By Kim Ki-tae
Staff Reporter

A pseudo-limestone cave, the world’s largest of its kind, was found on Cheju Island last Wednesday.

The island’s Pukcheju County reported yesterday that the cave was confirmed to be a rare pseudo-limestone cave, referring to a secondary limestone cave transformed from a lava cave by water. Dr. Son In-seok, an independent geologist and teacher of Daejeong High School, made the confirmation.

``(The cave) is at least 2.5-kilometer-long and rich in formations of mineral deposits such as calcite stalactites and stalagmites. As far as we know, there is no other pseudo-limestone cave like this in the world,’’ Son told The Korea Times in a telephone interview. So far, 120-meter Hwanggum cave on the island was considered to the largest of its kind.

According to Son, the cave sprawls along Woljong-ni and Kimnyong-ni in Kujwa-up, the northeastern part of the nation’s biggest island. Its dimensions are 3 to 10 meters wide and 1 to 25 meters high, the country said.

``Some engineers from Korea Electronic Power Corporation first found an opening leading to the cave while erecting an electronic pole last Wednesday and reported the finding to the county government,’’ county official Kim Seung-min said. ``After days of research and study, we concluded it may be the longest pseudo-limestone cave,’’ Kim said. The county plans to apply to register the cave as a UNESCO-designated world heritage site, along with caves. The cave-rich island also has the world’s largest lave cave, 7.5-kilometer-long Manjang Cave.

The county tentatively named the cave ``Yongchon Cave,’’ meaning dragon spring, after the shape of a 12-meter-deep spring found in the northern part of the cave.

kkt@koreatimes.co.kr