Paekdusan (백두산)
The active stratovolcano of Peakdusan (Paektu Mountain, or Baekdu Mountain) is the highest peak on the Korean Peninsula. It towers 2,744 m (9,003 ft) above the surrounding wilderness and it is covered year-round with snow and ice, hence its name, which means 'White Head Mountain'.
The highest point of the vaocano's rim is Janggun Peak, which is located in North Korea. The mountain's caldera, surrounded by rocky crags, is filled with water to form a huge crater lake, known as Chonji, or 'Lake of Heaven'. Chonji is one of the world's deepest alpine lakes, as well as one of its coldest, despite it being fed by two hot springs.
The caldera was formed by an eruption in 946. The volcan's most recent eruption dates from 1903.
Paekdusan is sacred to all Koreans, because, according to Korean mythology, it is the place where the 'Son of the Lord of Heaven' descended to earth and the first Korean kingdom began. According to North Korea's current history books it was also the place where the 'Great Leader' established his headquarters and defeated the Japanese in the 1920s. The region has never been a battlefield during WWII though, but despite of that, countless revolutionary and anti-imperialist slogans have been carved on the trees.
Paekdusan straddles the Korean-Chinese border in the far north of North Korea, some 390 km northeast of P'yongyang. In China, the mountain is known as Changbaishan (长白山).
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