#Mount Kumgang

[k-star-holic]

Yun Da-yeong, "'Guardian: The Lonely and Great God' Those Merry Souls"

Source: k-star-holic.blogspot.com

[deulleya]

"am i a person, or a painting?"

the seventh instalment of my musical translation series, on the 7th day of the 7th month — 七七, 칠칠, chil chil, or seven seven. when a renowned joseon painter travels to the mountains to paint its landscapes, he is instead swept up in doubts regarding his past, his paintings, and his identity itself.

the videos are not mine, but all translations are my own. (also, happy 6th debut anniversary kim junyoung!!)

musical: seven seven (칠칠)

cast (2023): [choi buk] park kyuwon, ahn jaeyoung, kim junyoung • [mumyeong] jo sangwoong, song yootaek, kim hyunjin, hong kibeom • [wonjun] kim juho, lee sian

synopsis: joseon's first hwanjaengi — a derogatory term for a painter — choi buk. selling his paintings to earn a living, choi buk gains renown for his prowess as a landscape painter. yet he is prone to eccentricities such as soaking his paintings in water or tearing them up in front of a paying client, and his capricious nature leads others to distance themselves from him — save for his sole friend, mumyeong. hoping to paint a masterpiece, choi buk sets out for mount kumgang together with mumyeong, where he finds himself faced with the past he'd turned his back on. choi buk completes the painting, and when the pair return to hanyang, the influential politician wonjun approaches them to purchase it, offering to tell a story in return...

production: orchard musical (twitter / youtube)

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설강도가 – song of the snowy river painting

kim junyoung as choi buk, yoo seunghyun as mumyeong

[Choi Buk] In the capital, Choi Buk lives on, selling his paintings Even if a cold draught blows through the four walls Of the collapsed thatched-roof house He shuts the door all day, planning to paint the landscapes Ah, only the glass spectacles and wooden brush holder lie therein Only the glass spectacles and wooden brush holder

Selling a handful in the morning, and earning breakfast Selling a handful in the evening, and earning dinner Seating a guest upon the cushion worn thin from the frigid winter Out of sight, upon the little bridge Snowfall has gathered in a three-inch layer

Look here, when I come, will you draw me a snowy river painting? Look here, when I come, will you draw me a snowy river painting?

[Mumyeong] Rice is running out, and there is no firewood to last the winter. Even this paper you can’t live without has only a scant few pages left. You chase the clients who offer a high price away, claiming they have no eye for paintings. And as for the clients who do not offer a high price!

[Choi Buk] Of course, I chase them away, since they have no eye for paintings!

[Mumyeong] Poetry lies upon the spring wind’s bridge And I lie upon a donkey’s back amidst the snow The donkey, that is headed for the bridge Even if the village lady’s straw is crushed beneath the snow The lonely fishing boat floats, a lone leaf upon the water

[M] Why, so [C] In the capital

[M] Even if a cold draught blows through [C] Choi Buk sells his paintings

[M] The four walls of the thatched-roof house, collapsed [C] And lives on

[M] Within the snowstorm that weighs down the overcast valley [C] Shutting the door all day and painting the landscapes

[M] The sun sets, and a peach blossom [C] Out of sight, upon the little bridge

[M] Floats upon the water [C] The snowfall has gathered in a three-inch layer

[Choi Buk, Mumyeong] Look here, will you paint the spring mountains upon the snowflake paper once more? Look here, will you paint the spring mountains upon the snowflake paper once more?

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살아있다 – alive

kim junyoung as choi buk

I am still alive That which suits me keeps me living When my life ends someday Even if I wander in an empty void, still, I am

A world that hides nothing, for I am me A world that runs neither to me, nor away from me Living on, reaching out to that which descends upon me I am alive

I am still alive Within me, fervently Even as I despise myself, tormented, I live on as myself

Still, I am alive Within me, fervently Even as I despise myself, tormented, I live on as myself

Even if I turn to dust, I am here Even if I turn to dust, I am here, now, I am

I am alive

Even as I despise myself, tormented, I live on as myself I am still alive; within me, fervently Even if I turn to dust, I am Alive

[ 2022 version here. original korean lyrics here. ]

[callejondelinfierno]

294 Piezas de Anillo de Rasta Puños de Dreadlocks de Aluminio de Accesorios de Clip de Pelo Trenzado, de Decoración de Pelo Bisutería de Trenza,Decoración de Trenzas para Hombres y Mujeres

Precio: (as of – Detalles) Mount Kumgang Valoración media de los compradores: /5 Estrellas 【Descripción del producto】 Este paquete de producto contiene 294 piezas de accesorios para el cabello en 30 estilos distintos. Este producto está elaborado mediante un proceso de galvanoplastia y la superficie es lisa, por lo que no tienes que preocuparte por dañar tu cabello. Hemos empaquetado 294…

[head-post]

North Korea cuts all economic ties with South

North Korea’s Supreme People’s Assembly voted to cancel all agreements with South Korea on promoting economic co-operation, local media reported on Thursday.

