From October 7 to November 3, JNU Center for Zainichi Jeju People (Director Son Young-suk) is hosting a commemorative exhibition for the 100th anniversary of the opening of the Jeju-Osaka direct flight route in the planning exhibition room on the third floor of the JNU Cultural Exchange Center. The exhibition is hosted by Jeju Special Self-Governing Province, and sponsored by the Jeju Folk Natural History Museum and the Osaka Korea Town History Museum in Japan.

The year 2023 marks the 100th anniversary of the opening of the Jeju-Osaka direct flight route. During the Japanese colonial period and the time of long severe famine, Jeju people facing poverty crossed into Japan in earnest on a "Gundaehwan" that operated a direct route to Osaka, which needed labor due to rapid industrialization. The number of Jeju people who move to Japan every year increased, and in 1934, the number of Jeju people living in Osaka reached about 50,000, or 25% of the population of Jeju.

Even though they were in the face of hardship and discrimination, the Jeju people in Japan actively supported various fields such as roads, electricity, water, and education for their hometown Jeju, which became a cornerstone of Jeju's development. Furthermore, the support and interest of them in Japan in their homeland have continued steadily until these days.

The exhibition, which is held to re-examine the history of the migration of Jeju people in Japan, will display a total of 35 paintings and videos by Lee Ji-yu, who consistently contains works on the theme of military transitions between Jeju and Osaka, as well as the works of Kim Ki-sam, who captured the lives of Jeju Islanders in Osaka from the 1970s to the early 1990s through photography. Additionally, the exhibition will include the works of the late photographer Jo Ji-hyun, who captured the appearance of Ikuno Korea Town in Osaka during the 1960s.

The exhibition's opening ceremony took place on the museum's 3rd-floor terrace at 9:30 AM on Oct. 7. Representatives from various Jeju-related associations in Japan, both from the Kanto and Kansai regions attended the commemorative event.

Opening hours is 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM daily including on weekends throughout the exhibition period.