Okpo-dong

View of Okpo

Okpo-dong is dong of the city of Geoje in South Gyeongsang Province, South Korea. The village is located on the eastern coast of Geoje Island and a center of the island.

The Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering (DSME) [1] shipyard is located close to the town. A large portion of DSME employees live in Okpo, and DSME jackets are a common sight in the town at night.

There are very few standalone houses in Okpo and most residential accommodation is fulfilled by high-rise apartments. Rent is high.^{[citation needed]}There are a number of local accommodation agencies offering apartments for rent to incoming foreigners, as well as other supporting services.

Okpo has a large foreign transient population due to the shipyards and as a result there is a 'Foreigner's Club' by the Admiral Hotel which is run by the local expat residents themselves, as well as over fifty Western bars and two dozen western restaurants serving a variety of 'western style' meals. There are also Indian, Pakistani, Vietnamese and Turkish restaurants, and local franchises such as a 'Dunkin Donuts', 'Quiznos', 'Baskin Robbins' and 'Lotteria' (Korean fast food burger chain).

A chapter of the Hash House Harriers - The Geoje-do Hash - was born in 1981 and every other Sunday at 11 a.m. it still meets at the Foreigner's Club, is family-friendly and usually includes a meal at the end.

Getting To and From
There are ferries to and from Busan four times a day with a journey time of approximately 50 minutes, with additional services from the next port town, just south of Okpo and just a short taxi ride, called Jangseungpo. From Busan airport, the journey time by taxi, by way of the new Geoje-Busan Bridge (10,000KRW toll each way), is under 1 hour, although heavy weekend traffic can be up to 90 minutes.

There is an international school called the Okpo International School - which is very convenient choice for foreign workers bringing their families to Okpo.^[1]

Okpo has an amusement park, Okpo Land, on the outskirts of the city. It went out of business in 1999, but because the land has been zoned for environmentally low-impact projects, it remains abandoned. ^[2]

Coordinates: 34°53′17″N 128°41′37″E / 34.88806°N 128.69361°E / 34.88806; 128.69361

References

1. ^ Okpo International School
2. ^ 도심흉물로 방치된 옥포랜드, 해법은 없는가?

External links

• - Okpo bar guide
• Okpo Gazette
• Geoje Foreign Residents Association- 'Foreigner's Club'
• Okpo Football Club for kids
• Geoje City Official Website
• Mr. Gunnar Horpestad Photo Gallery of Okpo and Geoje
• Panoramio (Google) Photos of Okpo
• Photo gallery of Okpo