▲ Photo by Jeju Style Team

[This article is written by a JDC Junior Journalist. The JDC Junior Journalist program is an educational project sponsored by Jeju Free International City Development Corporation (JDC). JDC Junior Journalist articles are only briefly edited by mentors before publishing.]

Saryeoni means “vey holy place” in the Jeju dialect. It is considered holy because people belived that Gods lived here. Before 2009, people couldn’t enter this forest, so it was also considered a mystic place. In May 2009, Saryeoni forest was opened to the public. Since then, this forest has attracted many people. More than 400 people visit Saryeoni a day. On holidays, more than 1000 people visit Saryeoni.

When I arrived in the Saryeoni Forest, I could understand why a lot of people visit. The fresh was so clean, it made me feel like I was cleansing my spirit. As usual, there were many people. All of them looked like they were enjoying walking.

We interviewed Kim Yoon Seo, age 6. She comes from Gyung GI Do. She told us that she has come here twice, and she likes Saryeoni because she feels happy and has fun when she comes here. We also interviewed Kim Sook Jin, age 52, and Kim Jin Yeong, age 11. Both of them were visiting Saryeoni for the first time. They also said that they were having fun and felt calm when they were walking along the path. Their ages and homes were different from each other, but they had similar feelings while they walked through the Saryeoni Forest. Saryeoni has the power to make people of all kinds feel happy and calm.
Cha Soo Yeon, age 26, came from Seoul. She said “Sareoni forest is a place where I can look back on my life.” She was very excited to walk through Saryeoni. She got to know this forest on her last to Jeju trip. She found Saryeoni in April and she wanted to visit it, but she had no time. She decided to visit Saryeoni again on her next trip to Jeju. So as soon as she arrived on Jeju, she returned to Saryeoni forest. She said “I don’t regret to coming here. It is longer than I thought, but the path is flat, so it isn’t very hard.” She also added that she saw a deer. It was very exciting experience and she hopes people will protected this special environmemt.
Last, we listened to people’s wishes for Saryeoni forest. Lee Chan Yong, age 58, a Jeju resident, said “As visitors increase, Saryeoni needs to make more shelters for visitors to rest while they are walking. Other people said “Saryeoni needs to have more restrooms for visitors.” Kim Jin Yeong from Yong In city told us that Saryeoni had to change its concrete path into a cluster(red stone) route.
Saryeoni is growing as a top forest in Jeju and the visitors are dramatically increasing. As visitors increase, people should bear in mind that we have to conserve nature.