The assembly also voted to cancel laws regulating economic ties with Seoul, including a special law on a tourism project on the Mount Kumgang. The mountain tours north of the eastern border were a symbol of economic co-operation between the two Koreas in the early 2000s and attracted nearly 2 million South Korean visitors.

The project was suspended in 2008 after a South Korean tourist who wandered into the restricted area was shot dead by North Korean guards.

Read more HERE

[eirikswood]

Unflappable Ajeossi and the War that Never Ended

the Korean Demilitarized Zone (1953 - present) is inaptly named, as it is the most heavily armed and least traversable international border in the world.  Military service remains compulsory in both nations, and the population of military personnel between North and South Korea (15 million) is as large as the armed forces of India, China, Russia, and the United States combined (despite the latter four superpowers comprising 40% of the world's total population compared to the Koreas' 0.9%).  Beginning in 2002, South Koreans were sometimes permitted to cross the DMZ to work in the Kaesŏng Industrial Zone or visit the Mount Kumgang Tourist Region, but both areas have since been closed off due to a deterioration of diplomatic relations.

[forgottenmoments-forgottenplaces]

Podŏgam hermitage in Inner Kŭmgang-san, Eckart Dege

38° 38' 8.33" N 128° 4' 49.81" E, Kangwon Province, North Korea

Via Panoramio.com

[political-affairs]

North And South Korea - The World's Most Dangerous Border

The Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) is the buffer zone between North and South Korea, running across the peninsula roughly following the 38th parallel. It was created by agreement between North Korea, China and the United Nations in 1953. The DMZ is 250 kilometres (160 miles) long, and about 4 kilometres (2.5 miles) wide.

Within the DMZ is a meeting-point between the two nations in the small Joint Security Area (JSA) near the western end of the zone, where negotiations take place. There have been various incidents in and around the DMZ, with military and civilian casualties on both sides. Several tunnels are claimed to have been built as an invasion route for the North Koreans.

 Location 

The Korean Demilitarized Zone  is a strip of land running across the Korean Peninsula. It was established at the end of the Korean War to serve as a buffer zone between North and South Korea. The DMZ is a de facto border barrier that divides the Korean Peninsula roughly in half. The DMZ roughly flows the 38th parallel north on an angle, with the west end of the DMZ lying south of the parallel and the east end lying north of it. It was created as part of the Korean Armistice Agreement between North Korea, the People's Republic of China, and the United Nations Command forces in 1953. The DMZ is 250 kilometres (160 miles) long,  approximately 4 km (2.5 mi) wide and, despite its name, is the most heavily militarized border in the world.   The Northern Limit Line, or NLL, is the disputed maritime demarcation line between North and South Korea in the Yellow Sea, not agreed in the armistice. The coastline and islands on both sides of the NLL are also heavily militarized.

 History 

The 38th parallel north—which divides the Korean Peninsula roughly in half—was the original boundary between the United States and Soviet Union's brief administration areas of Korea at the end of World War II. Upon the creation of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK, informally North Korea) and the Republic of Korea (ROK, informally South Korea) in 1948, it became a de facto international border and one of the most tense fronts in the Cold War.

Both the North and the South remained dependent on their sponsor states from 1948 to the outbreak of the Korean War. That conflict, which claimed over three million lives and divided the Korean Peninsula along ideological lines, commenced on June 25, 1950, with a full-front DPRK invasion across the 38th parallel, and ended in 1953 after international intervention pushed the front of the war back to near the 38th parallel.

 Joint Security Area

Inside the DMZ, near the western coast of the peninsula, Panmunjom is the home of the Joint Security Area (JSA). Originally, it was the only connection between North and South Korea[9] but that changed in 2007 when a Korail train crossed the DMZ to the North on the new Donghae Bukbu Line built on the east coast of Korea.

