Korean Trails

So-Gyebang-san (1480m), left, and Gyebang-san (1579m), right, from the south-western ridge trail.

Odae-san Biro-bong, in the distance, fills the gap.

Gyebang-san is the dominant peak of the 165km Hanbuk-gimaek ridgeline, which stems from the Baekdu-daegan range at Odae-san National Park, and runs to the eastern reaches of modern-day Seoul.

At 1577m.a.s.l, it stands as the highest summit in South Korea outside of Jeju Island's Halla-san, and the great mainland peaks of Jiri-san, Seorak-san and Deogyu-san.

The Hangang-gimaek ridge (thin purple), stretching 165km west from Odae-san National Park to the meeting of the Bukhan and Namhan Rivers in Gyeonggi province, east of Seoul.

Gyebang-san's summit ridge is largely above treeline and offers superb views in all directions. To the east stands the great Baekdu-daegan ridge line - from this vantage point visible from the famous pass of Daegwan-ryeong in the south-east, through the massive main body of Odae-san to the east,and north to Jeombong-san, a southern peak of Seorak-san National Park.

My walking on Gyebang-san was done in the summer months, but it's the winter when these trails are their most popular.

Hikers I met on the summit, all waiting for views through a monsoon haze, told me that on clear winter days one can see as much of mountainous Gangwon-do as from anywhere.

Photo sent to me as proof of this :)

Gyebang-san's forest holds a wide variety of highland herbs, and wildflowers which only thrive in certain conditions, most notably a large group of vascular plants listed on the IUCN 'Red List' of threatened species, including rare Irises.

On the high ridge vibrant stands of Jumok-namu (Korean Yew Tree), and Cheoljuk (Royal Azalea) led to this area being designated as an area of preservation before included in the Odae-san National Park.

It is also renown for its open floor, and the absence of vines which make off-trail passage difficult throughout much of mountain Korea.

This quality is credited in local mythology to the Mountain Spirit (San-shin), who is said to ride through Gyebang-san on horseback. Once, fleeting through the forest, his path was blocked by a mess of vines and he was thrown from his stead. Angered, he banished the vines from the mountain, and created a protective amulet, which he cast into the forest to ensure the pesky vines would never return.

Memorial statue of Lee Seung-bok

The modern day history of Gyebang-san is dominated by the story of Lee Seung-bok, and the gruesome events that befell his family almost 50 years ago. The Lee family; husband, wife and four children, farmed a remote area on the north-eastern slopes of Gyebang-san. On the night of December 9th, 1968, the mother and three youngest children were murdered by North Korean commandos who had raided their home in search of food and shelter.

Six weeks earlier 120 North Korean soldiers had landed in several locations between the east coast towns of Samcheok and Uljin, with a mission to head inland and set up mountain camps on the ridges either side of Taebaek city - some of the most remote countryside in South Korea. This quickly became no secret mission, however, as only a day after landing the commandos called in on villages in an attempt to indoctrinate locals into joining them. Word soon got around and before long a manhunt was on with a force of thousands pursuing the infiltrators. The operation was ended on December 26, by which time 110 northern soldiers had been killed and seven captured.

It was toward the end of the campaign, then, that the Lee house was invaded by an unknown number of assailants. 

Replica of the Lee family house, built for a TV drama. Gyebang-san south entrance

The story of Lee Seung-bok's bravery was publicised widely at the time by the regime of President Park Chung-hee, and used to propagate anti-communist feeling throughout the country. Lee Seung-bok became a symbolic image of defiance, and his story was included in the Elementary School curriculum until the late 1980's. A large number of statues bearing his image were erected throughout the country, including in Children's Grand Park and the National War Memorial in Seoul. In 1982 a large memorial park was built in Nodong-ri, 2km south of the entrance to Gyebang-san.

Trails to Gyebang-san all begin from the southern side of the mountain, and are accessed by National Highway 31, which passes the main southern valley entrance, and continues north to the high pass of Undu-ryeong, south-east of the summit.

The main entrance to the mountain is about 20km north-west of Jinbu town and 2km north of the Lee Seung-bok memorial of Nodong-ri.

A National Park marker and large signs for the campground mark the junction of a small road that leaves the highway, following the Nodong-gyegok gorge into the mountain.

Nodong-gyegok Route

Campground - Gyebang-san 5.4km

From the junction with NH31 a small road runs 2km north-east up the Nodong valley, passing a number of Pension accommodation options to Gyebang-san Auto Campground.

This large campground is privately run and very large, accommodating hundreds of tents and cars, dominating the top end of the valley.

Beyond the campground is the replica Lee family home shown above.

Here a trail crosses the stream on a small bridge, this is the track which links to the junction on the spur trail at 1250m/absl.

Our summit trail continues along the road, which turns north-west into a dirt track and winds into the mountain, following and occasionally fording the Nodong stream, and eventually thinning into a wide trail.

3.5km from the campsite is a spring, Ongdol-saem 옹달샘. Water flow here is reliable, but slow in dry weather.

The trail meets the ridge 1.3km on from the spring at Jumok-gunrak-junction (주목군락삼거리)

National Highway 31 crossing Unmu-ryeong Pass