Dongbaek Island

Dongbaek Island is a tiny piece of land located at the end of Haeundae beach in Busan. It is not even an island anymore as a land bridge has formed over the last few hundred years. It is famous for its natural beauty, trees, views of the city, and had a few landmarks too.
The first is a statue of Choi Chi-won. He is famous because he rose from a lower social class to become advisor to the Chinese emperor. He then moved back to Korea and became an important scholar and politician. A story says that he retired from politics and began to wander the country. When he came across Dongbaek Island, he decided to build a house there, and carved Hae-un, which was one of his pen names, into the rocks. This is the origin of the name Haeundae, where I currently live.
I also visited the Nurimaru APEC house (nuri=world, maru=summit) which was the site of the 2005 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation conference.

There is also a bronze statue of a mermaid who, according to legend, was married off to a King in the area. She missed home so much that her grandmother gave her a magic jade that she could see her home through when it reflected the moonlight. The statue is of her holding the jade and looking out towards the sea.

Pictures of Dongbaek on Picasa