Tongyeong (; ) is a coastal

city A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

South Gyeongsang Province South Gyeongsang Province (, ) is a province in the southeast of South Korea. The provincial capital is at Changwon. It is adjacent to the major metropolitan center and port of Busan. The UNESCO World Heritage Site Haeinsa, a Buddhist temple tha ...

, South Korea. It has an area of and in 2010, a population of 139,869 people. It is divided into 1 eup (town), 6 myeon (township) and 11 dong (neighborhood). Chungmu city and Tongyeong county were reunited in 1995, creating Tongyeong as it is known today. It consists of Goseong Peninsula,

Hansando Hansando (), also Hansan Island, is an island in South Gyeongsang Province, South Korea. It is across a relatively narrow strait from Chungmu on the Tongyeong Peninsula. History The area to the south-east of the island was the site of the Battle ...

, , and other islets. It was formerly known as Chungmu, after the

posthumous name A posthumous name is an honorary Personal name, name given mainly to revered dead people in East Asian cultural sphere, East Asian culture. It is predominantly used in Asian countries such as China, Korea, Vietnam, Japan, Malaysia and Thailand. ...

Admiral Admiral is one of the highest ranks in many navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force. Admiral is ranked above vice admiral and below admiral of ...

Yi Sun-sin Yi Sun-sin (; ; April 28, 1545 – December 16, 1598) was a Korean admiral and military general known for his victories against the Japanese navy during the Imjin War in the Joseon period. Yi's courtesy name was Yŏhae (여해), and he was po ...

. The name Tongyeong means "command post" and is itself associated with Admiral Yi, as it refers to his principal base that was located on nearby Hansan Island.

Notable people

Notable people associated with the city include

, whose headquarters were located there, and

Yun Isang Isang Yun, or Yun I-sang (; 17 September 1917 – 3 November 1995), was a Korean-born composer who made his later career in West Germany. Early life and education Yun was born in Sancheong (Sansei), Korea in 1917, the son of poet Yun Ki-hyo ...

, a noted 20th-century composer. Chungmu Halmae, or "Chungmu Grandmother", is a mythical old woman from Chungmu who gave her name to Chungmu Halmae Kimbap, a common Korean snack food. Chungmu Halmae, though mythical, is one of the most recognized personages from the area. The decision to group together a number of entities and incorporate them into the city of "Tongyong" erased the name Chungmu from the map of Korea and removed the home of the mythical grandmother from the peninsula.

Park Kyung-ni Pak Kyongni or Bak Kyoungli (; December 2, 1926 – May 5, 2008) was a South Korean novelist. Bak Kyoungli was born in Tōei, Korea, Empire of Japan (today Tongyeong, South Korea); later she lived in Wonju, Gangwon Province. Bak made her lite ...

was a novelist, who wrote the well-known novel Toji (토지, The Land) consisting of a 16-volume story, in Korea.

Shin Suk-ja Shin Suk-ja (also spelled Shin Sook-ja; born 1942) is a South Korean woman who is currently imprisoned, along with her daughters, in North Korea after her husband Oh Kil-nam defected from North Korea to Denmark, having been given a political as ...

is a

political prisoner A political prisoner is someone imprisoned for their political activity. The political offense is not always the official reason for the prisoner's detention. There is no internationally recognized legal definition of the concept, although ...

held in Yodok political prison camp in North Korea. In August 2011 human rights activists from her hometown started the "Daughter of Tongyeong Rescue Campaign" to rescue her and her children.

Song Hyeong-jun Cravity () is a South Korean boy band formed by Starship Entertainment. The group is composed of nine members: Serim, Allen, Jungmo, Woobin, Wonjin, Minhee, Hyeongjun, Taeyoung, and Seongmin. They debuted on April 14, 2020, with their extended p ...

is a member of South Korean boyband

Cravity Cravity () is a South Korean boy band formed by Starship Entertainment. The group is composed of nine members: Serim, Allen, Jungmo, Woobin, Wonjin, Minhee, Hyeongjun, Taeyoung, and Seongmin. They debuted on April 14, 2020, with their extended p ...

. He was also a former member of South Korean boyband

X1 (band) X1 (; ) was a South Korean boy group formed by CJ ENM through the Mnet reality competition show '' Produce X 101''. The group was composed of eleven members: Kim Yo-han, Kim Woo-seok, Han Seung-woo, Song Hyeong-jun, Cho Seung-youn, Son Dong-p ...

