Ulleungdo (), also spelled Ulreungdo, is a South Korean island east of the
Korean Peninsula
Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically divided at or near the 38th parallel between North Korea (Dem ...
in the
Sea of Japan
The Sea of Japan is the marginal sea between the Japanese archipelago, Sakhalin, the Korean Peninsula, and the mainland of the Russian Far East. The Japanese archipelago separates the sea from the Pacific Ocean. Like the Mediterranean Sea, it ...
. It was formerly known as Dagelet Island or Argonaut Island in
Europe
Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...
.
Volcanic in origin, the rocky steep-sided island is the top of a large
stratovolcano
A stratovolcano, also known as a composite volcano, is a typically conical volcano built up by many alternating layers (strata) of hardened lava and tephra. Unlike shield volcanoes, stratovolcanoes are characterized by a steep profile with ...
which rises from the seafloor, reaching a maximum elevation of at
Seonginbong
Seonginbong () is a mountain located on the South Korean island of Ulleungdo, in North Gyeongsang Province, off the eastern coast of the mainland Korean Peninsula. It is the tallest mountain on the island and has an elevation of 984 metres.
See ...
Peak. The island is in length and in width; it has an area of .
It has a population of 10,426 inhabitants.
The island makes up the main part of
Ulleung County
Ulleung County () is a county in North Gyeongsang Province, South Korea.
Ulleung County has a population of 10,426 making it the least populated county in South Korea. Ulleung County consists mainly of the island of Ulleungdo and 44 smaller isl ...
,
North Gyeongsang Province
North Gyeongsang Province (, ) is a province in eastern South Korea, and with an area of , it is the largest province in the Korean peninsula. The province was formed in 1896 from the northern half of the former Gyeongsang province, and remaine ...
, South Korea, and is a popular tourist destination. The main city of Ulleungdo is the port of Dodong (), which serves as the main ferry port between Ulleungdo and the South Korean mainland. After tourism, the main economic activity is fishing, including its well-known harvest of
squid
A squid (: squid) is a mollusc with an elongated soft body, large eyes, eight cephalopod limb, arms, and two tentacles in the orders Myopsida, Oegopsida, and Bathyteuthida (though many other molluscs within the broader Neocoleoidea are also ...
, which can be seen drying in the sun in many places.
History

Archaeological evidence indicates that the island was first inhabited in the 1st millennium BC. The first confirmed historical reference to Ulleungdo is in the historical text ''
Samguk sagi'' for the year 512. In that year, the
Silla
Silla (; Old Korean: wikt:徐羅伐#Old Korean, 徐羅伐, Yale romanization of Korean, Yale: Syerapel, Revised Romanization of Korean, RR: ''Seorabeol''; International Phonetic Alphabet, IPA: ) was a Korean kingdom that existed between ...
general
Kim Isabu conquered the island, which had previously been the autonomous nation of
Usan-guk
280px, "Samguk Sagi" Book 04. Silla's Records. In 512, Usan-guk(于山國)was Ulleungdo(鬱陵島)
Usan-guk, or the State of Usan, occupied Ulleung-do and the adjacent islands during the Korean Three Kingdoms period. According to t ...
. Some accounts relate that he used a number of wooden lions to intimidate the population, threatening to turn them loose unless they surrendered.
Usan-guk did not remain under the Silla rule, however, and the island did not become a permanent political part of Korea until 930, when it was annexed by
Goryeo
Goryeo (; ) was a Korean state founded in 918, during a time of national division called the Later Three Kingdoms period, that unified and ruled the Korea, Korean Peninsula until the establishment of Joseon in 1392. Goryeo achieved what has b ...
. Ulleungdo was attacked a number of times during the late Goryeo and early
Joseon
Joseon ( ; ; also romanized as ''Chosun''), officially Great Joseon (), was a dynastic kingdom of Korea that existed for 505 years. It was founded by Taejo of Joseon in July 1392 and replaced by the Korean Empire in October 1897. The kingdom w ...
dynasties. It was devastated by
Jurchen pirate raids in the 11th century, and by
Wokou
''Wokou'' ( zh, c=, p=Wōkòu; ; Hepburn romanization, Hepburn: ; ; literal Chinese translation: "dwarf bandits"), which translates to "Japanese pirates", were pirates who raided the coastlines of China and Korea from the 13th century to the 17 ...
pirate raids in the 14th century.
