Mount Paekdu revered in both Koreas for different reasons
SEOUL, Sept. 19 (Yonhap) -- North Korea's Mount Paekdu, which South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un will travel to together Thursday, is the Korean Peninsula's highest peak and is revered in both sides of the border, but for different reasons.
South Korea considers the 2,744-meter peak one of the peninsula's most sacred places as it's known as the birthplace of Dangun, the legendary founder of Gojoseon, the first Korean kingdom, founded more than 4,000 years ago.
North Korea regards the peak as sacred because it's where Kim Il-sung, the country's late founder and grandfather of the current leader, set up a secret military base for anti-Japanese, independence struggles during the 1910-45 colonial rule.
It is also where the North says late leader Kim Jong-il, father of the current leader, was born. That's why Kim's family is called the "Paekdu bloodline." But some historians say the late leader was actually born in Russia.
The mountain is on the border with China, and South Koreans go there via China.
Officials said Kim proposed the joint visit and Moon accepted the offer.
The North's leader is believed to have made the offer because Moon said during a dinner after his first summit with Kim in April that he hopes to trek up the mountain and he believes Kim will make his wish come true.
"Mount Paekdu is the soul mountain of Korea people and it's the most symbolic mountain," senior presidential press secretary Yoon Young-chan told reporters. "President Moon has said many times that he hopes to walk up the mountain without going through China. I think the North is aware of this and made this proposal."
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