The Jeju population hit 600,000 in 2013, but the total by the end of 2015 had already surpassed 640,000. The trend shows no sign of changing anytime soon. Here’s Mike Laidman with more.
Last year, Jeju’s population peaked at 640,000. This is an increase of nearly 20,000 people since 2014, meaning that an average of 1600 are moving to Jeju each month.

Jeju hit the 600,000 milestone in 2013, and since then, the population increase has continued to soar. It took 12 years for the population to climb from 400,000 to 500,000, and another 16 to reach 600,000. But at the current rates, Jeju can expect to hit 700,000 people a lot sooner.

The population of Jeju is closely linked with real estate and economic trends. For instance, there is no longer any farmland in areas of Ora-dong, an area which was originally very rural. In its place are a slew of new buildings. In fact, this area alone grew by more than 10,000 people for the first time last year.

SYNC
Ora-dong resident
I’ve lived here for six years and a lot has changed. When I first came it was like a ghost town.
<씽크:오라동 주민>
"여기 산지 6년되는데 많이 변했어요. 금방 여기 왔을때만 해도
사람이 없어서 귀신 나올정도였죠. "

With more and more apartment buildings being built in the Samwha district, there are about 2,000 people moving there every year. The population hit 17,000 at the end of 2015. A similar rise was also seen in the Ara and Ido districts.

Seogwipo is not much different. In Seohong-dong, especially, the population reached 10,000 last year for the first time.

Seongsan-eup also hit 15,000, with a sudden increase following the announcement of the 2nd airport.

[camera]
Ko Moon-su , Kim Yong-min, Park Byeong-joon

The increase in population not only provides a boost for commercial areas, but also helps to develop others. However, the steep rise in real estate prices has also contributed to parking problems, which are being met with opposition.

[slug]
Population dwindling in some neighborhoods

A trend in population growth means that the less popular locations in the older part of the city, like Samdo-dong and Geonip-dong, have actually lost people.

[REPORTER]
Mike Laidman

Off of the main island, Udo has seen stable growth and construction is non-stop. However, further out to sea, Chuja Island is seeing steady drops in population every year.

Mike Laidman, KCTV