. He is best known for competing in survival show

Produce X 101 ''Produce X 101'' () is a 2019 South Korean boy group survival reality show on Mnet and the fourth and final season of the ''Produce 101'' franchise. The public, referred to as "national producers", "produces" a boy band by choosing 11 members ...

and ranking 4th in the finale. The football player Kim Min-jae was born in Tongyeong and played football for Tongyeong Elementary School football club. He plays as a centre-back for

Bayern Munich Fußball-Club Bayern München e. V. (FCB, ), commonly known as Bayern Munich (), FC Bayern () or simply Bayern, is a German professional sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. They are most known for their men's professional football team, ...

and the

South Korea national team South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both west and east. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþaz' ...

Sports

Tongyeong was the site of the first race of 2009 in the

International Triathlon Union World Triathlon, previously known as the International Triathlon Union (ITU), is the international governing body for the multi-sport disciplines of triathlon, duathlon, aquathlon and other nonstandard variations. It is recognised as the inte ...

-sponsored ITU World Championship Series, which encompasses "international-distance" triathlon events in cities around the world. On May 3, 2009,

Bevan Docherty Bevan John Docherty (born 29 March 1977) is a triathlete from New Zealand, who won medals twice at the Olympic Games. Docherty attended Tauhara College, Taupō. Life Docherty and his sister Fiona grew up in Taupō, in the North Island of New ...

of New Zealand won the men's race in a thrilling photo finish as he crossed the line almost simultaneously with Brad Kahlefeldt of Australia.

Healthcare

In 2007, the total number of medical institutions was 106, including 4 hospitals, 63 clinics, one long-term care hospital, 22 dental hospitals, 16 Korean traditional medicine clinics. There are also 23 medical institutions related to Tongyeong Health Center affiliated to the Tongyeong City government.

Food

There are several famous food in Tongyeong. Chungmu gimbap (충무김밥) and Ggulbbang (통영꿀빵), a honey bread dessert. Chungmu gimbab is Korean sushi made of seaweed and rice. It is served with baby octopus with spicy sauce. Chungmu gimbab is a popular traditional food in Tongyeong, which used to be called Chungmu. Ppattegi gruel is a porridge made of dried sweet potatoes.

Sweet potato The sweet potato or sweetpotato (''Ipomoea batatas'') is a dicotyledonous plant in the morning glory family, Convolvulaceae. Its sizeable, starchy, sweet-tasting tuberous roots are used as a root vegetable, which is a staple food in parts of ...

es on Yokji Island in Tongyeong, South

Gyeongsang Province Gyeongsang Province (; ) was one of the Eight Provinces of Joseon Korea. Gyeongsang was located in southeastern Korea. The provincial capital of Gyeongsang was Daegu. The region was the birthplace of the kingdom of Silla, which unified Korea i ...

, are famous. The sweet potato fields cover more than 70 percent of the slopes here, as they are useful for draining water. The abundant sunlight creates an optimal environment for sweet potato cultivation. It is said that the sea raised the sweet potatoes, hence the name "Sweet potatoes grown under the sea breeze."

Education

Korea-Tongyeong-Hansan Island-Jeseungdang-01

Tongyeong has several representative traditional educational institutions such as Unjudang (), Baegun Seojae (), Tongyeong Hyanggyo (). Unjudang established on

Hansan Island Hansando (), also Hansan Island, is an island in South Gyeongsang Province, South Korea. It is across a relatively narrow strait from Chungmu on the Tongyeong Peninsula. History The area to the south-east of the island was the site of the Battle ...

in 1592, took charge of military education of the Joseon navy. It was later reconstructed with the changed name as "Jeseungdang" (). Baegun Seojae was a ''

seodang () were private village schools providing elementary education during the Goryeo and Joseon dynasties of Korea. Background They were primarily occupied with providing initial training in the Chinese classics to boys of 7 to 16 years of age, but ...

'', a private village school providing elementary education. Go Si-wan, a ''

Silhak ''Silhak'' () was a Korean Confucian social reform movement in the late Joseon Dynasty. ''Sil'' means "actual" or "practical", and ''hak'' means "studies" or "learning". It developed in response to the increasingly metaphysical nature of Neo-C ...

'' (practical learning) scholar founded it in 1805, the fifth year of King Sunjo's reign. Baegun Seojae is currently situated in the neighborhood of Docheon-dong and designated as the ninth Cultural Material of

. Tongyeong Hyanggyo was a state-sponsored provincial school (''

hyanggyo () were government-run provincial Confucian schools established during the Goryeo (918–1392), and Joseon (July 1392 – August 1910) periods in Korea. They were established to educate and train officials in Confucian ideals and the ethics of g ...

