Dampalsu in Gangjeong-dong, Jeju

The Dampalsu is a tree that grows in warm-temperate forest zones and, being sensitive to cold, grows in Korea only around Jeju Island. The tree has a beautiful umbrella-like shape, and because a few of its leaves stay red as autumn foliage throughout the year, it is distinguished by patches of red scattered among its green leaves. The Dampalsu tree in Gangjeong-dong divides into several trunks from about 1 m above the ground. It stands 14.5 m tall, and the two largest of its several trunks measure 120 cm and 86 cm respectively in circumference at breast height. Dampalsu in Gangjeong-dong, Jeju, is the sacred tree (sinmok) of the Naegirisodang shrine, located southwest of the Naegiriso pool on Jeju's Gangjeong Stream, where villagers have long gathered to perform rites of devotion. As a sacred tree of great importance in Jeju folk tradition, it holds great folkloric and cultural value, and its distinctive shape and scale place it among the finest naturally growing Dampalsu trees in Korea, giving it great biological value as well. For these reasons it is designated and protected as a Natural Monument.

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Where it is

Region

Seogwipo, Jeju

Designation

Natural Monument · 천연기념물