Korea Island Promotion Agency's 'Island of the Month'... Heuksando, Jeonnam

Famous as Jeong Yak-jeon's Exile Site... Authored 'Jasan Eobo'
Selected as a K-Tourism Site by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism... 10 Billion Won Invested Over 3 Years

A panoramic view of Heuksando, Jeonnam, selected as the Island of the Month by the Korea Island Promotion Agency. [Photo by Korea Island Promotion Agency]

‘The hometown of Jasan-eobo,’ Heuksando Island in Sinan, has been selected as the ‘Island of November.’ Heuksando is the birthplace of Jasan-eobo, Korea’s first marine biology research book.

The Korea Island Development Institute (KIDI) announced on the 6th that “Heuksando (Daeheuksando) in Sinan, Jeollanam-do, has been selected and promoted as the ‘Island of the Month’ for November.”

Heuksando (Daeheuksando) is an island located about 92 km southwest of Mokpo, at the center of the Dadohae Archipelago. Centered around Daeheuksando, there are 68 islands and islets forming an archipelago. The total area is 19.7 km², with a coastline approximately 41 km long, and about 1,700 residents (as of 2023) live there.

The name Heuksando (黑山島) originates from the island’s appearance from a distance, resembling a mountain with a deep black color. Heuksando is also the place where Jeong Yak-jeon, a Silhak scholar of the late Joseon Dynasty, wrote ‘Jasan-eobo,’ Korea’s first ichthyology book, during his exile.

On the island, there are Jeong Yak-jeon’s cousin’s private school, the Exile Culture Park, and the Migratory Bird Museum.

Recently, Heuksando was selected as a ‘K-Tourism Island’ by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and will receive more than 10 billion KRW in project funding until 2026. Accordingly, it is expected to be reborn as a new tourism island model that combines its past as a place of exile with current leisure and experiential tourism, becoming a center of ‘K-Tourism.’

A representative from the Korea Island Development Institute said, “Heuksando is an island where nature and history harmonize, and through its selection as the ‘Island of the Month,’ we hope more citizens will visit and remember it,” adding, “We expect Heuksando to develop into a special island that balances cultural heritage with modern tourism trends.”