Jeongbang Waterfall

Jeongbang Waterfall falls straight onto the seashore. Its water, about 23 metres high and up to 8 metres wide depending on recent rain, drops from a cliff of columnar-jointed volcanic rock onto boulders at the edge of the sea, so that the spray and the surf meet at its foot. Waterfalls that end directly on the coast are rare anywhere in the world, and this one is often described as the only one of its kind in Asia. The stream that feeds it rises on the southern slopes of Hallasan, the volcano at the centre of Jeju Island.

The fall has been admired for centuries. In 1702 the Joseon governor of Jeju, Yi Hyeong-sang, viewed it from a boat, and the scene was painted for the Tamna Sullyeokdo, an illustrated album of his tour of the island; his notes describe the water falling straight into the sea under great pine trees and call it the finest sight in the region. Jeongbang is counted among the Yeongju Sipgyeong, the ten classic scenic views of Jeju, and with Cheonjiyeon and Cheonjeyeon it forms the island's trio of famous waterfalls. It has been a national Scenic Site of Korea since 2008. A smaller fall, Sojeongbang, lies about 300 metres to the east.

Legends cling to the rock. One tells of a sacred dragon living beneath the fall whose spirit in the water could cure illness and bring rain in times of drought. Another links the place to Xu Fu, known in Korea as Seobul, the envoy whom the Chinese emperor Qin Shi Huang is said to have sent to find the herb of immortality on Hallasan: tradition holds that he carved a record of his passage on the cliff, and the name of the city, Seogwipo, is said to recall his return westward. The falls also carry a darker memory. During the Jeju uprising of 1948–49, civilians were executed here and their bodies thrown into the sea below.

Seogwipo, the city that surrounds the falls, is the second of Jeju's two cities, a resort town on a rocky volcanic coastline covering the southern half of the island.

Getting there

The waterfall lies about 1.3 km from the centre of Seogwipo, on the city's southern shore. The nearest airport is Jeju International Airport (CJU), about 31 km away in a straight line across the island, on the north coast in Jeju City.