🎧 Yul's Korea Audio Guide
Seongsan Ilchulbong, Jeju
Narrated in English with Korean phrases by YUL of KVIBE IDOLS.
🎵 Background music: Still in That Spring (그 봄에 머물러) — KVIBE IDOLS · Listen to the full song →
Full transcript
Annyeong, yeoreobun! It's Yul, and yes, it's very early in the morning. Why? Because today we're watching the sun rise from a volcano! This is Seongsan Ilchulbong. Ilchulbong means sunrise peak, and Seongsan means fortress mountain. It looks like a giant stone castle rising out of the sea.
So how was it born? Thousands of years ago, magma erupted under shallow sea water. And when red-hot magma meets cold water... boom! It shatters into tiny pieces of ash and rock, which pile up into a cone. Scientists call this a tuff cone, made by a hydrovolcanic eruption.
And here's the twist. Seongsan Ilchulbong was originally separate from Jeju Island! Over time, sediment piled up and joined it to the main island. So today you can simply walk to a place that once stood alone in the sea.
At the top, there's a huge, round crater covered in grass. In 2007, UNESCO listed Seongsan Ilchulbong as part of the World Natural Heritage site Jeju Volcanic Island and Lava Tubes, together with Hallasan and the Geomunoreum lava tube system. Three treasures in one listing. Daebak!
Yul's tip! The peak is 182 meters high, and the climb up the wooden stairs takes up to about thirty minutes. Check the sunrise time the night before, start early, and bring a jacket, because the wind up there is no joke.
Next, we're climbing the highest mountain in South Korea. Kaja!
