Jeju Island, or Jeju-do as it is known in Korean, translates as Peace Island, and for good reason. A blanket of tranquillity seems to have descended over this tiny outcrop some 48km from the southern coast of the Korean Peninsula. It's an isle shaped by the elements and coloured by the seasons and has long been the locale of choice for the romantically inclined and the spiritually in tune.
In spring, the island is blanketed in bright yellow rapeseed flowers which dance in the gentle yet almost constant sea breeze. They seem to cover everything and have become an unofficial symbol for the island. Unlike Seoul, Jeju has a laid-back, welcoming ambience, one that makes visitors feel like they are entering unexplored territory rather than just another tourist trap.
The people of Jeju, numbering only 560,000 and often darker skinned and more modest than their mainland brethren, are quick to smile, inquisitive (especially the children) and welcoming.
The pace of life on Jeju is slow but steady. Markets bustle in the early morning hours when different styles of bright red kimchi - preserved cabbage in chilli - are mixed in massive bowls and sticky rice dough is kneaded ready for pan-frying. As the warmth of the day settles, the pace slows again and it's easy to find your own corner of the island, away from anyone, where you can enjoy the sun, the surf pounding against a coast that resembles shattered safety glass, and of course, the breeze.
From the top of Mt Halla (below), South Korea's tallest peak at 1,950m, and an active volcano, you can look down across the craggy coastline and out to the tiny islands which ring Jeju, including the Seongsan Ilchulbong peak, rising out of the ocean like a massive sea meteorite among some of the world's finest lava caves and tube systems.
Everywhere on Jeju Island there is romance as couples, often newly introduced and recently married, descend on the island for a weekend honeymoon. Many hotels employ social specialists whose sole purpose is to organise games, karaoke and conversation to get unfamiliar couples suitably engaged (and often intoxicated), using their time as best they can before rushing back on Sunday afternoons to their new lives in Seoul and Busan.
While they are on Jeju, it seems fitting that their union is fused in what is considered Korea's spiritual epicentre. Jeju Island is a place of spirits and legends, myths, ghosts, demigods and magic. Its history is punctuated by stories of resident spirits which include the three demigods Ko, Pu and Yang, who founded the first settlement, and it seems hard to escape the island's constant symbolism, including the ever-present dwarf-like Tolharubang fertility statues.