A clash with Japan over fishing rights in the 1690s was precipitated by the Korean fisherman
An Yong-bok
An Yong-bok (floruit, fl. 1692–1697) was a Korean fisherman in 17th century of Joseon Dynasty famous for his travels to Japan. His activities were instrumental in determining fishery rights in the waters of Ulleungdo and the Liancourt Rocks, ...
. In response to these difficulties, Joseon adopted an "empty-island" policy which however proved impossible to enforce. The empty-island policy was officially rescinded in 1881, after which the government sought to encourage additional settlement of Ulleungdo.
American whaleships cruised for
right whale
Right whales are three species of large baleen whales of the genus ''Eubalaena'': the North Atlantic right whale (''E. glacialis''), the North Pacific right whale (''E. japonica'') and the southern right whale (''E. australis''). They are class ...
s off the island between 1848 and 1892. Some went ashore nearby
Jukdo to club
pinniped
Pinnipeds (pronounced ), commonly known as seals, are a widely range (biology), distributed and diverse clade of carnivorous, fin-footed, semiaquatic, mostly marine mammals. They comprise the extant taxon, extant families Odobenidae (whose onl ...
s.
Geography and climate
Ulleungdo is a volcanic island that rose from the seabed during the
Cenozoic
The Cenozoic Era ( ; ) is Earth's current geological era, representing the last 66million years of Earth's history. It is characterized by the dominance of mammals, insects, birds and angiosperms (flowering plants). It is the latest of three g ...
period, and consists of
trachyte
Trachyte () is an extrusive igneous rock composed mostly of alkali feldspar. It is usually light-colored and aphanite, aphanitic (fine-grained), with minor amounts of mafic minerals, and is formed by the rapid cooling of lava (or shallow intrus ...
,
andesite
Andesite () is a volcanic rock of intermediate composition. In a general sense, it is the intermediate type between silica-poor basalt and silica-rich rhyolite. It is fine-grained (aphanitic) to porphyritic in texture, and is composed predomina ...
, and
basalt
Basalt (; ) is an aphanite, aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the planetary surface, surface of a terrestrial ...
.
Hot spot volcanic activity by the General Isabu
seamount
A seamount is a large submarine landform that rises from the ocean floor without reaching the water surface (sea level), and thus is not an island, islet, or cliff-rock. Seamounts are typically formed from extinct volcanoes that rise abruptly a ...
, dissolved Simheungtaek seamount and Liancourt Rocks and Ulleungdo with An Yong-bok seamount was created as well. Liancourt Rocks is 4.6 million years ago estimated 2.5 million years ago, and the creation of Ulleungdo to us, 2.5 million years ago in 5,000 years ago.
The island consists primarily of
trachyandesite rock. A major explosive eruption around 8000 BCE decapitated its top to form a
caldera
A caldera ( ) is a large cauldron-like hollow that forms shortly after the emptying of a magma chamber in a volcanic eruption. An eruption that ejects large volumes of magma over a short period of time can cause significant detriment to the str ...
.
There is
Seonginbong
Seonginbong () is a mountain located on the South Korean island of Ulleungdo, in North Gyeongsang Province, off the eastern coast of the mainland Korean Peninsula. It is the tallest mountain on the island and has an elevation of 984 metres.
See ...
Peak in the center of the island.
The
Nari Basin is part of a caldera in the northern part of the island, and is the island's only flat surface.
Ulleungdo has a
humid subtropical climate
A humid subtropical climate is a subtropical -temperate climate type, characterized by long and hot summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between ...
(
Köppen climate classification
The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...
''Cfa''), though it resembles the west coast of
Japan
Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...
much more than Korea, since in winter rainfall is heavy if less so than in such wet cities as
Kanazawa
is the capital of Ishikawa Prefecture in central Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 466,029 in 203,271 households, and a population density of 990 persons per km2. The total area of the city was .
