Hallasan

The crater of Hallasan

The Hallasan is with 1950 m the highest mountain in South Korea and is located on the island of Jeju, south of the Korean Peninsula. The Hallasan is a dormant shield volcano that erupted in historical times in the years 1002 and 1007, and has a crater lake which is called Baengnoktam.

The mountain can be climbed via four different routes, where currently, however, result from a nature conservation reasons, only the routes over the Soengpanak Trail and the Gwaneumsa trail to the summit. The two routes over the Eorimok trail or on the Yeongsil trail leading up to Witseoreum Hut at 1700m. At the start of the ascent from the north is also located the temple Gwaneumsa, the oldest Buddhist temple on the island. It was built during the Goryeo Dynasty. The current temple was rebuilt, however, as many Korean temple in the 20th century after the destruction. The mountain and the surrounding area is a national park since 1970. The mountain itself was also declared a National Monument.

The spelling of the name Hallasan is different in South and North Korea. In South Korea, it is 한라산 (han -ra- san ) wrote, in North Korea 한나 산 (han -na- san ). However, transcription and pronunciation in both cases are the same, namely Hallasan.