Modo, Jindo

Modo
Native name:
모도
Modo
Geography
LocationYellow Sea, East China Sea
Coordinates34°24′22″N 126°21′18″E / 34.406°N 126.355°E / 34.406; 126.355
Length1.1 km (0.68 mi)
Administration
South Korea
ProvinceSouth Jeolla
CountyJindo County
Modo, Jindo
Hangul
모도
Hanja
茅島
Revised RomanizationModo
McCune–ReischauerModo

Modo Island is a small island in Jindo County, South Jeolla Province, South Korea, just off the southwest corner of the Korean peninsula. It is located to the south-east of Jindo Island and is about 1.1 km (0.68 mi) long and 300 m (980 ft) wide.

The tide-related sea level variations result in a land pass 2.9 km (1.8 mi) long and 10–40 meters wide opening for approximately an hour between Modo and Jindo islands. The event occurs roughly twice a year, around April–June. It had long been celebrated in a local festival called "Jindo's Sea Way", but was largely unknown to the world until 1975, when the French ambassador Pierre Randi described the phenomenon in a French newspaper. Nowadays, nearly half a million foreign and local tourists attend the event annually. It is accompanied by local festivals which include Ganggangsuwollae (Korean traditional circle dance), Ssitkim-gut (a shaman ritual, consoling the souls of the dead), Deul Norae (traditional farmers' songs), Manga (burial ceremony songs), Jindo dog show, Buknori (drum performance) and fireworks.