Ulleungdo, Find the True Identity of the 'Kkaksae'!

23 Ulsanguk Culture and Arts Festival Event

Screening of 'Kkaksae' (Seumsae) Research and Production Video

Choi Sooyoung, director of the Gyeongbuk Ulleung Cultural Center, surprised the residents by screening a production video summarizing the activities related to Seumsae during the 2023 Usanguk Culture and Arts Festival (title: ‘In Search of the Reality of Ulleungdo Ggaksae (Seumsae)’ 8 minutes 11 seconds), which drew great interest from the local community.

Kkaksae (Seumsae).

Seumsae is one of the 16 bird species designated as marine protected species under the ‘Act on the Conservation and Management of Marine Ecosystems’ and is also called Ggaksae on Ulleungdo.

There are stories and records passed down that during the pioneering period of Ulleungdo, when the ancestors faced food shortages due to lean seasons or famine, they survived by eating myeongnamul (a type of edible wild vegetable) and Ggaksae meat. However, descendants living today either do not know the reality of Ggaksae or have forgotten even the hardships their ancestors endured related to Ggaksae.

At this point, the Ulleung Cultural Center has been actively investigating and organizing materials about Ggaksae since 2022 by establishing the Ggaksae Observation Team (Team Leader Lee Kyungtae) under its own local history research institute (Director Kim Kyungdong), aiming to pass down this knowledge to future generations. They have produced a video documenting their activities so far.

The Ggaksae Research Team conducted the first-ever comprehensive study in Ulleung County on the entire life cycle of Seumsae?from mating, hatching, to becoming adult birds and flying to the warm southern hemisphere. Simultaneously, they verified facts recorded in old literature through interviews with local residents.

Generally, Seumsae build nests on cliffs and return to their nests, so they are not easily exposed to the public. However, according to stories from former residents who lived on Gwaneumdo, Seumsae were very common migratory birds. Many Ggaksae lived on Ulleungdo and Gwaneumdo, and especially Gwaneumdo was historically called Ggaksae Island or Ggakkae Island because of the large number of Ggaksae, before acquiring its current name.

Even today, most dangerous cliffs throughout Ulleungdo have Seumsae burrows, and it is estimated that about 1,000 Seumsae reside in Ulleungdo and Dokdo.

The Ggaksae Research Team received permission from the Governor of Gyeongbuk Province last year to capture Seumsae for observation activities. Since additional research is needed, the permit has been extended until 2026. To confirm the homing instinct of Seumsae, they obtained permission from the National Institute of Biological Resources to attach rings and tagged 10 young Seumsae this year. They also tagged adult Seumsae and plan to continue further research to see how many individuals return to their nests on Ulleungdo.

Birdwatching activities, observation inside the Makdeung nest.

Choi Sooyoung, director of the Ulleung Cultural Center, said, “We hope this will be an opportunity to make Ulleungdo and Dokdo natural islands and the starting point of the national territory’s marine ecosystem by devising protection measures for Seumsae in Ulleung County, utilizing them as resources linked to tourism, and attracting institutions like bird research centers located on the west or south coasts as biological resources.”

Nam Han-kwon, county governor, said, “We thank Director Choi Sooyoung of the Ulleung Cultural Center and the Ggaksae Research Team for their dedicated research on Ggaksae. Ulleung County will also provide strong support for Ggaksae research and conservation, and will do its best to preserve and develop the local ecosystem and cultural heritage.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.