Excessive atop the Korean Peninsula, previous navy checkpoints and bumpy grime roads in one of many world’s most secretive international locations, rises a volcano and deep crater lake steeped in symbolism.
Mount Paektu, an energetic stratovolcano straddling the border of North Korea and China, is the best peak on the Korean peninsula and lies on the coronary heart of North Korea’s basis fable.
The North Korean facet of the mountain was just lately designated a UNESCO International Geopark, in accordance with South Korean information company Yonhap, marking North Korea’s first pure web site to be included on the listing.
The manager board of the United Nations Instructional, Scientific and Cultural Group (UNESCO) acknowledged the location for its “spectacular pure and cultural heritage,” together with its volcanic eruptions and geological options, in a meeting held in February.
However to understand the importance, you need to stand on the fringe of Lake Chon — a caldera round 7,200 toes above sea degree, fashioned by an enormous eruption greater than a thousand years in the past — and really feel the wind reduce throughout your face.
I did simply that in June 2017, as one of many few Western journalists to achieve Paektu’s summit from the North Korean facet. The journey, sanctioned and carefully monitored by Pyongyang, supplied uncommon entry — and a window into how the regime elevates this mountain into one thing nearly divine.
The ‘Mount Paektu bloodline’
The mountain was the birthplace of Dangun, the legendary founding father of the primary Korean kingdom, in accordance with North Korean legend.
Kim Il Sung, North Korea’s founder and Kim Jong Un’s grandfather, purportedly used the mountain as a hideout when combating towards the Japanese occupation for independence within the Nineteen Forties. State media typically refers back to the eldest Kim in reference to the mountain, utilizing titles just like the “legendary hero of Paektu.”
North Korea claims Kim Jong Il, the late chief and father of Kim Jong Un, was born close to Paektu’s summit. Guides confirmed me a picket cabin the place, they are saying, snow melted and the solar broke by way of, flowers bloomed, and a brand new star appeared within the sky to mark his start.
There’s no historic proof for this and lots of students consider Kim was probably born in Russia, however the story is instructed and not using a trace of doubt all through North Korea. Paektu isn’t only a mountain — it’s a nationwide altar.
The mountain has been broadly utilized by the Kim dynasty to showcase the household’s personal lore and deification. Its peaks have been emblazoned on the nation’s nationwide emblem and its title has been lent to every little thing from rockets to energy stations and, often, the nation itself.
North Korean chief Kim Jong Un rides a horse throughout snowfall in Mount Paektu on this picture launched by North Korea’s Korean Central Information Company (KCNA) on October 16, 2019. – KCNA/Reuters
North Korean society prizes racial purity and state propaganda glorifies the Kim household for his or her “Mount Paektu bloodline,” which is alleged to be a noble and heroic lineage tied to the traditional legendary kings of the Korean peninsula.
“That is the soul of Korea’s revolution,” a information instructed me, as North Korean pilgrims stood quietly close by, some in tears, believing they have been on hallowed floor.
Kim Hong Un has typically visited the sacred mountain, often earlier than main shakeups — just like the 2013 execution of his uncle and the 2016 nuclear check.
In 2018, he brought then-South Korean President Moon Jae-in as much as the summit in a uncommon second of unity. Moon, who stood on the prime clutching Kim’s hand alongside their wives, known as the go to the conclusion of a dream.
“I questioned if I used to be ever going to have an opportunity (to return right here) however my want has come true,” Moon stated. For Koreans on each side of the border, reaching the height has lengthy been a ceremony of passage, however entry has been closed off to most residing in South Korea.
In 2019, North Korean state media launched pictures of Kim riding on a white horse up the sacred mountain on a minimum of two separate events amid tensions on the peninsula.
Geological significance
In its recognition, the UNESCO government board cited Paektu’s volcanic legacy, valleys formed by glacial erosion, and rocky plains as a part of its international significance.
It additionally famous the “millennial eruption” that occurred on Mount Paektu greater than a thousand years in the past in 946 CE — one of the highly effective volcanic eruptions in recorded historical past.
Presently, there are greater than 200 geoparks in 49 international locations, in accordance with the group. UNESCO International Geoparks are acknowledged as “single, unified geographical areas the place websites and landscapes of worldwide geological significance are managed with a holistic idea of safety, schooling and sustainable improvement.”
Final 12 months, the UNESCO board designated the Chinese language facet of the mountain as a worldwide geopark beneath its Chinese language title, Changbaishan.
North Korea sought the UNESCO geopark designation in 2019, a 12 months earlier than China, however an on-site inspection of the location in North Korea was delayed as a result of Covid-19 pandemic.
With the designation, Pyongyang could now attempt to rebrand Paektu as a geotourism vacation spot — selling its pure wonders in addition to Korean mythology.
Again in 2017, the journey to Paektu took us by way of distant farming villages the place youngsters ran away from our cameras — some probably having by no means seen a foreigner. In Samjiyon, the closest city, monuments to Kim Il Sung dot the panorama, and buildings bear scars from battles with Japanese occupiers.
CNN Senior Worldwide Correspondent Will Ripley, Senior Vice President & Managing Editor Ellana Lee, producer Tim Schwarz and photojournalist Justin Robertson (left to proper), on the web site of Lake Chon atop Mount Paektu, June 2017. – Justin Robertson/CNN
Life close to Paektu is rural and sparse. However the folks we met spoke with quiet satisfaction — of their historical past, their dwelling, and the idea that they stay in a spot that issues.
With this UNESCO recognition, Mount Paektu is not only a nationwide image, however acknowledged as a web site of world geological worth. Whether or not that results in extra engagement or stays one other device for Pyongyang’s narrative is unclear.
For now, the mountain stands, its slopes cloaked in clouds and its tales handed down by way of generations. And for those who ever end up on the summit, staring into Lake Chon and respiratory within the frigid air, you may perceive why so many, North and South, consider it holds the soul of Korea.
CNN’s Yoonjung Website positioning and Joshua Berlinger contributed to this report.
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