Mungyeong Saejae (

Hangul The Korean alphabet, known as Hangul, . Hangul may also be written as following South Korea's standard Romanization. ( ) in South Korea and Chosŏn'gŭl in North Korea, is the modern official writing system for the Korean language. The let ...

: 문경새재) is a

mountain pass A mountain pass is a navigable route through a mountain range or over a ridge. Since many of the world's mountain ranges have presented formidable barriers to travel, passes have played a key role in trade, war, and both Human migration, human a ...

in central

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

. It lies on Joryeong Mountain between the main peak (1017 m) and Sinseon Peak (967 m). The pass itself rises to above

sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical datuma standardised g ...

. Mungyeong Saejae connects

Mungyeong Mungyeong ( ko, 문경 ' ()) is a city in North Gyeongsang Province, South Korea. The local government, economy, and transportation networks are all centered in Jeomchon, the principal town. Mungyeong has a lengthy history, and is known today for ...

City,

North Gyeongsang North Gyeongsang Province ( ko, 경상북도, translit=Gyeongsangbuk-do, ) is a province in eastern South Korea. The province was formed in 1896 from the northern half of the former Gyeongsang province, and remained a province of Korea until the ...

province with

Goesan County Goesan County (''Goesan-gun'') is a county in North Chungcheong Province, South Korea. Demographics As of 2021, Goesan-gun has a population of about 40,000 people. The area has been affected strongly by the graying of the South Korean population ...

North Chungcheong North Chungcheong Province ( ko, 충청북도, ''Chungcheongbuk-do''), also known as Chungbuk, is a province of South Korea. North Chungcheong has a population of 1,578,934 (2014) and has a geographic area of located in the Hoseo region in the s ...

province. Water flowing down from the Mungyeong side of the pass eventually flows into the

Nakdong River The Nakdonggang River or Nakdonggang () is the longest river in South Korea, and passes through major cities such as Daegu and Busan. It takes its name from its role as the eastern border of the Gaya confederacy during Korea's Three Kingdoms Er ...

and meets the

Sea of Japan The Sea of Japan is the marginal sea between the Japanese archipelago, Sakhalin, the Korean Peninsula, and the mainland of the Russian Far East. The Japanese archipelago separates the sea from the Pacific Ocean. Like the Mediterranean Sea, it h ...

Busan Busan (), officially known as is South Korea's most populous city after Seoul, with a population of over 3.4 million inhabitants. Formerly romanized as Pusan, it is the economic, cultural and educational center of southeastern South Korea, w ...

. Runoff from the Goesan side eventually flows into the Han River, which passes through Seoul to meet the

Yellow Sea The Yellow Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean located between mainland China and the Korean Peninsula, and can be considered the northwestern part of the East China Sea. It is one of four seas named after common colour terms ...

Incheon Incheon (; ; or Inch'ŏn; literally "kind river"), formerly Jemulpo or Chemulp'o (제물포) until the period after 1910, officially the Incheon Metropolitan City (인천광역시, 仁川廣域市), is a city located in northwestern South Kore ...

. The pass is also known by the name Joryeong (, ). Both names literally mean "bird pass," and probably signify "a pass so high that even

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweigh ...

s find the crossing difficult." The pass is renowned as the only place where the old

road A road is a linear way for the conveyance of traffic that mostly has an improved surface for use by vehicles (motorized and non-motorized) and pedestrians. Unlike streets, the main function of roads is transportation. There are many types of ...

between

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 ...

and

, the

Great Yeongnam Road The Great Yeongnam Road, or Yeongnamdaero, was one of the principal roads of Korea during the Joseon Dynasty, 1392-1910. It ran between Hanseong (modern-day Seoul) and Dongnae (in modern-day Busan). More generally, it served to connect the Gye ...

, still looks like it did in the

Joseon Dynasty Joseon (; ; Middle Korean: 됴ᇢ〯션〮 Dyǒw syéon or 됴ᇢ〯션〯 Dyǒw syěon), officially the Great Joseon (; ), was the last dynastic kingdom of Korea, lasting just over 500 years. It was founded by Yi Seong-gye in July 1392 and re ...

. On June 4, 1981, the area around the Mungyeong side of the pass was declared Mungyeong Saejae Provincial Park, which is now a significant tourist attraction. In addition to the pass and the surrounding scenery, the park boasts a

museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make these ...

and tourist hotel, along with a small village of businesses catering to the tourist trade. During the Joseon period, Mungyeong Saejae played an important role as the gateway in and out of the

Gyeongsang Gyeongsang ( ko, 경상도, ''Gyeongsang-do''; ) was one of the eight provinces of Korea during the Joseon dynasty. Gyeongsang was located in the southeast of Korea. The provincial capital was Daegu. The region was the birthplace of the Kingdom ...

province. Scholars, traders and government officials from Gyeongsang had to go through the pass when going to or from Seoul. Three great gates which maintained control over the pass during that time still stand, although the only people who go through them now are

tourists Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tours. The World Tourism Organization defines tourism mo ...

. Mungyeong Saejae is the subject of at least one traditional Korean folksong in the ''

arirang "Arirang" (; ) is a Korean folk song. There are about 3,600 variations of 60 different versions of the song, all of which include a refrain similar to "''Arirang, arirang, arariyo'' ()". It is estimated the song is more than 600 years old. ...

'' style.

Photographs

References

Mungyeong Special Tourist Zone(문경 관광특구) https://english.visitkorea.or.kr/enu/ATR/SI_EN_3_1_1_1.jsp?cid=1963068 Mungyeongsaejae Provincial Park (문경새재도립공원) https://english.visitkorea.or.kr/enu/ATR/SI_EN_3_1_1_1.jsp?cid=264143 Mungyeongsaejae Open Set (문경새재 오픈세트장) https://english.visitkorea.or.kr/enu/ATR/SI_EN_3_1_1_1.jsp?cid=2481599 remark: VisitKorea is maintained by KTO.

External links

* * {{coord, 36, 46, 01, N, 128, 04, 27, E, type:landmark_source:kolossus-kowiki, display=title Mountain passes of South Korea Landforms of North Gyeongsang Province Landforms of North Chungcheong Province Mungyeong Scenic Sites of South Korea

Photographs

References

See also

External links