Jeju Island named among New 7 Wonders of Nature

Jeju Island is one of the New 7 Wonders of Nature as named by the Switzerland-based New7Wonders Foundation.

The foundation said Saturday that it chose the seven from 28 global candidates through text messaging, phone and Internet votes.

Jeju was selected along with the Amazon River of Brazil, Halong Bay of Vietnam, Iguazu Falls of Argentina, Komodo National Park of Indonesia, Puerto Princesa Underground River of the Philippines and Table Mountain of South Africa.

The listing is expected to generate up to 1.21 trillion won (1.07 billion U.S. dollars) worth of economic benefits to Jeju every year, according to experts.

Korea`s leading tourist island will devise and implement a comprehensive plan to preserve and utilize its nature next year, including installation of memorial symbols, development of nature and environment interactive programs, and the establishment of a network linking areas named among the world’s seven wonders.

jy788@donga.com