Size: 33×25.5cm./12.9x10inch.
Weight: 700gr./24.6oz.
Year: 1995
Pages: 131
 
Book made in North Korea, 1995. Beautiful made book about the crater lake on Mt. Paektu with fold outs. The mountain plays an important mythological and cultural role in both Korean states. For instance, it is mentioned in both of their national anthems and is depicted on the National Emblem of North Korea.
Both Koreans assign a mythical quality to the volcano and its caldera lake, considering it to be their country’s spiritual home. With 2744m./9003ft. it is the highest mountain in North Korea, the Korean Peninsula and Northeast China. The mountain’s caldera was created in 946 by the colossal Tianchi eruption, one of the most violent eruptions in the last 5,000 years.
The founder of the first Korean Empire, King Tangun, was born on this mountain 3000 years ago. According to legend his father, Godly King Hwanung, was decended on this mountain, married a bear wich was turned into a woman and out of that Tangun was born.
Tangun is not the first leader to be born on Mt. Paektu. None other than Kim Jong Il (father of the current leader Kim Jong Un) was born in a cabin on Mt. Paektu. This would have happened during the Korean War.
In the Korean war, Kim Il Sung (Kim Jong Il’s father and founder of the North Korean state) was forced to withdraw his troops to the far north of the country under pressure from the Americans during the Korean war. He took refuge in Mt. Paektu. He found an ally in the Chinese and managed to fight his way back until the current status quo was reached.