Editing Geoje (section)

==History==
Geoje has a history stretching back thousands of years.  Various artifacts dating back to the Neolithic era have been found at archaeological digs on Naedo, Sandaldo, and Isudo. While no written history can be found from this era, the digs show evidence of numerous small establishments along the coasts.  The first written mention of Geoje appears as, Geoje being one of two main divisions of the Dokro kingdom, a member of the Byeonhan confederacy (circa 0-300 AD). The Byeonhan confederacy slowly gave way to the Gaya confederacy(42-562 AD). The Gaya eventually submitted to the Kingdom of Silla.

In 757, [[Gyeongdeok of Silla]] classified the island as "Geoje-gun" "{{Korean|labels=no|거제[[Administrative divisions of South Korea|군]]}}" (Geoje [[Administrative divisions of South Korea|county]]). Modern Geoje is classified as a "si" ({{Korean|labels=no|[[List of cities in South Korea|시]]}}) ([[List of cities in South Korea|city]]). In 1170, [[Uijong of Goryeo]] secretly escaped to Geoje when [[Chŏng Chung-bu]] raised a rebellion against him, instating his brother, [[Myeongjong of Goryeo|Myeongjong]] as king. Geoje served as a strategic location in preparation of the naval forces for the [[Gihae Eastern Expedition]] ({{Korean|labels=no|기해동정}}) of [[Tsushima Island]] in 1419 by the Korean general [[Yi Chongmu]]. At the time of the [[Japanese invasions of Korea (1592–1598)|Seven-Year War]] in 1592, admiral [[Yi Sun-sin]] gained a great naval victory against Japanese invaders near the town of Okpo in Geoje. Since then. Yi was referred to by his noble title, "Chung Mu Gong," which roughly translates into English as "Earner of Great National Respect."

In the [[Korean War]] (1950–53), the military government of [[General Douglas MacArthur]] used the island as a place for the settlement for 170,000 POWs, and a [[Geoje POW camp|Prisoner of war camp]] measuring at {{convert|11.8|km2|mi2}} was established during these years. The prison was rife with human rights abuses, including summary execution and the widespread use of torture against prisoners by Canadian and American troops. British journalist [[Alan Winnington]] and Australian journalist [[Wilfred Burchett]] conducted extensive research to document these human rights abuses, and jointly published their findings in 1952.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Burchett|first1=Wilfred|title=Koje Unscreened|last2=Winnington|first2=Alan|publisher=Britain-China Friendship Association|year=1953|isbn=|location=London|pages=}}</ref> After the war, a portion (23,000&nbsp;m<sup>2</sup>) was converted into a tourist attraction.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.visitkorea.or.kr/eng/info_db/dest/sight_detail.jsp?seqno=4066 |title=KNTO Destination Guide - Geoje P.O.W. Camp 거제포로수용소 |access-date=2005-06-03 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050411003731/http://www.visitkorea.or.kr/eng/info_db/dest/sight_detail.jsp?seqno=4066 |archive-date=2005-04-11 }}</ref>

During the last few decades Geoje has emerged as leader in the shipbuilding industries. Due to the continued industry, Geoje largely escaped the negative impacts of the Asian market crash of 1997.

Some notable people from Geoje include: 
*Former President [[Kim Young-sam]]
*Poet [[Yu Chi-hwan]], better known by his pen-name Cheongma.
*Former President [[Moon Jae-in]]