Sinan Salt Flats
The Sinan salt pans are South Korea's largest salt fields for the extraction of sea salt . 70% of the sun's salt produced in the country comes from them.
geography
The salt works of the district Sinan-gun ( 신안군 ) are in watts sea off the coast of the seven islands Bigeumdo ( 비금도 ) ( 34 ° 46 ' N , 125 ° 56' O ), Dochodo ( 도초도 ) ( 34 ° 42 ' N , 125 ° 58 ' O ), Haeuido ( 하의도 ) ( 34 ° 36' N , 126 ° 2 ' O ) Sangtaedo ( 상태 도 ) ( 34 ° 35' N , 126 ° 5 ' O ) Jangsando ( 장산 도 ) ( 34 ° 39 ' N , 126 ° 9' O ) Anjwado ( 안좌도 ) ( 34 ° 45 ' N , 126 ° 8' O ) and Jeungdo ( 증도 ) ( 34 ° 53 ' N , 126 ° 3' O ), but isolated also on the neighboring small and large islands. Around 44% of the Wadden Sea is now used for salt production.
The islands are located around 85 km southwest of Gwangju ( 광주 ) on the southwest coast of Jeollanam-do Province ( 전라남도 ).
history
Gaining salt through the evaporation of sea water under the action of the sun and wind was first practiced in Sinan-gun in 1946, as Park Sam-man ( 박삼만 ), which was used by the Japanese occupiers to work in the during the annexation of Korea by Japan Salt pans of the province of Pyeongannam-do ( 평안 남도 ) (today North Korea) was forcibly recruited and after the liberation of Korea in 1945 came back to his home island of Bigeumdo to start with the salt production.
Traditionally, in Korea, salt was extracted from sea water by heating the water in iron kettles and causing it to evaporate. The production of salt through the action of the sun was introduced by the Japanese in Korea in 1907, three years before the annexation, and it was tested experimentally in established salt gardens in Juan ( 주안 ), who belongs to Incheon ( 인천 ) .
Gurim Yeomjeon ( 구림 염전 ) on Bigeumdo was the first salt garden to be officially recognized in Jeollanam-do ( 전라남도 ) and Jeollabuk-do ( 전라북도 ) provinces . As early as 1948, around 450 families founded a cooperative and laid out the Daedong Yeomjeon ( 대동 염전 ) salt marshes on around 100 hectares in front of Bigeumdo . With 226 salt marshes, they achieved an annual turnover of 10 billion won , which today would amount to around 7.7 million euros .
After the end of the Korean War in 1953, war refugees were used to reclaim land, build dykes and create salt fields. For example, with the salt fields of Daepyeong Yeomjeon ( 대평 염전 ), the predecessors of Taepyeong Yeomjeon ( 태평 염전 ) were created. Today, with an area of 300 hectares, these form the largest salt garden in the country, which, with an annual production of 16,000 tons of salt, covers 6% of the national salt production.
Salt production
The production of sea salt in the salt pans of Sinan takes place in the months of April to October, whereby the months of May to September are high season. In the winter months from November to March, production is suspended and the salt farmers repair their systems, repair the dikes and clean the salt fields, whereby the soil must be dug to a depth of at least 10 cm to prevent moss formation and ensure good soil aeration .
The season has opened every year on March 28th since 2008, as a reminder of the day in 2008 when Sinan's sea salt was no longer classified as a mineral but could be traded as a food. In order to extract salt from the seawater, which has a salt content of 3%, the water is first let into a storage basin. Sediments and undesired suspended matter can settle there. The water is then led one after the other into the various evaporation basins, after which it is brought to a salt content of 25% in repetitive processes. In the evaporation process that now follows, which takes place in the final crystallization basin, the seawater remains around 20 days until it can be harvested. First, a salt crystal layer is formed, which is called the salt flower. If this sinks to the ground, the crystals begin to grow in the cavities of the structure. A dry north to north-west wind promotes this process, damp wind tends to damage it and the quality, and when it rains, the seawater has to be saved in ready-made tanks. After the salt has been harvested from the salt pans, it is dried in specially equipped storage halls so that the so-called mother liquor can escape.
The salt has a high mineral content and, due to topographical conditions (many sediment deposits), is heavily enriched with organic substances. It has five different flavors and is the ideal salt for the production of fermented vegetables, called kimchi ( ), because of its special texture and Korean taste requirements .
tourism
The salt marshes of Taepyeong Yeomjeon on Jeungdo are now the largest salt pans in the Sinan archipelago. For some time now, visitors have been able to walk through the salt fields and facilities on wooden paths and find out about the local salt production.
Cultural heritage
The Taepyeong Yeomjeon facility was registered as a Modern Heritage Site in South Korea in 1997. The salt pans of Sinan-gun and Yeonggwang-gun, located northeast of the islands, were proposed to UNESCO by the Korean administration on January 11, 2010 as a World Heritage Site and entered on the so-called tentative list.
literature
- Kim Young-ock: The Sinan Salt Flats . In: Koreana . Volume 11, No. 2. The Korea Foundation , 2016, ISSN 1975-0617 , p. 20–27 (German-language edition).
Individual evidence
- ↑ Kim: The Sinan Salt Flats . In: Koreana . 2016, p. 20 .
- ↑ a b 전국 안내 지도 . 우성 지도 , Seoul 1999, ISBN 89-85762-10-9 , pp. 18 ( National Guide Map ).
- ↑ Coordinates and longitudes were partly made using Google Earth Pro Version 7.3.0.3832 on November 13, 2017.
- ↑ a b c Kim: The salt marshes of Sinan . In: Koreana . 2016, p. 23 .
- ↑ a b c Kim: The salt marshes of Sinan . In: Koreana . 2016, p. 25 .
- ↑ a b Kim: The salt marshes of Sinan . In: Koreana . 2016, p. 22 .
- ↑ Kim: The Sinan Salt Flats . In: Koreana . 2016, p. 26 .
- ↑ Kim: The Sinan Salt Flats . In: Koreana . 2016, p. 27 .
- ↑ a b Taepyeong Salt Farm ( 태평 염전 ). In: Visit Korea . Official Korea Tourism Organization , accessed November 13, 2017 .
- ↑ Salterns . In: World Heritage Convention - Tentative List . UNESCO , accessed on November 13, 2017 .
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