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Many people may still remember the historic and touching scene from an inter-Korean summit in Pyongyang on September 20, 2018. 

Then-South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un climbed Mt. Baekdu on the northernmost point of the Korean Peninsula on the final day of their three-day summit. Baekdu is regarded by Koreans as a holy mountain. 

The two leaders held each other’s hands tightly. The North Korean leader said the two Koreas should write a new history in their relations from that moment on. 

Moon and Kim clutched their hands and raised them high over their heads in front of the Cheonji lake at the peak of the mountain. The memorable scene heightened expectations that Mt. Baekdu would serve as a venue for inter-Korean peace and harmony. Unfortunately, cross-border relations did not turn out well afterwards. 

Mt. Baekdu is considered the spiritual home of the Korean race. On top of that, the mountain is said to have another meaning in North Korea. Today, we’ll learn about the significance of the mountain in North Korea from Oh Sam-eon, researcher at the National Institute of Forest Science. 

The South Korean national anthem starts with the phrase, “Until the East Sea’s waves are dry, Mt. Baekdu worn away.”

The second verse of North Korea’s national anthem also includes the phrase, “Nest for the spirit of labor, embracing the atmosphere of Mt. Baekdu.” Featured in the national anthems of both South and North Korea, the mountain is considered a sacred symbol in the two Koreas.  

The peak of Mt. Baekdu, which means “white head,” is covered with snow about eight months of the year. It is the starting point of the Baekdu Daegan that refers to a chain of ridges and peaks stretching through the Korean Peninsula from Mt. Baekdu all the way down to Mt. Jiri in South Korea. 

Mt. Baekdu is located in Samjiyon City, Ryanggang Province. The province was formed in 1954, when some parts of South and North Hamgyong provinces were separated. Ryanggang means “two rivers.” The province got its name as it is bordered by China along the two rivers—the Yalu and the Tumen. 

Samjiyon consists of three pools located side by side. In fact, the word “samji” means “three pools.” The area turned into pools in the process of Mt. Baekdu’s eruption when volcanic lava blocked the river stream. 

With a height of two-thousand-750 meters, Baekdu is the highest mountain on the Korean Peninsula. The area around the mountain peak is notorious for changeable weather, and there is an old saying that one can see the Cheonji lake atop the mountain only if three generations of his or her family have done good deeds. 

Mt. Baekdu was created by volcanic activities about one million years ago. A large crater lake called Cheonji on top of the mountain was formed by a huge volcanic eruption. Cheonji means “heaven lake.” The caldera lake earned the name because it was believed to be located where the sky and the earth meet. According to North Korean records, a total of two-thousand-685 plant species including larches and spruces are distributed over the mountain area, with the number of alpine plant species reaching 199. It is the coldest region in North Korea, where plants can grow for only about three months of the year. An annual range of temperature, or the temperature difference between the hottest and coldest months, is as wide as 65 degrees Celsius. The area expects a difference of 20 to 25 degrees Celsius between day and night. 

The Samjiyon area has different species of trees and plants that are only found in alpine regions, including bog bilberry. The area is a known habitat for rare animals such as deer and black grouse that are designated as natural monuments in the country. Crucian carp inhabiting in Samjiyon lake is a fish species endemic to North Korea. It is protected as a natural monument. 

North Korea has used the mysterious image of Mt. Baekdu as the symbol of the regime founder Kim Il-sung’s family. 

The North has propagandized the mountain as a revolutionary site for Kim Il-sung’s armed resistance against Japan during the colonial period to justify the country’s monolithic leadership system. 

Mt. Baekdu has been held in great reverence, not only by Koreans but other races as well. A history book from the Northern Wei Dynasty in China states that people worshipped the mountain. This mountain was also regarded by Manchurians as their mythic origin. By highlighting Kim Il-sung’s anti-Japanese military activities around the mountain area, North Korea praises him as a great hero who protected the mountain, which has long been held sacred on the Korean Peninsula and in China’s northeastern region. 

North Korea also claims that Kim Il-sung’s son Kim Jong-il was born in a secretive military camp on Mt. Baekdu to legitimize the hereditary power transfer, although Russian records suggest that he was actually born in the former Soviet Union. 

