The Jeju Gotjawal Sharing Foundation (Chairman Kim Beom-hoon) will run the “Forests That Last” campaign Gotjawal Healing Retreat (Retreat) together with Lina Insurance at and around Gyorae Natural Recreation Forest for four weeks, starting the second week of May. A total of eight sessions will be held every Friday and Saturday, and 240 participants will be recruited on a first-come, first-served basis.
The theme of this retreat is “Spotlight on green moments.” Designed as a deep time of rest, it lets you step back from everyday life and absorb the spring of Gotjawal through all five senses, while matching your breathing to the forest’s rhythm. For city dwellers who live at a fast pace, Gotjawal offers a space to pause and look back at yourself.
Yoga and meditation in the morning, sound walking in the afternoon… Two forest paths that awaken your senses
The program is divided into morning and afternoon sessions. The morning schedule begins with an interpretive tour of Gotjawal. It’s a time to explore Gotjawal’s unique ecology—where warm-temperate and cool-temperate plant species coexist—on an area of volcanic boulder fields formed by volcanic eruptions, guided by a docent. Next, yoga and meditation unfold within the forest. Yoga mats are provided on site, and participants must prepare their own personal workout attire. Participants receive a Gotjawal-scented pouch containing essential oil infused with the aroma of Gotjawal.
In the afternoon, a sound walking program is offered. Participants wear a microphone and headset and walk along the trail together with a docent, collecting the forest’s sounds in a new way. The sound of the wind you usually let pass by, birds chirping, and even the way leaves rustle clearly reach your ears. After the program ends, participants are provided with a sound postcard featuring the scenery and a set of colored pencils—an ending activity where you translate the forest trail you walked into color.
The ideal place to experience Gotjawal ecology: Gyorae Natural Recreation Forest as the stage
Gyorae Natural Recreation Forest, where the retreat is held, is the first natural recreation forest in South Korea where you can experience Gotjawal ecology. It features a 1.5 km ecological observation trail and an uphill walking course leading to Goreumsan—Gunjigeori oreum. It has also been selected as the No. 2 “Korea’s Premium Forest Trails.” Thanks to the irregular mix of sinkholes and protruding rock formations, it is a rare forest where tropical northern-limit plants and temperate southern-limit plants grow together in one place. The landscape of trees showing rough roots, moss-covered rocks, and tall fern plants holds the depth of a primeval forest as it is.
Gotjawal is a compound of “Got” (forest) and “jawal” (gravel, a mass of rocks), and is often called Jeju’s “lungs.” The essence of this retreat is the time to step into that breathing and match your own breath with it.
Year 2 of collaboration between Lina Insurance and the Jeju Gotjawal Sharing Foundation—environmental conservation projects continue by quarter
Lina Insurance and the Jeju Gotjawal Sharing Foundation’s collaboration is now in its second year. After Lina Insurance sponsored a total of 80 million KRW to the Gotjawal Sharing Fund last year, it continues to carry out quarterly collaborative projects this year as well. In the first quarter, a sponsorship of 20 million KRW was provided to purchase Gotjawal on private land. Following the healing retreat in the second quarter, in the third quarter there will be an exhibition inviting artist Hong Il-hwa, and in the fourth quarter a Gotjawal tracking program is scheduled for local residents and tourists.
Applications can be submitted through a link or QR code posted in the announcements on the Jeju Gotjawal Sharing Foundation website (jejutrust.net). For those who have sponsored the Gotjawal Sharing Fund, priority application eligibility will be granted starting April 13.
Chairman Kim Beom-hoon said, “I hope this retreat becomes an opportunity for participants to fully enjoy the spring of Gotjawal and to connect with the meaning and value of the sharing movement.”