In a previous post titled Boats and Churches, I made reference to Yeosu’s historic past with a photo of a turtle ship replica. High atop Jasan Park overlooking Odongdo Island is a statue honoring Korea’s famous Admiral Yi Sun-shin, inventor of the turtle ship.

Warrior_Park1

Here’s a closer view of the admiral, who stands as if guarding the busy harbor below.

Warrior1

He has a lot to stand watch over, for the harbor is a lot busier than I thought. The ocean surrounding Yeosu is often laden with cargo and container ships and tankers. It often seems that it’s rather a lot of shipping for Yeosu, and indeed, north of the peninsula, just 18 kilometers across the bay, lies Gwangyang, one of the world’s top 15 busiest ports, according to this source, among others. One of Korea’s industrial giants, Posco Steel, has a steel works facility there that is the largest in the world. Most of the ships in the photo below, taken near Sindeok Beach, are probably heading to Gwangyang.

Ships_in_Harbor

The small foreground object that looks like a submarine is actually a rocky islet topped with a small lighthouse.

I don’t know how often I’ll be able to post in the next few weeks because we’re nearing the end of the semester, so I’ll be busy with final testing, grading, paperwork and what not. Hopefully I can maintain my recent frenetic activity. 🙂 More later.