There are several buildings on both the north and the south side of the Military Demarcation Line (MDL), and there have been some built on top of it. The JSA is the location where all negotiations since 1953 have been held, including statements of Korean solidarity, which have generally amounted to little except a slight decline of tensions. The MDL goes through the conference rooms and down the middle of the conference tables where the North Koreans and the United Nations Command (primarily South Koreans and Americans) meet face to face.

[divinum-pacis]

Artwork depicting Buddhas in Pyohunsa. Pyohunsa is found in Inner Keumgang 내금강. This temple is significant because of the four great temples of Mount Kumgang, this is the only one to have survived the Korean War. It was originally built in 670 A.D. during the Shilla dynasty and rebuilt in 1778. The famous pagoda that stands in the square is said to house the ashes of the famous Buddhist monk Sosan. It’s currently treasured as a national symbol of cultural heritage.

Photograph from URI Tours

[polkadotmotmot]

Jang Sup Son - Bibong Waterfall in Mount Kumgang, ca. 2008

[k-star-holic]

Song Chae-Hwan 9 years ⁇ Yun-seong Lee 12 years comeback, ⁇ Gold! Jade!

[bts-weverse-trans]

200314 ARMY’s Weverse Post

어떤거 추천 해주시나요? What kind of recommendation will you give?

Taehyung’s reply

양양 금강산대게횟집인데 사장님이 너무 친절하시고 너무너뮤너무좋으셔서 제가 많은 아미분들이 여기와서 식사많이 하셨음 좋겠어요 사장님 덕분에 뭔가 감동많이 받고갑니다 In YangYang there’s a Mount Kumgang Snow Crab sushi restaurant, the owner is so kind and so so syooo nice I would like a lot of ARMYs to come and eat here. Thanks to the owner I’m leaving impressed/after receiving a lot of good impressions.

Trans cr: Amy @ bts-weverse-trans © Please credit when taking out

[yunyanguoyanlu]

“Complete View of Inner Geumgang Mountain” by Jeong Seon (1676-1759).

The book, whose publication date is unknown, includes the ‘Complete View of Inner Geumgang Mountain,’ which depicts an overall view of the inner area of Mount Kumgang, in present-day North Korea. Mount Kumgang was once one of the most sought-after getaways for elites, painters and foreigners in ancient Korea, and it is still widely believed to be one of the most scenic mountains on the peninsula. Besides depictions of the waterfalls and valleys around Mount Kumgang, the book also includes paintings of figures based on Chinese proverbs, as well as a painting called “Pine Trees in Hamheung Palace,” which refers to the trees planted by Lee Seong-gye (1335-1408) - or King Taejo, the founder of the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910) - in Hamhung, present-day North Korea. It is unknown when Jeong Seon - also known as Gyeomjae - made the 21 paintings, though some of them are believed to have been created in the later years of his life. “It’s unclear how the book should be viewed - from left to right, like in the West, or from right to left,” said Cha Mi-ae, a manager in the foundation’s public relations division. “If you view the paintings from left to right, the story unfolds in line with Weber’s trip to Kumgang, but if you view from right to left, there is also a chronological story from the Chinese proverbs.”

[howwelldoyouknowyourmoon]

After Sun Myung Moon’s help, North Korea Launch an SLBM Missile on October 2, 2019

▲ On October 2, North Korea conducted an underwater launch of its new Pukguksong-3 submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) off the coast of Wonsan. The two-stage, solid-fuel missile flew on a steep, upward trajectory, reaching a peak altitude of 950 km, and landing about 450 km from the launch point. If the Pukguksong-3 had used a standard trajectory, it would have overflown Japan and covered 1,900 to 2,000 km, making it the longest-range solid-fuel missile North Korea has tested to date.

Full story of the launch: https://www.38north.org/2019/10/melleman100319/

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How did Sun Myung Moon help?

Robert Parry: “The Rev. Sun Myung Moon’s business empire, which includes the right-wing Washington Times, paid millions of dollars to North Korea’s communist leaders in the early 1990s when the hard-line government needed foreign currency to finance its weapons programs, according to U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) documents.

The payments included a $3 million “birthday present” to current communist leader Kim Jong Il and offshore payments amounting to “several tens of million dollars” to the previous communist dictator, Kim Il Sung, the documents said.

Moon apparently was seeking a business foothold in North Korea, but the transactions also raised potential legal questions for Moon, who appears to have defied U.S. embargos on trade and financial relations with the Pyongyang government. Those legal questions were never pursued, however, apparently because of Moon’s powerful political connections within the Republican power structure of Washington, including financial and political ties to the Bush family.

