Current Time in Mokpo, South Korea

Mokpo sits at the south-western tip of the Korean Peninsula, in South Jeolla Province, where the Yeongsan River meets the Yellow Sea. The city curves around a sheltered harbour beneath the rocky ridge of Yudal Mountain, and beyond its breakwaters lies an archipelago of more than a thousand islands scattered across shallow tidal waters. Mild winters, humid summers and constant sea air shape daily life in a place that has always faced the ocean.

About two hundred and twenty thousand people live here. Mokpo is the maritime gateway of the south-west, a fishing and ferry port, a centre for shipbuilding and marine industry, and the terminus of the country's main south-western railway. Its harbour handles the traffic of the island communities of Sinan county, and its markets supply seafood to restaurants across Korea.

The modern city was created in 1897, when the harbour was opened to foreign trade. Japanese merchants and officials settled around the port, laying out a grid of streets and building banks, warehouses and consulates, many of which still stand and now form one of the best preserved early modern quarters in the country. During the colonial period the port shipped rice and cotton from the Jeolla plains, and after liberation it grew as a fishing centre. The region has a strong political identity, and Mokpo is closely associated with Kim Dae-jung, the president and Nobel Peace Prize laureate who was born on a nearby island and represented the city in parliament.

Yudal Mountain rises steeply behind the centre, its trails and pavilions offering wide views over the harbour, the bridges and the islands at sunset. A long cable car glides from its slopes across the water to Gohado island, giving one of the most spectacular rides in Korea. The National Maritime Museum displays the reconstructed hulls and cargoes of medieval trading ships recovered from the surrounding seabed, including a vessel loaded with Chinese ceramics lost centuries ago. Nearby stand the Modern History Museum, housed in a former Japanese consulate, and the strange hat-shaped rock formations of Gatbawi, carved by wind and tide and protected as a natural monument.

The city is famous for its food, and visitors come specifically to eat. Local specialities include fermented skate served with pork and kimchi, raw and steamed octopus, salted fish and countless kinds of shellfish, usually accompanied by rice wine. In the evening the waterfront comes alive with a dancing fountain show and rows of tented stalls.

Fast trains reach Seoul in under three hours, ferries sail to Jeju and to remote island villages, and bridges and expressways connect the city to the coastal countryside and to Dadohaehaesang National Park. Mokpo National University and Mokpo National Maritime University give the city an academic role, particularly in shipping, fisheries and marine engineering.

Mokpo appeals to travellers who want harbour scenery, island journeys, honest seafood and a vivid sense of Korea's modern history.