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Mount Kumgang
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How it came to be
Mount Kumgang is a granite massif on the east coast of the Korean peninsula, in Kangwon Province. Its pale, polished peaks, deep valleys, waterfalls and pools were traditionally counted as the 12,000 peaks. The mountain has a different name for each season, among them Pongraesan in summer, Phungaksan in autumn and Kaegolsan in winter.
Buddhism on the mountain has traditions going back to the 5th century, and the earliest surviving hermitages are in the Outer and Inner Kumgang areas. Wooden halls such as Phyohun Temple, Jongyang Temple and Podok Hermitage still stand, and three temples remain places of Buddhist practice. During the Joseon period (1392 to 1910) many poets and painters made pilgrimages here, and in the 1740s Jeong Seon painted his General View of Mount Kumgang.
In 2025 an area of about 19,828 ha was inscribed on the World Heritage List for its mountain Buddhist tradition and its scenery. The property and its buffer zone lie almost entirely within a UNESCO biosphere reserve that shares the mountain's name.
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