Modo Island is a small island in Jindo County,

South Jeolla Province South Jeolla Province (), formerly South Chŏlla Province, also known as Jeonnam (), is a province in the Honam, Honam region, South Korea, and the Provinces of Korea, southernmost province in mainland Korea. South Jeolla borders the provinces of ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

, just off the southwest corner of the

Korean peninsula Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically divided at or near the 38th parallel between North Korea (Dem ...

. It is located to the south-east of Jindo Island and is about long and wide. The

tide Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by the combined effects of the gravitational forces exerted by the Moon (and to a much lesser extent, the Sun) and are also caused by the Earth and Moon orbiting one another. Tide tables ...

-related sea level variations result in a land pass long and 10–40 meters wide opening for approximately an hour between Modo and Jindo islands. The event occurs roughly twice a year, around April–June. It had long been celebrated in a local festival called "Jindo's Sea Way", but was largely unknown to the world until 1975, when the French ambassador Pierre Randi described the phenomenon in a French newspaper. Nowadays, nearly half a million foreign and local tourists attend the event annually. It is accompanied by local festivals which include Ganggangsuwollae (Korean traditional circle dance), Ssitkim-gut (a shaman ritual, consoling the souls of the dead), Deul Norae (traditional farmers' songs), Manga (burial ceremony songs), Jindo dog show, Buknori (drum performance) and fireworks.Jindo Mysterious Sea Road
, Jindo CountyMartin Robinson, Ray Bartlett, Rob Whyt
''Korea''
Lonely Planet, 2007 , p. 266

References

External links

County government home page
Islands of South Jeolla Province Jindo County Islands of the Yellow Sea Tidal islands {{SouthJeolla-geo-stub