"Jeju Island - Korea's Pearl" Jeju-do by mitchimitch

Congratulations to Jeju Island for becoming a UNESCO World Heritage Site on 27 June 2007! Please see article below:

S. Korea's Jeju Island becomes World Heritage Site+
(Jun 27 05:44 AM US/Eastern)


SEOUL, June 27 (AP) - (Kyodo)— South Korea's largest island, Jeju, was inscribed Wednesday on the UNESCO World Heritage List in recognition of its natural wonders, the World Heritage Commission said in a statement from New Zealand where it is holding a meeting.

The commission, meeting in Christchurch, said the site, inscribed as "Jeju Volcanic Island and Lava Tubes," actually comprises three sites that together make up 18,846 hectares, or 10.3 percent of the surface area of Jeju, a resort island that lies between the Korean Peninsula and Japan.

It includes Geomunoreum, "regarded as the finest lave tube system of caves anywhere"; the Seongsan Ilchulbong, a fortress-like tuff cone that rises from the ocean; and 1,950-meter Mt. Halla-san, the highest mountain in South Korea, with its waterfalls, multi-shaped rock formations and lake-filled crater.

"The property, of outstanding aesthetic beauty, also bears testimony to the history of our planet; to its features and processes," the commission said.

It marks the first time for a South Korean natural heritage site to be added to the World Heritage List, which as of Wednesday comprised 833 cultural and natural heritage sites around the world that the committee deems to have "outstanding universal value."

Jeju, South Korea's biggest and most southerly island, is located some 150 kilometers south of the Korean Peninsula and 255 km from Tsushima, Japan's nearest island.

Formerly spelled as Cheju, the 1,848-square-km island of 560,000 people is South Korea's only special self-governing province and is one of its main tourist destinations.

South Korea already has seven cultural sites inscribed on the World Heritage List, including the Changdeokgung Palace Complex, the Hwaseong Fortress, the Jongmyo Shrine and the Bulguksa Temple.

The World Heritage Committee, which is under the U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, began its 31st session Saturday to review requests to inscribe 36 new natural and cultural sites on the World Heritage List.

Also inscribed Wednesday were two other natural sites, namely the rainforests of the Atsinanana region of eastern Madagascar and the South China Karst region that extends over China's Yunnan, Guizhou and Guangxi provinces.

The meeting is scheduled to end July 2.

Source: http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D8Q133IG0&show_article=1&cat=0

According to the UNESCO website:
"Jeju Volcanic Island and Lava Tubes comprises three sites that together make up 18,846 ha, 10.3% of the surface area of Jeju Island, the southernmost territory of the Republic of Korea. It includes: Geomunoreum, regarded as the finest lave tube system of caves anywhere, with its multi-coloured carbonate roofs and floors, and dark-coloured lava walls; the fortress-like Seongsan Ilchulbong tuff cone, rising out of the ocean, a dramatic landscape; and Mount Hallasan, the highest in Korea, with its waterfalls, multi-shaped rock formations, and lake-filled crater. The property, of outstanding aesthetic beauty, also bears testimony to the history of our planet; to its features and processes."

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