Namiseom or Nami Island ( ko, 남이섬) is a half-moon shaped

river island River Island is a London-based, multi-channel fashion brand, founded in 1948 by Bernard Lewis. The retailer has a presence in over 125 of worldwide markets, in stores and online. Best known for its trend focused womenswear offering, River Isl ...

located in

Chuncheon Chuncheon (; ; formerly romanized as Chunchŏn; literally ''spring river'') is the capital of Gangwon Province in South Korea. The city lies in the north of the county, located in a basin formed by the Soyang River and Han River. There are some ...

Gangwon Province, South Korea Gangwon Province is a province of South Korea, with its capital at Chuncheon. It is bound on the east by the Sea of Japan, and borders Gyeonggi Province to its west, North Gyeongsang Province and North Chungcheong Province to its south, an ...

, formed as the land around it was inundated by the rising water of the North Han River as the result of the construction of Cheongpyeong Dam in 1944.

Etymology

The name of the island originates from General Nami, who died at the age of 28 after being falsely accused of treason during the reign of King Sejo, the seventh king of the

Joseon Dynasty Joseon (; ; Middle Korean: 됴ᇢ〯션〮 Dyǒw syéon or 됴ᇢ〯션〯 Dyǒw syěon), officially the Great Joseon (; ), was the last dynastic kingdom of Korea, lasting just over 500 years. It was founded by Yi Seong-gye in July 1392 and r ...

of Korea. Although his grave was not discovered, there were a pile of stones where his body was supposed to be buried. It was believed that if someone took even one stone from there, it would bring misfortune to their house. A tour company arranged the grave with soil and then developed Namiseom into an amusement park.

Geography

Namiseom is located from

Gapyeong County Gapyeong County is a county in Gyeonggi Province, South Korea. It was the scene of the Battle of Kapyong, a major battle of the Korean War. Administrative Region and Language Gapyeong County has one eup and five myeon, and its population is ...

, but belongs to

in Gangwon Province. It is in area and approximately in diameter.

History

Min Byeong-do bought the island in 1965, and after that, in 1966, when Gyeongchun Tourism Development Co., Ltd. was established, it began to be developed as a general resort. In April 2000, Gyeongchun Tourism Development changed its name to Nami Island Co., Ltd. In 2002, the area around Nami Island became the filming stage for the

Korean Broadcasting System The Korean Broadcasting System (KBS) () is the national broadcaster of South Korea. Founded in February 1927, it is one of the leading South Korean television and radio broadcasters. KBS operates seven radio networks, ten television channels, ...

TV drama ''

Winter Sonata ''Winter Sonata'' () is a 2002 South Korean television drama series, starring Bae Yong-joon and Choi Ji-woo. It is the second part of the season-themed tetralogy '' Endless Love'' drama series directed by Yoon Seok-ho. Filming primarily took p ...

'', and the number of Japanese tourists visiting Nami increased significantly.

Naminara Republic

Namiseom is home to the Naminara Republic, a self-declared micronation described as "a tourist destination that advocates the concept of a nation." On 20 July 2018, a retired

M48 Patton The M48 Patton is an American first-generation main battle tank (MBT) introduced in February 1952, being designated as the 90mm Gun Tank: M48. It was designed as a replacement for the M26 Pershing, M4 Sherman, M46 and M47 Patton tanks, and w ...

tank was received from the

Republic of Korea Armed Forces The Republic of Korea Armed Forces (), also known as the ROK Armed Forces, are the armed forces of South Korea. The ROK Armed Forces is one of the largest and most powerful standing armed forces in the world with a reported personnel strength o ...

Gallery

Image:Naminara Island.jpg, Image : Winter Sonata Nami Island.jpg Image: 남이섬 (2).JPG Image: 남이섬 (4).JPG Image: 남이섬 (11).JPG Image: 남이섬 (17).JPG

References

1944 establishments in Korea 1966 establishments in South Korea Islands of Gangwon Province, South Korea Tourist attractions in Gangwon Province, South Korea Private islands of South Korea River islands of South Korea Islands of the Han River (Korea) Chuncheon {{SouthKorea-geo-stub