Hongdo & Heuksando Islands

Character

Exile turned Heuksando’s surrounding sea into a field of study for Jeong Yak-jeon. Over 15 years he catalogued 155 marine species in Jasaneobo. Hongdo, 22 kilometres away, asks for the opposite vantage: a sightseeing boat moves outside the island to read 33 rocky islets, caves and cliffs

Heuksando is the larger, inhabited half of the pair. Shinan records an island of about 19.7 square kilometres with 41.8 kilometres of coastline, fisheries centred on Yeri Port and a 24-kilometre road around the island. Hongdo is tighter and more protected: the whole island has been a Natural Monument protection area since 1965 and also lies within Dadohaehaesang National Park

Those differences change what counts as understanding each place. Heuksando accumulates meaning through settlement, work, roads and recorded knowledge of marine life. Hongdo’s steep coast gives much of its information outward, from the water, where detached rocks, caves and cliff faces can be read as one protected formation

The experience

Heuksando spreads a visit across lived-in terrain. Yeri Port is still a working fisheries base, and the circular road links villages, coastal viewpoints and older cultural remains. The island therefore reads less like a single attraction than a maritime district with everyday movement continuing through it

Hongdo is more compact on land but expands once the boat leaves the harbour. Korea Tourism Organization identifies the sea circuit as a principal experience, passing the island’s 33 rocky islets and cliff formations. Shinan highlights landmarks such as Nammun Rock and Silgeumri Cave, while Kitdae Peak offers a land-based counterpoint from 365 metres above sea level

Weather matters differently on the two islands. Heuksando still has roads and port life when sea excursions are limited. On Hongdo, marine conditions affect one of the main ways the protected coastline is seen, so a ferry arrival does not guarantee the full boat-based experience

History

Heuksando’s distance from the mainland made it a Joseon exile site. Jeong Yak-jeon arrived in 1801 and remained for 15 years. During that period he studied the surrounding sea, recording local names, forms, habitats and uses for 155 marine species in Jasaneobo. The work gives the island an unusual historical record in which enforced isolation produced systematic knowledge of the sea

The island’s past is broader than one exile. Shinan also records dolmens, a stone pagoda, a stone lantern and ritual woodland, while fisheries continue to structure Yeri Port in the present. These layers keep Jasaneobo connected to a long inhabited maritime landscape rather than isolating it as a literary anecdote

Hongdo’s modern historical layer is preservation. Its Natural Protection Area was designated Natural Monument No. 170 on 7 April 1965. Dadohaehaesang National Park followed in 1981, placing Hongdo and Heuksando inside a much larger protected marine system of islands, warm-temperate forest and rock coast

Before you go

Mokpo Port Passenger Terminal is the mainland gateway, and personal identification is required for ship boarding. The islands are ferry-dependent, while Hongdo’s sightseeing boats operate separately from passenger transport. Weather can therefore change both the ability to reach the islands and the form of the visit after arrival