Yakchunsa Temple

This is Yakchunsa Buddhist temple close to Jeju’s south coast. It’s not far from the start of Olle trail 8, which we walked today – wrapped up against the cold northerly wind. The construction of the temple was started in 1988 and completed in 1996, although there was a small temple of the same name on the site in 1918, during the Anti-Japanese Movement period. The temple is the largest in Korea, and the notice outside claims it to be the largest in Asia. The Buddha statue housed in the temple is 3 meters tall.

There’s also a cenotaph for the Pacific War outside with a dove atop a slender column. That’s a palm tree beside it but it didn’t feel very tropical today – my fingers were decidedly cold as I took these pictures.