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Mt Kumgang, Korea’s Celebrated Mountain
Oct
Mt Kumgang, one of the six celebrated mountains of Korea, is located in the middle of the Great Paektu Mountains and encompasses Kosong and Kumgang counties and some part of Thongchon County in Kangwon Province.
Sky-high peaks, rocks in various shapes and forms, steep cliffs and deep valleys, innumerable pools and ponds and thick forests are in good harmony with each other to form a beautiful picture.
From olden times it has been said that “It seems to have all superb scenic beauties as stones do ten thousand tricks, water does one thousand cute things and trees are admirable” and “You cannot talk about the beauty of mountains and rivers before you see Mt Kumgang of Korea.”
Mt Kumgang has a lot of high and low peaks, including Piro, Chail and Paengma, so it has been called Twelve-thousand Peaks since long ago.
Those peaks feature numerous mysteriously-shaped rocks such as Samson and Rabbit rocks, over 20 lookouts, including Chonsondae and Paegundae, eight stone gates such as Kumgang and Sujong, and many caves including Kumgang and Podok caves.
There are also deep and majestic valleys such as Onjongchon, Sonchang, Kusong, and Manchon, and Manphok Valley in Inner Kumgang represents the beauty of valley in the mountain.
Mt Kumgang boasts abundance of water and forests and is famous for the picturesque scenery of its streams, falls and pools.
It has the Nam River and Onjong, Chonbul and Sonchang streams that empty into the East Sea of Korea, and Kumgang and Tonggumgang streams, tributaries of the Pukhan River which flows into the West Sea of Korea.
There are myriads of big and small falls, including Kuryong, Pibong, Ogyong, and Sibi falls which are called as four famous falls in Mt Kumgang, Mubong Falls resembling a dancing phoenix and Pidan Falls looking like cascading silk.
Lagoon Samil, one of the eight scenic spots in the Kwandong area, Yongnang, Kam and other lakes are found in this region.
Kumgang Pond is known as Lake Chon of Mt Kumgang, and Sangphal Pools are associated with the legend of fairies who came down to take a bath there. There are also Munju and other pools.
Mt Kumgang is an aggregate of all beauties of the nature, including those of mountain, valley, lake, sea, seashore and landscape.
