Jeju Island

Jeju Province (officially the Jeju Special Autonomous Province) is one of the nine provinces of South Korea. The province is situated on and coterminous with the nation's largest island of Jeju (also Jejudo; see Naming below), formerly transliterated as Cheju, Cheju Do, etc., or known as Quelpart to Europeans. The island lies in the Korea Strait, southwest of South, of which it was a part before it became a separate province in 1946. Its capital is Jeju City.

The island contains the natural World Heritage Site Jeju Volcanic Island and Lava Tubes. Jeju Island has a temperate climate and even in winter, the temperature rarely falls below freezing point.

Jeju Island, also known as the "Island of the Gods," is a popular vacation spot for Koreans and foreigners. It remains the top honeymoon destination for Korean newlyweds, and is also regarded as one of the top honeymoon destinations in the world. Despite attempts to market the island as "the Hawaii of Korea," climatologically and geographically it bears little in similarity to the Hawaiian Islands in the U.S. The island offers visitors a wide range of activities: hiking on Halla-san (South Korea's highest peak) or Olle-gill (routes), catching sunrises and sunsets over the ocean, riding horses, touring all the locales from a favorite television K-drama, or just lying around on the sandy beaches

Early history

According to legend, three demi-gods emerged from Samsung-hyeol which is said to have been on the northern slopes of Mt. Halla 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 [when?] 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...