'') and was built in the site of the old Goseong Hyanggyo, which consists of 6 buildings; Daeseongjeon, Dongmu, Seomu, Myeongnyundang, Seojae, and Punghwaru. In the Daeseongjeon shrine, memorial tablets of five prominent scholars and

Confucius Confucius (; pinyin: ; ; ), born Kong Qiu (), was a Chinese philosopher of the Spring and Autumn period who is traditionally considered the paragon of Chinese sages. Much of the shared cultural heritage of the Sinosphere originates in the phil ...

are instituted. Modern educational institutions started to be established in the city as Jinnam Commons School, the predecessor of Tongyeong Elementary School was opened in 1908. The educational system of Tongyeong is the same as elsewhere in the country. Schooling begins with preschools, of which there are 34 in the city. This is followed by 6 years in elementary schools, of which Tongyeong has 32 including 14 branch schools. Subsequently, students pass through 3 years of middle school. There are 11 middle schools in Tongyeong. High-school education, which lasts for three years, is not compulsory, but the most students do attend and graduate from high school. Tongyeong is home to 5 high schools. The College of Marine Science at

Gyeongsang National University Gyeongsang National University (GNU, 경상국립대학교) is one of ten Flagship Korean National Universities located in Jinju, South Gyeongsang Province. Gyeongsang National University has twelve colleges such as arts, social science, natur ...

(GNU) is a branch campus in Tongyeong, specializing in marine-related studies. Its predecessor was Tongyeong Marine College, the successor of Gyeongnam Susan Jeonseupso () founded in 1917. The college was integrated into Gyeongsang National University in 1994.

Tourism

Tongyeong is a representative tourist city in the South Sea region of Gyeongsangnam-do. It has beaches, islands, and various historical sites based on its natural environment. Novelist

Pak Kyongni Pak Kyongni or Bak Kyoungli (; December 2, 1926 – May 5, 2008) was a South Korean novelist. Bak Kyoungli was born in Tōei, Korea, Empire of Japan (today Tongyeong, South Korea); later she lived in Wonju, Gangwon Province. Bak made her lite ...

, poet

Yu Chi-hwan Yu Chi-hwan (; 1908–1967), also known by his art name Cheongma (), was a leading twentieth-century Korean poet.”Yoo Chi-hwan" LTI Korea Datasheet available at LTI Korea Library or online at: Biography Yu was born in South Gyeongsang Provin ...

, and composer

Isang Yun Isang Yun, or Yun I-sang (; 17 September 1917 – 3 November 1995), was a Korean-born composer who made his later career in West Germany. Early life and education Yun was born in Sancheong (Sansei), Korea under Japanese rule, Korea in 1917, ...

are from Tongyeong, and there are various cultural contents related to them. Tongyeong attracted 5.35 million visitors in 2014, 7.35 million in 2017, and 6.28 million in 2018. Tongyeong has the nickname of "

Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...

of the East". In 2022, Tongyeong was selected as the first specialized night tourism city in South Korea. This selection was part of the '2022 Specialized Night Tourism City Public Contest' hosted by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korea Tourism Organization. Tongyeong planned various night tourism contents under the theme of 'Nine o'clock at night, Five Lights Tongyeong'. This includes DPIRANG (the longest and largest outdoor night digital theme park in Korea), Dongpirang (Mural Village),

Gangguan Port Gangguan Port (강구안), is a fishing harbour in Tongyeong, South Korea. The mountainous and maritime surroundings of the South Gyeongsang Province attract thousands of tourists. History Turtle Ships led by Admiral Yi Sun-sin during mid-Joseo ...

(Tongyeong Traditional Central Market), Tongjeyeong (history and culture of Tongyeong), Seopirang Village (night view lighting), etc., which are five night tourism spots.

Geography

Tongyeong is situated in the southern tip of Goseong peninsula and its three sides are surrounded by the sea. It consists of 41 inhabited and 110 uninhabited islands. Tongyeong Port, the east gate of Hallyeo Marine National Park, is referred to as the "most beautiful port in South Korea". The geography consists of low mountains crossing over the south to the north on the Goseong peninsula. The mountain range stretches out from Byeokbang mountain (650 m) on the boundary of northern Goseong county (Goseong-gun) to the south, encompassing Cheongae mountain (525 m), Baral mountain (261 m), Jeseokbong peak (279 m) and Yongha mountain (461 m) on Mireukdo island. As Tongyeong is influenced by East Korea Warm Current, it has a mild oceanic climate during the whole year. The city is the warmest region in South Gyeongsang province, with the average annual temperature at . The coldest month is January, with an average temperature of 2.5 °C while the hottest month is August, with the average temperature of 25.7 °C. The average range of temperature is narrow. Plants growing in the city show characters of the warm temperate zone such as ''

Cryptomeria ''Cryptomeria'' (literally "hidden parts") is a monotypic genus of conifer in the cypress family Cupressaceae. It includes only one species, ''Cryptomeria japonica'' ( syn. ''Cupressus japonica'' L.f.). It is considered to be endemic to Japan, ...

