November 26, 2021
Jung Il woo participated in the creation of a small Village Shop in the island of “Gapado” off the Southern coast on Jeju Island. One theory of why it is named Gapado is because its shape resembles a stingray (Gaori in Korean). Most of the islanders in Gapado work in the fishing industry, but some of the others cultivate crops for a living. Cr.m.visitjeju.net
“Gapado is the Korean island with the most flatlands with the highest elevation at 20.5m above sea level. In Gapado Island, you can reach anywhere you want by foot within two hours. It is good to take a stroll through the Jeju Olle 10-1 Course (5km), or just enjoy the luxury of walking around aimlessly. It is easy to forget all out about time when you watch the green barley dance to the rhythm of the wind. The land is nearly flat, and it is easy to move around on a wheelchair or with a stroller. Renting out a bicycle is also a good idea. The road is not completely free of cars, but all of the scenery is quite different from what you can see in a busy city. You can take as much time as you want since no one is honking at you to step aside.” Cr. m.visitjeju.net
Doesn’t that sound just heavenly?
One of the things this island is known for is its Barley. There is even a Barley Festival held every year. If you ever visit during this time, be mindful of not stepping into the planted Barley to take photos, to these islanders this is something they survive on. Here are some photos:
Cr. Korea Tourism Organization
Do you see this mountain? Isn’t it incredible! It sits on Jeju Island, it is called Songaksan Mountain. It is actually a volcano and its grounds were used for military purposes during the Japanese occupation. Here is a map that helps to see it better spatially:
These views are from Jeju Island:
Cr. trip.com
Cr. Korea Tourism Organization
Gapado has has been struggling in maintaining economic and social progress for a long time. In the 1970’s this island had a population of about 1000 people, according to an article from the Korea Herald, the population had declined to barely 120 by 2018.
Various private entities and the government have tried to revive this island’s economy and social interest. One of these known as the The “Gapado Project” aims at building a sustainable economic infrastructure in the island that will not only help the residents, but also bring back those who have left for jobs elsewhere. It was initiated in 2012 and co-developed by Hyundai Card, the government of Jeju Special Self-Governing Province, architectural studio One O One and the local community of Gapado.
To read more about this project go HERE.
You can see a current video of what the project has built so far. It is a labor of love:
Village Shop was a show created to bring some more love to this island. By hiring celebrities to this show, including Jung Il woo, it looks to promote the island for potential tourism in the near future. It is a noble enterprise and I am not surprised to see Ilwoo involved in it.
This program is set to air on January 29th, and according to its Trailer 2 (further down) it will only air in Seezn. Because it carries the MBC logo I’m still hopeful it will be shown there too. So far if you do a search in Korean for 마을애 가게 in the MBC Channel Website it yields just news articles: HERE
Sadly, I have a class exactly at that time here (9:00AM) so I won’t be able to watch it… even if they showed it. 🙁 Silent Sigh
This is Trailer 1
Trailer 2:
English Translation: Please credit this website if reusing in any way! Thank you for honoring my work!
0:00 Gapado Island, Jeju’s prestigious island has a tasty restaurant!
Maeulae shop! Village Shop has awesome ocean view and food!
0:08 We remodelled an old space into a hot place of the area, Maeulae shop!
0:14 Village shop is only possible to watch on Seezn!
0:17 We renew the place for the ‘Haenyeos’ (literally meaning ‘sea woman’) they are catching some oysters and mussels under the sea, and we are making special food using local ingredients.
0:25 Good good!
0:27 and only on Seezn, the hidden stories about Village shop!
0:33 You are all curious about it now, right? then let’s meet on Seezn!
Bye~
0:40 Village shop! Village shop!
If you want to feel like you are there… go HERE. It’s Google maps, only photos but the scenery is very serene.
I also made this short video:
The original 360 photo is posted at Google Maps by Yong woo Kwon
These are photos that have been posted in Tweeter and Instagram. Credit in captions. If you’d like your photo removed please let me know at kdrama.fan13@gmail.com. Thank you!
A few more photos of Gapado…
Cr. m.visitjeju.net/
All I can say is that this island and Jeju are definitely on my list, I dream of doing this: