— — the crown the sea pushed up at sunrise.
“A tuff cone rising 182 metres from the eastern coast of Jeju Island, with a wide grass crater at the top. The peak was built by an underwater eruption about five thousand years ago, then tied to the island by a sand bridge. UNESCO listed it in 2007. People climb in the dark to be at the rim when the light comes.
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Seongsan Ilchulbong, or Sunrise Peak, stands at the eastern edge of Jeju Island in the Korea Strait. The cone reaches 182 metres above sea level and holds a wide crater roughly 600 metres across at its rim. It was built around five thousand years ago by a hydrovolcanic eruption against the seabed, then connected to Jeju by a tombolo of sand. UNESCO inscribed the peak as part of the Jeju Volcanic Island and Lava Tubes World Heritage property in 2007. The crater rim is a steep, stepped climb from the visitor centre at the base.
The peak is named for the sunrise; ilchulbong means sunrise summit, and the climb is timed to it. From the visitor centre, the stepped trail rises through tuff layers in about thirty minutes. At the rim, the crater opens grass-floored and silent, and the eastern horizon clears across the open sea. Local custom marks the New Year sunrise here, with thousands gathering before dawn. On most mornings the climb is quieter, the wind sharp at the rim. The first light over the water is the reason most people come.
Seongsan Ilchulbong sits on the eastern coast of Jeju, about an hour by road from Jeju City and ninety minutes from Seogwipo. Buses run regularly along the coastal route. The trail opens an hour before sunrise and closes at dusk; the entrance fee is small. The climb is steep but short, with stairs the entire way, and most visitors reach the rim in under thirty minutes. The grass at the rim is fenced; the crater floor itself is not open. A small boat at the harbour below runs to nearby Udo island.