Besides making alleged payments to North Korea’s communist leaders, the 86-year-old founder of the South Korean-based Unification Church has funneled large sums of money, possibly millions of dollars, to former President George H.W. Bush.

One well-placed former leader of Moon’s Unification Church told me that the total earmarked for former President Bush was $10 million. The father of the current U.S. President has declined to say how much Moon’s organization actually paid him for speeches and other services in Asia, the United States and South America. ...

In 1988, when then-Vice President Bush was trailing early in the presidential race, the Times spread a baseless rumor that the Democratic presidential nominee Michael Dukakis had undergone psychiatric treatment. The Moon-affiliated American Freedom Coalition also distributed millions of pro-Bush flyers.

The elder George Bush personally expressed his gratitude. When Wesley Pruden was appointed The Washington Times’ editor-in-chief in 1991, Bush invited Pruden to a private White House lunch “just to tell you how valuable the Times has become in Washington, where we read it every day.” [Washington Times, May 17, 1992].

Moon’s Vatican

While Bush was hosting Pruden in the White House, Pruden’s boss was opening his financial and business channels to North Korea. According to the DIA, Moon’s North Korean deal was ambitious and expensive.

“There was an agreement regarding economic cooperation for the reconstruction of KN’s [North Korea’s] economy which included establishment of a joint venture to develop tourism at Kimkangsan, KN [North Korea]; investment in the Tumangang River Development; and investment to construct the light industry base at Wonsan, KN. It is believed that during their meeting Mun [Moon] donated 450 billion yen to KN,” one DIA report said.

In late 1991, the Japanese yen traded at about 130 yen to the U.S. dollar, meaning Moon’s investment would have been about $3.5 billion, if the DIA information is correct.

Moon’s aide Pak denied that Moon’s investments ever approached that size. Though Pak did not give an overall figure, he said the initial phase of an automobile factory was in the range of $3 million to $6 million.

The DIA depicted Moon’s business plans in North Korea as much grander. The DIA valued the agreement for hotels in Pyongyang and the resort in Kumgang-san, alone, at $500 million. The plans also called for creation of a kind of Vatican City covering Moon’s birthplace.

“In consideration of Mun’s [Moon's] economic cooperation, Kim [Il Sung] granted Mun a 99-year lease on a 9 square kilometer parcel of land located in Chongchu, Pyonganpukto, KN. Chongchu is Mun's birthplace and the property will be used as a center for the Unification Church. It is being referred to as the Holy Land by Unification Church believers and Mun [h]as been granted extraterritoriality during the life of the lease.”

Moon, North Korea & the Bushes By Robert Parry (Originally published on October 11, 2000) LINK below

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FAIR (Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting) – Rev. Moon’s Submarines, Sold to Kim Jong-Il, Empower a Nuke Threat to the West Coast by John Gorenfeld (Where in Washington, D.C. Is Sun Myung Moon? 8/3/04).

Rev. Sun Myung Moon’s Unification Church, which controls the right-wing Washington Times, directly helped North Korea obtain the means of threatening the continental United States with nuclear weapons, government documents indicate. Jane’s Defense Weekly (8/4/04), as summarized by Reuters (8/3/04), is reporting: North Korea is deploying new land- and sea-based ballistic missiles that can carry nuclear warheads and may have sufficient range to hit the United States.... The two new systems appeared to be based on a decommissioned Soviet submarine-launched ballistic missile, the R-27.... Communist North Korea had acquired the know-how during the 1990s from Russian missile specialists and by buying 12 former Soviet submarines which had been sold for scrap metal but retained key elements of their missile launch systems. 

And how did North Korea get these submarines? Gorenfeld calls attention to Defense Intelligence Agency documents originally obtained by investigative reporter Robert Parry through the Freedom of Information Act: In Jan 94, a Japanese trading company “Touen Hoji,” in Suginami-Ku, Tokyo, purchased 12 F and G class submarines from the Russian Pacific fleet headquarters. These submarines were then sold to a KN [North Korean] trading company. Although this transaction garnered a great deal of coverage in the Japanese press, it was not disclosed at the time that Touen Shoji is an affiliate of the Unification Church [now known as the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification].

