[Opinion] Baekdu Mountain

Mt. Baekdu is the spiritual mountain of the Korean nation. However, China calls this mountain, located between the border of North Korea and China, Changbaishan, and claims that it is their mountain. Every time they make such claim, it reminds me of Yookdang Choi Nam-sun’s “Mount Baekdu Visit Journal.” He wrote, “What grazes past my forehead is the wind of Mount Baekdu, what quenches my thirst is Mount Baekdu’s spring water, what we plow, sow, reap and level is Mount Baekdu’s soil. We try to leave, yet we can’t, and we try to keep detached yet we can’t, and that is our relationship with Mount Baekdu.”

In the past, there was a monument called the Mount Baekdu Boundary Stone. An emperor of the Qing Dynasty, a Manchurian regime, considered Mount Baekdu as the origin of Korean ancestors and starting from late 17th Century made Koreans conduct rites to honor their ancestors. Around that time, Koreans and Chinese started to have continuous disputes over products such as ginseng and fur.

The Qing Dynasty pressured Joseon and established a boundary stone the set the boundary as, “The west of the Aprok River and east of the Duman River.” However, the two-foot-tall stone was later removed by the Japanese during colonial rule.

It’s been a while since China promoted a campaign for Changbaishan. In 1980, it was designated as a biosphere reserve by UNESCO, and in 1986 it was named as a national nature protection reserve. Last year, the mountain’s jurisdiction was transferred from the autonomous region of Yanbian directly to Jilin Province. China also plans to submit a request to UNESCO with the goal to register the mountain as a natural world heritage site. It has also started constructing Changbaishan Airport and it plans to complete the construction of three highways linking to the mountain, as well as creating a beltway.

Such actions are linked with China’s Northeast Project. China’s purpose can be seen when they set Changbaishan as one of China’s top ten mountains with other famous mountains in Tibet and Taiwan. By overtly including a mountain located in a strategic interest zone they are declaring that it is part of Chinese sovereign territory. It is also interpreted as a pre-emptive move to silence any controversy over Goguryeo and Balhae history, after both Koreas unify. However, North Korea, which should protect its sovereignty over Mount Baekdu, is cornered haplessly. While North Korea is boasting about Partizan Milyoung and bragging about Jeongilbong while it is collapsing, Mount Baekbu is in fact, becoming China’s territory.

Kim Chung-sik, Editorial Writer, skim@donga.com