Geomundo, Korea’s forgotten British outpost, and its unique charm, beauty and history
The islands of Geomundo, South Korea, were once an arena where great powers exercised their ambitions. Now, largely forgotten by the outside world, they stand as a preserve of epic views, bold flavours and simple folkways
Stepping onto the dock at Godo Island, I half expect to see at least one nod to British influence – perhaps a fish and chips shop. Instead, I’m confronted by a rack covered with sea bass. Split along the bellies and folded open, they are drying nicely in the spring sunshine.
Further along the harbourfront, which is lined by a hodgepodge of low buildings and stretches inland like a muddy canal, a heady waft of jeotgal (fermented fish paste) clears up any lingering doubts about where I am.
It is my first morning on Geomundo, a remote set of South Korean islands once known as Port Hamilton. Their two-year occupation by the British Royal Navy is now just a footnote in the history of the British Empire. Few Koreans have even heard of them.
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Here on Geomundo, the horizon is a line of forested hills, making it feel like a world of its own. A quick glance at the landscape is enough to see why the Russians took a liking to Geomundo, and why the British seized the small, central island of Godo pre-emptively in 1885. Four decades earlier, they had been surveyed by none other than Sir Edward Belcher, the naval officer who secured Hong Kong for the British in 1841.
Enclosed by crescent-shaped Seodo Island in the west and sturdy Dongdo Island in the east, Godo is perfectly sheltered.
In Wild Coasts of Nippon, published in 1880, Captain Henry Clayven St. John remarked on the harbour’s “capacity to hold the largest fleet of any nation, and its position most commanding”. As calm as a lake, the bay is used these days to raise abalone in floating cages.
