Baekdu-daegan

Baekdu-daegan (Korean: 백두대간; Hanja: 白頭大幹) is a traditional Korean conception of the mountains and consequently the watersheds of the Korean Peninsula. The mountain range stretches the length of the Korean Peninsula, around 1,500 km, from Baekdu Mountain in the north to Jirisan, or Hallasan on Jeju Island in the south. The mountain range is often associated with national identity and traditional Korean shamanism.

Baekdu-daegan is considered to include the Sobaek and Taebaek mountain ranges. Although currently impossible due to the Korean Demilitarized Zone between North Korea and South Korea, hiking the length of the mountains is considered a desirable goal aligned with the Korean reunification movement. The 687 km South Korean portion of the range is popular for hiking.

It is often referred to as the "spine" or "backbone" of the Korean Peninsula.

Baekdu-daegan describes a 1,500 km long mountain range that runs from Paektu Mountain in the north to Cheonwangbong Peak of Jirisan in the south. It may even include Hallasan on Jeju Island. The concept also consequently describes the watershed of the peninsula, and notes 13 jeongmaek, mountain ranges that branch off the main range, that effectively channel Korea's most significant rivers to the ocean. A crestline which no body of water ever crosses.

In South Korea, hiking the 687 km South Korean portion of the trail, generally from south to north until the Korean Demilitarized Zone, is seen as a significant achievement. The South Korean trail was designated as a national nature-preservation park in 2006 by the South Korean government.^{[citation needed]} The desire to also hike through the border until Paektu Mountain is also relevant to Korean reunification sentiment. This sentiment is also shared in North Korea, according to Roger Shepherd of HIKEKOREA.

It is important in traditional Korean geography and is a key aspect of Pungsu-jiri (the Korean analogue of feng shui).^{[citation needed]}

Under traditional Korean thought, influenced by Taoism and Neo-Confucianism, Paektu is regarded as the origin and patriarch of all Korean mountains, while Jiri-san^{[citation needed]} or Hallasan at the southern end is conceived-of as the grand matriarch of all Korean mountains.

During the Japanese occupation of Korea from 1910 to 1945, Japan attempted to restructure Korean mountains in accordance with the concept of mountain ranges as used in Western geography. The notion of the mountain ranges that prevailed during the Japanese occupation era was one based on geological structures under the ground, rather than topographical ones.