Current leader Kim Jong-un has climbed the mountain occasionally before attending major political events or making important decisions, in an apparent bid to legitimize his leadership. North Korea has stressed the so-called Baekdu bloodline, which refers to a three-generation lineage of leadership descending from Kim Il-sung to Kim Jong-il and Kim Jong-un. 

“Song of General Kim Il-sung” is a North Korean military song released in 1946. The lyrics of the song start with “Mt. Jangbaek(장백),” which is another name for Mt. Baekdu. Along with this song, “Song of General Kim Jong-il” is listed as an immortal revolutionary hymn. It was unveiled in 1997 through the Rodong Sinmun newspaper. This song also starts with the phrase that includes the word “Mt. Baekdu.” Indeed, the mountain symbolizes the achievement of North Korea’s juche or self-reliance revolution. “Song in Praise of General Kim Jong-un” also includes the expression “Mt. Baekdu power” in its third verse. By associating the mountain with the image of a powerful country, North Korea seems to have expanded the symbol of the mountain to represent the country itself. 

It is said that North Korea indoctrinates its people, from childhood, with the history of Mt. Baekdu as a holy place of revolution. Many North Korean defectors still vividly remember the mountain legend, which they had learned in their home country. 

When North Koreans hear the word, Mt. Baekdu, the first image that comes to their mind is Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il. Teachers at childcare centers tell the young kids that the sacred mountain of revolution was where dear leader Kim Il-sung defeated a million Japanese troops and fought fiercely to liberate Korea, and where leader Kim Jong-il was born. 

In North Korea, students and workers at major institutions and factories often go on field trips to revolutionary battle sites to learn about the revolutionary tradition of top leaders. Mt. Baekdu is the most important out of such sites. Local media outlets are eager to report the ascent of the mountain or field trips to the area. The country even created a song titled “We Will Go to Mt. Baekdu” in 2015. 

The second summit between former U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in 2019 ended without an agreement. The failed summit in Hanoi dealt a serious blow to Kim’s leadership. At the end of that year, the North Korean leader visited the Mt. Baekdu revolutionary battle site and vowed to make a frontal breakthrough to tackle challenges posed by sanctions. In light of that, the leader urged his people to make an expedition to the site. 

After Kim’s instruction, more than 80-thousand people from some 19-hundred organizations participated in the expedition to Mt. Baekdu over the span of a year, despite the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Leader Kim Jong-un is using the mountain as a means of promoting his cult of personality and also as a tool for economic development as well. 

North Korea has been developing the Mt. Baekdu area that includes Samjiyon as a tourist resort since the 1960s. The development of Samjiyon, the gateway to the mountain, gained traction in 2016 under Kim Jong-un’s instruction. 

Samjiyon was upgraded from a county to a city in 2019 and its development was complete in late 2021, with the third phase of construction finished. 

Most of North Korea’s state projects have suffered from a setback due to international sanctions and border closure. But the Samjiyon development project proved to be one of the biggest achievements of Kim Jong-un, who marked his tenth year in power.

Samjiyon Airport has been renovated and expanded, while a new road was built to connect the airport with a ski resort. Samjiyon has now turned into a resort complex, ready to greet local and foreign tourists. The area has many new buildings including a souvenir factory, a hospital, a cultural center, a gym, a library, a museum and a hotel. The Mt. Baekdu Museum, with a floor area of over 10-thousand square meters, shows the history of the mountain exploration and the evolution of plants and animals there. 

On February 15 this year, North Korea celebrated the 80th birthday anniversary of former leader Kim Jong-il in Samjiyon. Despite the freezing weather, leader Kim Jong-un and high-level officials attended the commemorative event that was held at the unconventional place. 

North Korean media reported that the area was crowded with residents who enjoyed splendid fireworks. 

With the leader and high officials celebrating the occasion in Samjiyon, the place drew a lot more attention. North Korea carried out various development projects for six years under Kim Jong-un’s rule, and the Samjiyon project is touted as an exemplary model of the development of local regions. It also represents loyalty to former leader Kim Jong-il, as his hometown, the sacred place of revolution, has been renovated. Having these implications in mind, North Korea held the event in Samjiyon.

Analysts say North Korea held the important event in Samjiyon located at the foot of Mt. Baekdu, not in the capital of Pyongyang, in a move to demonstrate the presence of Kim Jong-un who belongs to the Baekdu bloodline and to strengthen internal unity.