Jindo Island: Home of Korea's Moses Miracle

Jindo Island is an island located on the southwestern part of Korea, specifically in South Jeolla province. Located about 120 kilometers south of Mokpo, Jindo is the third largest island in Korea next to Jeju and Geoje islands. By bus, it takes about 6 hours to reach Mokpo from Seoul and another hour to finally reach Jindo from Mokpo. By plane, it only takes 50 minutes to travel from Seoul to Mokpo. Jindo Island is separated from the mainland by the Myeongyang Strait, but the strait is now spanned by the Jindo Bridge, South Korea’s longest suspension bridge.

Jindo Island is famous not only for its Jindo breed dogs nor the Baekjodoraeji or the seasonal home of swans coming across the sea from foreign countries, but is also known for its Jindo-arirang (traditional folk song Arirang originated from Jindo). But most of all, Jindo Island’s most impressive attraction is the Yeongdeungsal or what is more popularly known as Korean’s version of the “Moses Miracle”.

What is the “Moses Miracle”? Well, it is a natural occurrence wherein twice a year, during the end of February and the middle of June, the water recedes and a land path about 2.8 kilometers long and 40 meters wide is revealed, uniting the islands of Jindo and Modo for about an hour and then submerges again. I actually saw some photos of the said event in various promotional materials for Jindo, and it does leave one wondering, how such a phenomenon happens, a secret of nature that remains unanswered and a complete mystery.

To coincide with the Yeongdeungsal, the Yeongdeung Festival is held which lasts for three to four days. Various traditional Korean folk culture performances are conducted during the said festival and is also attended by people from all around the world.

So, if you would like to experience the so called “Moses Miracle”, you better start planning your trip to Korea’s Jindo Island for next year’s event.

Gayageum: Korean stringed instrument

The Gayageum is considered as the most well-known traditional Korean instrument. Similar to the table harp, this Korean board zither has 12 strings which were traditionally made from silk strings, although there are gayageum with 17 or 21 stings. Moreover, aside from silk other materials used for the strings are nylon, steel or even copper.

I was accidentally introduced to the Gayageum when I caught the last part of a traditional Korean musical performance in the activity center of one of the more popular malls in our place a few years back. And since then, it has been a part of my mp3 playlist. My mp3 player contains the piano version as well as the gayageum version of the Arirang. It also has some of Byungki Hwang’s work, such as Spring (봄) and Fall (가을) both from his CD침향무. Byungki Hwang is of course the foremost South Korean gayageum maestro.

On my wishlist is a string musical performance by Byungki Hwang on gayageum, Yoyo Ma on cello and Lucia Micarelli on violin. That would be a musical coup for me, but then again it’s just a wishlist.

So the next time you log in to youtube or imeem or to any of your favorite video sharing network, why not try to surf for some of Byungki Hwang's work or some gayageum performances and enjoy the beautiful sound of this korean instrument.