Jeju Island

Jeju Island is a volcanic island, dominated by Mt. Halla, a volcano 1,950 metres (6,400 ft) high and the highest mountain in South Korea. The island measures approximately 73 km (45 miles) across, east to west, and 41 km (25 miles) from north to south.

Jeju Province is one of the nine provinces of South Korea, south off the coast of the Korean Peninsula. It was known as Quelpart (pronounced "귤밭") to Europeans, who were drifted to the island, which lies in the Korea Strait, southwest of South Jeolla Province. Its capital is Jeju City.

The island contains lots of special geographical sites listed by UNESCO on the Biosphere Reserve (2002), World Natural Heritage (2007), and Global Geoparks of Volcanic Island and Lava Tubes (2010). Jeju Island has a temperate climate and even in winter, the temperature rarely falls below freezing point.

Key words
Jeju Island, special self-governing province, free international city, New Seven Wonders of Nature

New Wonders
In fact, it's a wonder that Jeju Island has a triple crown of UNESCO as explained above. In addition to that, on November 12, 2011, Jeju Island (제주도/濟州道) was named one of the New7Wonders, boosting both Jeju and Korea to the focus of world tourism.

You may experience the natural wonders of Jeju Island as illustrated by the late photographer Kim Young Gap [[Media:KimYoungGap_Jeju_Island.ppt| by Courtesy of Park Si-ho's Happiness Letter. ]]

Since 2006, Jeju Island has been officially the "Jeju Special Self-governing Province" and the "Jeju Free International City". Accordingly, this exotic island shall be treated as a kind of special territory in Korea not only investment and tourism but also educational administration.

Under the slogan "We love having you here", Jeju Island and its citizens are welcoming visitors on any site like Mt. Halla and Jeju Stone Park and any occasion of the year.

Legal background
In 2006, the Special Act on Establishment of the Jeju Special Self-governing Province and the Jeju Free International City (제주특별자치도 설치 및 국제자유도시 조성을 위한 특별법) was enacted, and came into force on July 1, 2006.

The purpose of the Act is:
 * to strengthen autonomy in finance, personnel management, and self-governing organization by making Jeju-do the “Jeju Special Self-governing Province”;
 * to create the an innovative model of a decentralized government by delegating the Jeju provincial government the independent authority over law enforcement and education;
 * to ease administrative regulations on the Jeju special Self-governing province; and
 * to develop Jeju Island into a Free International City by promoting clean industries and a service sector.

Main points of the Act

 * 1) Jeju Free International City Promotion Committee shall be established in order to delegate continued and greater independence to the Jeju Special Self-governing Province, to ease administrative regulations in phases, and to assess operations of the Jeju Special Self-governing Province and the Free International City developing project. Article 7
 * 2) The authority over the foreigners-only casino business shall be transferred from the Minister of Culture and Tourism to the Governor of the Jeju Special Self-governing Province. Article 171
 * 3) The establishment of foreign educational institutions, formerly only universities, shall be extended to include elementary and secondary schools, and the curricula of foreign universities may be offered in domestic universities. Articles 182 and 183
 * 4) A foreign corporation, set up by a foreigner according to the Foreign Investment Promotion Act and located in the Jeju special Self-governing province, may establish a medical institution with the permission of the Governor of the Jeju special Self-governing province, provided that prescribed criteria of the municipal ordinance are followed. Article 192
 * 5) In case the size of the business is larger than what is prescribed in the municipal ordinance, the area of land for business is more than two-thirds, except state/public land, and more than half of the land owners grant approval, the contractor undertaking the construction of the International City Development Center, tourism complex, and amusement park may expropriate or use lands and facilities required for developing the project, and the Governor of the Jeju Special Self-governing Province may establish and maintain a special account related to land use in order to facilitate public works by securing public land at an early stage. Articles 233 and 234
 * 6) The business of the Free International City Development Center shall include promotion and support of the medical service/health industry within the tourism/industrial complex, and shall designate one public servant as a non-permanent director on the recommendation of the Governor of the Jeju Special Self-governing Province. Articles 265 and 267

Amendment to the Act in 2009
The Act was amended in 2009:
 * to prepare a support system to nurture and develop the tourism/education/medical industries of the Jeju special self-governing province as they form some of Korea’s key high value-added industries;
 * to ease relevant administrative regulations on the Jeju special self-governing province and improve relevant administrative systems;
 * to transfer the authority of the central administrative agency, which is necessary for the implementation of comprehensive administrative functions, to the Jeju self-governing province, laying foundations to develop the Jeju self-governing province into a free international city; and
 * to prevent loopholes in the existing law.

Main points of the amendment was:
 * 1) In order to develop the Jeju special self-governing province into the world-renown tourism city, the autonomy shall be granted to the province in pursuing the tourism policy which considers the regional characteristics. To this end, most of the authority of the Culture, Sports, Tourism, Broadcasting and Communications Minister prescribed by the Tourism Promotion Act shall be transferred to the provincial governor while the matters to be determined by Presidential Decree or the Ministerial Ordinance of the Culture, Sports, Tourism, Broadcasting and Communication Ministry may be determined by provisional ordinances. Articles 171, 171-2, 171-4, 171-5 and 171-7, newly inserted.
 * 2) To promote the tourism industry of the Jeju special self-governing province, it is necessary to establish/operate a tourism promotion fund for Jeju alone. Therefore, the right to impose/collect/operate the tourism promotion fund for Jeju city shall be transferred to the governor of the Jeju special self-governing province while uses and purposes of the fund may be determined by provincial ordinances. Articles 172, 172-2 through 172-4, newly inserted.
 * 3) In order to create an educational environment in keeping with the reputation of a free international city and to provide high quality education service by easing regulations regarding the education, the government or the Jeju special self-governing province may designate a certain area within its administration as an English education city while the autonomy shall be fully guaranteed in running schools by permitting domestic and overseas corporations selected by the government, the Jeju special self-governing province or provincial ordinances to set up international schools in the English education city embracing the academic processes of the elementary (only for foreigners until the third grade), middle and high schools after consultation with and approval by superintendants of the corresponding province (in the case that for-profit corporations set up international schools, they shall gain approval from Education, Science and Technology Minister). Articles 189-2 through 189-14, newly inserted.

Foreign educational institutions
Pursuant to the Special Act on Establishment and Management of Foreign Educational Institutions in Free Economic Zones and Jeju Free International City, it is relatively deregulated to establish and manage foreign educational institutions including universities.

It is to enhance the educational environment for foreigners residing in Jeju Island as well as Korean parents who are eager to educate their children in English-speaking countries.

Investment Environment of Jeju
Detailed information on the incentives for foreign investors in Jeju Island is available here.

It is noteworthy that a foreign investor who has acquired such real estate as condominium or pension of more than 500 thousand US Dollars is eligible for the permanent residence privilege in accordance with Buy Jeju Plan effective from February 2010.