But he's comfortable shedding his spiritual aura when a visitor proffers a camera and asks him to snap a photo. The isle, which lies where the Yellow and East China seas meet, has always stood out from the rest of the country.
History dwells here, too.
Mongol invaders bred horses on the island seven centuries ago. Today, tourists from nearby China and Japan file into glinting casinos and five-star hotels. Camera-laden South Korean honeymooners pose atop rocks before a waterfall, or on sturdy horses in front of a mountain. In the past few decades, development has carved up swaths of Cheju amid South Korea's swift industrial expansion. Most are better off, and local officials want to turn the island into a free-trade zone such as Hong Kong.