OhMyNews ran a two-part photo essay (Part 1/Part 2) by Choe Seong-min on his visit to Mt. Baekdu (from the North Korean side) in 2000, when he was a reporter with the Hankyoreh. I’m going to translate it this weekend, but until then, English-speakers can take a look at the photos.
I was lucky enough to visit Mt. Baekdu (from the Chinese side) in 2000. Or at least I think it was 2000. Anyway, it’s a magical, magical place — I only wish I wasn’t half hung-over from drinking with a professor and some friends until 3:00 in the morning the previous night. We were particularly fortunate in that the Lake of Heaven was blissfully free of cloud cover that morning — from what I’m told, it’s often fogged over. Anyway, here’s the photos I took of the Lake of Heaven and Changbaek Waterfall. Hope to make a return trip there before too long.
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Wow, some of those pics are beautiful. Must add it on to my ever expanding list of places to visit.
What’s interesting is the prevalence of photos of ??? (????; the Lake of Heaven) in South Korean government buildingslike the enormous mural of it in the Myeongdong Post Office. I guess it’s a subtle (not so subtle?) assertion of the ROK’s borders extending all the way north to the highest mountain on the Korean Peninsulalike maps published in South that don’t show the DMZ, and show the pre-1945 (or sometimes pre-1895) provinces north of the magically non-existent DMZ.
Whoah, hey! You’ve got a preview function!
(Of course, I’m sure maps published in the North also don’t show the DMZ…perhaps there are photos of Halla-san on Jeju-do in North Korean government buildings?)
Pictures of Paektusan remind me of Crater Lake National Park in Oregon. If a film company ever got the idea of making a movie with Paektusan as a backdrop, Crater Lake could make a good stand-in.
Those North Koreans waving at the Southerners look healthy and happy. I guess that’s because they live close enough to the border that they can cross into China and get food.