'', ''

Chamaecyparis obtusa ''Chamaecyparis obtusa'' (Japanese cypress, hinoki cypress or hinoki; or , ) is a species of cypress native to central Japan in East Asia, and widely cultivated in the temperate climate, temperate northern hemisphere for its high-quality timber ...

'', ''

Pinus thunbergii ''Pinus thunbergii'' (syn: ''Pinus thunbergiana''), the black pine, Japanese black pine, or Japanese pine, is a pine tree native to coastal areas of Japan (Kyūshū, Shikoku and Honshū) and South Korea. It is called () in Korean, () in Chin ...

'', ''

Paulownia coreana ''Paulownia coreana'', also called ''Paulownia glabrata'' or Korean paulownia, is an indigenous species of South Korea. It is cultivated in South Pyongan and south of Gyeonggi. Description Korean paulownia is a tall and broadleaf deciduous tre ...

'',

Pitch Pine ''Pinus rigida'', the pitch pine, is a small-to-medium-sized pine. It is native to eastern North America, primarily from central Maine south to Georgia and as far west as Kentucky. It is found in environments which other species would find unsuit ...

bamboo Bamboos are a diverse group of mostly evergreen perennial plant, perennial flowering plants making up the subfamily (biology), subfamily Bambusoideae of the grass family Poaceae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family, in th ...

camellia ''Camellia'' (pronounced or ) is a genus of flowering plants in the family Theaceae. They are found in tropical and subtropical areas in East Asia, eastern and South Asia, southern Asia, from the Himalayas east to Japan and Indonesia. There are ...

, and

palm tree The Arecaceae () is a family of perennial, flowering plants in the monocot order Arecales. Their growth form can be climbers, shrubs, tree-like and stemless plants, all commonly known as palms. Those having a tree-like form are colloquially c ...

s. The average annual rainfall is 1,397 millimeters, so Tongyeong is classified as one of places in South Korea that receive a lot of rain.

Climate

Tongyeong has a

humid subtropical climate A humid subtropical climate is a subtropical -temperate climate type, characterized by long and hot summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between ...

(

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (1951–2014), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author ...

: ''Cfa/Cwa'').

Gallery

File:Korea-Tongyeong-Hallyeo National Marine Park-05.jpg, Hallyeo National Marine Park File:Korea-Tongyeong-Dongpirang Village-08.jpg, Dongpirang Village File:Korea-Tongyeong Port-Turtle ship replica-01.jpg,

Turtle ship A turtle ship (; ) was a type of warship that was used by the Korean Joseon Navy from the early 15th century up until the 19th century. They were used alongside the panokseon warships in the fight against invading Japanese fleets. The ship's name ...

replica in Tongyeong Port File:Korea-Tongyeong-Hansan_Island-Overview-01.jpg,

File:Chungmu gimbab.jpg, Tongyeong's famous food Chungmu gimbab File:Tongyeong Islands, South Korea.jpg, Tongyeong islands

Twin towns – sister cities

Tongyeong is twinned with: *

Reedley Reedley may refer to: *Reedley, Lancashire, England, United Kingdom *Reedley, California Reedley is a city in Fresno County, California, Fresno County, California, United States. It is located in the San Joaquin Valley, east-southeast of Fresno ...

, United States * Rongcheng, China *

Samara Samara, formerly known as Kuybyshev (1935–1991), is the largest city and administrative centre of Samara Oblast in Russia. The city is located at the confluence of the Volga and the Samara (Volga), Samara rivers, with a population of over 1.14 ...

, Russia *

Sayama is a city located in Saitama Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 149,826 in 69,859 households and a population density of 3100 persons per km². The total area of the city is . Geography Sayama is located in south-cent ...

, Japan *

Tamano Tamano City Hall Aerial view of Tamano city center Shibukawa beach in Tamano is a city located in southern Okayama Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 55,889 in 27087 households, and a population density of 540 person ...

, Japan *

Yunfu Yunfu (), postal map romanization, formerly romanization of Chinese, romanized as Wanfow, and historically known as Dong'an (), which was postal map romanization, formerly romanized as Tong On, from 1578 to 1913, is a prefecture-level city in we ...

, China *

Yeosu Yeosu, formerly romanized as Yosu, is a coastal city located on the southern shore of South Korea. With a population of 268,823, Yeosu is the second largest city in South Jeolla Province. In 1998, the Old Yeosu City, Yeocheon City and Yeocheon C ...

, South Korea

References

External links

City government website
{{Authority control Cities in South Gyeongsang Province Port cities and towns in South Korea

Notable people

Sports

Healthcare

Food

Education

Tourism

Geography

Climate

Gallery

Twin towns – sister cities

See also

References

External links