About Geopark

Hantangang
River Geopark

The concept of geopark

The concept of geopark was developed in Europe in the mid-90s by the needs of preserving and increasing the value of geologically important areas in earth history.

In 2004, after the formation of the European Geopark Network in 2000, Global Geoparks Network was established with the support of UNESCO, and it began to spread to public.

According to UNESCO’s definition

Geopark means “ecologically, archaeologically, historically and culturally valuable areas that are promoting regional economic development through conservation, education and tourism.”

We were able to gain confidence that Koreas' geological conditions may win international recognition, since Jeju island has been firstly confirmed as a member of the Global Geoparks Network(GGN), in the International Conference on UNESCO Global Geoparks, held in 2010 at Lesvos, Greece.

Since the confirmation, the National Geopark system has been introduced to the Natural Parks Act in 2011. Due to this, Korea got to join the global trend: "Conservation and the proper usage of the Geoheritage".