Since old times, Korean people said "One cannot die before he sees Mt. Kumgang," appreciating world-famous scenic beauty of Mt. Kumgang and yearning to see it.
However, many south Koreans died before they saw the Kumgang Mountains due to more than 50 years of division of the Korean peninsula.
Koreans' wish to visit the mountain once in their lives, will soon come true, as an agreement on developing tourism for the mountain was signed between the north's National Economic Cooperation Federation and the south Korean Hyundai Business Group in June. The agreement reportedly makes it possible for Koreans to visit the mountain area this September. The mountain is truely beautiful enough to draw south Korean tourists as well as foreigners.
Here The People's Korea introduces famous sightseeing spots around the Kumgang Mountains;
Mt. Kumgang is renowned for their scenic beauty; it has various spectacular mountain carved our of granite rocks, a series of rocky pinnacles piercing the sky, deep and narrow canyons with nearly vertical granite walls and a number of water falls and rapids along the stream.
Its natural scenery is due to a large measure to the special geological structure of the area. The mountain consists mainly of granite and diorite. Long weathering produced mountain formations and cliffs of multifarious shapes. The variation in geographical location and weather and climatic conditions, too, contributed to the formation of Mt. Kumgang.
Situated at the northern tip of the Taebaek Mountains which stretch along the east coast of the Korean Peninsula, the mountain covers an area of 400 square kilometers, runs 60 kilometers in length and has a width of 40 kilometers from east to west. The highest peak of the mountain is Piro Peak.
On account of its consummate scenic beauty, the mountain has been given four names each for the four seasons by Korean people from time immemorial. In spring, when various kinds of flowers are in bloom and emit fragrance, they are called "Kumgang (Diamond) Mountains" because they sparkle like diamonds; in summer when their sheer cliffs are enveloped by drifting clouds and clad in green foliage and full of singing birds, they pass under the name of the Pongrae Mountains; in autumn when they are aflame with autumnal colors and moonlight mirrored in the blue streams adds beauty of them, they go by the name of Pungak mountains; and in winter when they present an attractive snowscape and are solemnized by ice pillars, they are called "the Kaegonal Mountains" (But they have come to be widely known generally as the Kumgang Mountain.)
About 750 species of plants can be found on the mountain. Its fauna comprises 38 species of beasts, 130 species of birds, 9 species of reptiles, 10 species of batrachiants, and 24 species of fishes.
The mountain is devided into three areas each with distinctive topographical features -- The Inner Kumgang, the Outer Kumgang and the Sea Kumgang.
The Inner Kumgang is often compared to womanly beauty for its sweet and enchanting views including the Manpok Ravine which is the apotheosis of Mt. Kumgang's beautiful ravines; the Outer Kumgang is likened to manly beauty for its numerous peaks including the Chipson Peak of Manmulsang (Rocks of Ten Thousand Features) which exemplifies beauty of the mountains and for its many waterfalls; and the Sea Kumgang is renowned for its exciting and delightful seascape and for the serene beauty of its charming lagoons.
 Manmulsang (Rocks of Ten Thousand Features) |
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Particularly famous sights on Mt. Kumgang are: Piro Peak, Manpok Ravine, Myongyong Rock and Paektap Ravine in the Inner Kumgang; Manmulsang, Kuryong Pond, Upper Pal Pools, Sujong Peak, Ongnyu Ravine, the Hanha Stream, and the Sibi Falls in the Outer Kumgang, and Sea Manmulsang, Kumgang Gate and Lagoon Samil in the Sea Kumgang.
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Many foreign guests come to the mountain and express great admiration for the mountain's wonderful view which can stand comparison with any mountain scenery in the world as one foreign poet put it; "There should be no talk of celebrated mountains in the world without seeing Mt. Kumgang."
There are small falls in the mountain, and an area near the waters is said to grow a few wild Korean ginseng plants.
Mt. Kumgang is associated with many old legends such as the "Legend of Kuryong Pond" and the "Legend of Eight Fairies in Mt. Kumgang."
The Kuryong (nine dragons) falls, was a sheer drop of 74 meters with a width of 4 meters and is one of the largest waterfalls in the Kumgang area. A pond bellow the falls is called Kuryong pond. Legend has it that once nine dragons went there to defend the Kumgang Mountain.
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Above the Kuryong falls, there are eight pools, and a legend has it that the ponds were so beautiful that eight fairies came down here to take a bath.
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Once upon a time, an honest young man saw fairies from Heaven flowing down to bathe there, and hid one of the faries' flying gown as he was told to do so by a hermit who wanted to help this honest man. He married the fairy that cannot return to Heaven, and had three babies, but the honest man was determined to give back the gown to her to have the fairy go back to heaven. Even after she went back to heaven, she missed her children and the beautiful scenaries of the Kumgang Mountain and finally lived with her family in the mountain.
A legend of Samil Lagoon goes that a king once visited the lake for a day but was so enthralled by its scenery that he stayed there for three days, and this gives rise to its name Samil (three days). It is widely known as one of the eight scenic wonders of the eastern Korean region. It is 5.8 kilometers in circumstances, 9-13 meters in depth.
About six kilometers east of Samil Lagoon, it offers a beautiful sea view of the "Sea Kumgang." The Kumgang Mountains seem to be floating on the sea, as its name suggests.
Mt. Kumgang which has been loved by the Korean nation will be open to south Korean tourists soon, and this will inject much needed vigor into Wonsan and other areas near Mt. Kumgang. Tour ships are expected to depart from Sokcho in southern part of the Kangwon provice and arrive in Wonsan port in the northern part of the province, connecting two ports in the province, which have been devided since 1950s.
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