Etymology
The name "Kanazaw ...
or
Akita. It is generally cloudy in the winter if again not so markedly as in the previously-mentioned Japanese cities.
*Highest Temperature: on August 8, 2013
*Lowest Temperature: on February 26, 1981
*Highest Daily Precipitation: on September 3, 1981
*Wettest Year: in 2003
[
]
Flora and fauna
The island and surrounding water were registered as a marine protected area to secure rich biodiversity in 2014.[해양수산부고시제2014-139호(울릉도 주변해역 해양보호구역 지정)](_blank)
제18417호 / 관보(정호) / 발행일 : 2014. 12. 26. / 83 페이지 / 490.8KB
The rowan tree species sorbus ulleungensis is endemic to the island.
As above mentioned, North Pacific right whale
The North Pacific right whale (''Eubalaena japonica'') is a very large, thickset baleen whale species that is extremely rare and endangered.
The Northeast Pacific population, which summers in the southeastern Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska, may ...
s and pinnipeds were targeted by whalers and sealers in the adjacent waters. Fin whales were also commonly observed historically, and other cetaceans, such as minke whale
The minke whale (), or lesser rorqual, is a species complex of baleen whale. The two species of minke whale are the common (or northern) minke whale and the Antarctic (or southern) minke whale. The minke whale was first described by the Danish na ...
s and dolphin
A dolphin is an aquatic mammal in the cetacean clade Odontoceti (toothed whale). Dolphins belong to the families Delphinidae (the oceanic dolphins), Platanistidae (the Indian river dolphins), Iniidae (the New World river dolphins), Pontopori ...
s, may appear around the island.
Japanese sea lion
The Japanese sea lion (''Zalophus japonicus'') (, ) was an aquatic mammal that became extinct in the 1970s. It was considered to be a subspecies of the related California sea lion (''Z. californianus'') until 2003. They inhabited the western Nort ...
s, now extinct, once bred on the island.
A 2013 study estimated that 1,177 species of insects inhabit the island.
Tourism
Favorite activities for tourists are hiking
A hike is a long, vigorous walk, usually on trails or footpaths in the countryside. Walking for pleasure developed in Europe during the eighteenth century. Long hikes as part of a religious pilgrimage have existed for a much longer time.
"Hi ...
, fishing
Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment (Freshwater ecosystem, freshwater or Marine ecosystem, marine), but may also be caught from Fish stocking, stocked Body of water, ...
, and eating hoe (a Korean raw fish dish). Sightseeing boats make regular three-hour circuits about Ulleungdo, departing from the harbor at Dodong and passing by all the points of interest along the coast, including many interesting rock formations and the small neighboring island of Jukdo. Other scenic sites are Seonginbong, the highest peak on the island (); Bongnae waterfall; the "natural icehouse"; and a coastal cliff from which the Liancourt Rocks
The Liancourt Rocks, known in Korea as Dokdo () and in Japan as Takeshima (), are a group of islets in the Sea of Japan between the Korean Peninsula and the Japanese archipelago administered by South Korea. The Liancourt Rocks comprise two ...
can be discerned in the distance.
An airport on the island was planned since 2013 and is under construction since 2020. The design of the new airport was revamped in 2023 for larger aircraft and is expected to open in 2025.
Gallery
File:Ulleungdo Coastal Path - panoramio.jpg, A pedestrian walking path along the coast (2014)
File:Ulleungdo View.jpg, Boats near some cliffs of the island (2010)
File:KOCIS Port Taeha, Ulleungdo (4925397155).jpg, Cliffs on the island (2010)
File:Jeodong, Ulleungdo Island - panoramio.jpg, Harbor of Jeo-dong on the island (2014)
See also
* List of volcanoes in Korea
* Lee Kyu-Won
References
*
*
External links
Ulleung County government
Ulleung.go.kr: Tourist Information (in English)
Ulleungdo, Dokdo islands to be preserved as National Park
{{Authority control
Islands of North Gyeongsang Province
Islands of the Sea of Japan
Volcanoes of South Korea
Holocene stratovolcanoes
Inactive volcanoes
VEI-6 volcanoes
Calderas of Asia
Ulleung County