Jeju Living Costs

[Anchor Lead]

The resort island of Jejudo, with its pristine natural environment, draws not only tourists but also Koreans who seek to relocate for a rural farming life. But these days due to soaring land prices and rental costs, some residents are forced to leave the island. We have their stories.

[Pkg]

Woljeongni Beach on Jejudo Island is visited by several thousand vacationers per day during the peak summer season. The officially assessed land price per square meter stood at 80-thousand won in 2014, which jumped 11 fold in just 3 years to 920-thousand won this year.

[Soundbite] Kim Woo-il(Former Woljeongni Town Chief) : "We wake up and the numbers rise every day from 300 to 500 to 800 to 1,200 and 2,000."

[Soundbite] Eom Seong-wun(Commercial District Developer, Woljeongni) : "I was so surprised. I was worried if I would be able to secure land but as I expected, there are no plots."

As news spread of booming business near beaches due to the large number of tourists, rental fees for commercial buildings have also soared more than ten times in just a year or two. Some Jejudo residents who had relocated to the island can no longer afford the skyrocketing prices and are forced to close businesses or leave the island altogether.

[Soundbite] Song Yeong-pil(Closed Restaurant Business) : "The building owner sold it to someone else and to put it simply, I was kicked out."

Over 15 million tourists visited Jejudo last year. However the resort island is facing a crisis in recent times as its population dwindles due to a combination of reasons including development projects causing environmental degradation, the rising cost of living and the saturation of the service sector.

[Soundbite] Gang Seong-il(PhD in Tourism) : "Jejudo is a big island but it's ultimately an island. Matters of quality of life, the living environment and natural environment are all interconnected on an island and sufficient talks are necessary but there are none at the moment."