______________________________________

The first paragraph is probably from Jane’s Defence Weekly - 4 August 2004 edition

“...The second event occurred during September 1993, when the Korean People’s Navy (KPN) signed a contract with the Toen Trading Company of Tokyo to buy 12 decommissioned Russian Foxtrot-class (Project 641) and Golf II-class (Project 629A) submarines for scrap metal. The Golf IIs were equipped to carry three R-21 (SS-N-5 Sark/Serb) SLBMs, although neither the missiles nor the electronic firing systems were included with the scrapped vessels. Due to factors such as the time and expense of their removal, these boats retained significant elements of the missile launch system, including their launch tubes and stabilisation subsystems. This technology, in combination with the R-27 design, ...”

from Jane’s Defence Weekly - 4 August 2004 edition “... provided the KPN [Korean People’s Navy] with elements crucial to the subsequent development of a submarine or ship-mounted ballistic missile system. ... It is unknown if the DPRK [North Korea] has sold, or attempted to sell, this new system to any of its previous ballistic missile customers. Iran, however, would appear to be the ideal customer for both the land and sea-based versions, given its requirement for a system capable of striking Israel from the security of its own territory.”

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Evidence that Moonies Jump-Started the North Korean Nuclear Program that Now Threatens the US

Sun Myung Moon’s dealings with North Korea

Moon, North Korea & the Bushes By Robert Parry   (Originally published on October 11, 2000)

Dear Leader’s Paper Moon by John Gorenfeld

The Moons with Kim Il-sung. What was the price for this meeting?

Images show North Korea’s ‘submarine ballistic missile programme’

SAR Imagery Reveals the Presence of Concealed Submarine at North Korea’s Sinpo Naval Base

North Korea’s Submarine Ballistic Missile Program Moves Ahead

Sun Myung Moon was building an “Interreligious” facility in North Korea in 2004

Sun Myung Moon was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002

[transoptic]

Mount Kumgang, anonymous Korean artist.  undated.

[antoine-roquentin]

North Korea will shut down key missile test facilities in the presence of “international experts” and is willing to close its only known nuclear complex if the United States makes reciprocal measures, South Korean president Moon Jae-in has announced in a joint press conference with Kim Jong-un.

The two leaders also agreed during a three-day summit in Pyongyang to connect two rail lines, on the east and west side of the peninsula, across one of the most militarised borders in the world. Kim also said he would visit Seoul in the “near future”, a move that would make him the first North Korean leader to visit the South’s capital.     

North and South Korea agreed that the Korean Peninsula should turn into a “land of peace without nuclear weapons and nuclear threats”, Moon said. Any transport links would require the approval of the US-led United Nations Command, which oversees the border region.

“There is not only going to be a smooth road ahead, there will be challenges and trials, but the more we overcome them the stronger we will become,” Kim said. “We are not afraid of future challenges.”

The agreement signed in Pyongyang “will open a higher level for the improvement in relations” between the two Koreas, Kim added, describing it as a “leap forward” toward peace.

Donald Trump described the meeting as “Very exciting!” in a tweet, and claimed Kim had “agreed to allow nuclear inspections, subject to final negotiations”.

Under the agreement signed by the men, North Korea will shut down the Dongchang-ri missile engine testing facility and missile launch pad, according to Moon. It was not immediately clear what North Korea meant by “reciprocal measures” the US could take so that it would shut its nuclear complex, but it is unlikely Washington would agree to give up any part of its own nuclear arsenal.

Kim did not mention denuclearisation at any point in his own remarks. The lack of steps specifically on the nuclear issue could worry officials in Washington, and talks between the US and North Korea have stalled in recent weeks.

Mintaro Oba, a former US diplomat who focused on North Korea policy, said: “I think we can expect a two-tiered response where President Trump remains enthusiastic about engaging with Kim Jong-un, but we also see continued scepticism from US officials about both the purported progress on denuclearisation.

“But if one thing is clear, it’s that North Korea continues to outmanoeuvre the United States through its willingness to take initiatives that shape the global public narrative and force Washington to choose between engaging on Pyongyang’s terms or looking like it is acting in bad faith.”

The two Koreas also agreed to establish a joint military committee to resolve any potential conflicts, and each side will withdrawal 11 guard post from the demilitarised zone by the end of the year. The two militaries agreed to a range of measured to prevent accidental clashes, including a no-fly zone near the border and suspending test firing in the area.

South Korea will allow its citizens to visit the Mount Kumgang tourist region in the North for the first time since 2008, when a North Korean soldier shot and killed a tourist from the South. The two sides will also establish a permanent venue for families divided by the 1950-53 Korean war to meet more frequently. In the past most families could see relatives for only a few hours, and usually only once.

The two sides also plan to bid to jointly host the 2032 Summer Olympics.