reportedly struck
Ieodo on her maiden voyage en route from Qindao to Nagyo, cause it to sink with
full crew aboard. Other historical
accounts of ships wrecks that may have been brought about by the presents of
Ieodo can be traced back to the Koryeo period of Korean history. At this time period the people of Jeju were
forced to pay some tribute to China. One
broker Mr. Kang who owned several big ships, which carried the tribute, sent
his ships to China but they never were seen again…
Where is this place of
fisherman folklore?
The
actual location of Ieodo is 149 kilometers southwest of Korea’s southernmost island Marado (next to
Jeju Island), located in the West Sea of Korea (East China Sea). However, unlike the Korean Islets of Dokdo in
the East Sea, Ieodo doesn’t even break the surface lying at a mere 4.6 meters (15ft.)
below sea level. So if you want to
glimpse upon this rock of legends, your going to have to hold your breath and
take a deep dive or climb atop the Ieodo Ocean Research Station and view it
from above. (Unfortunately its not yet open to tours for the public)
The Ieodo Ocean Research Station
In the wake of the Blue
Revolution the Republic of South Korea has developed a state of the art ocean
research station, which sits high above the submerge rock of Ieodo. The purpose of
this station is to help gather and provide valuable data that can help to
combat the growing challenges of global climate change, maritime pollution,
increasing maritime traffic, depleting fisheries, and coastal disasters. For more a more detailed and academic account
of the construction and operation of the Ieodo Ocean Research Station please
see here. One of the great features of this facility is that it broadcasts realtime Oceanic, Atmospheric, and Environmental data, which is available to the public at the Ieodo Ocean Research Center homepage, along with a number of other facts and information.
(The Ieodo Ocean Research Station has a number of facilities including a helicopter port for servicing the station, advance weather and maritime navigation equipment, a research lab, and even living quarters.)
For more information about the folklore of Ieodo or up to date information about Ocean data or the operation of the Korean Ieodo Ocean Research Center please check out this homepage
