News & Events

Next Infield Work

Our next infield work will be scheduled soon. In the meantime, have a wonderful New Year!  Contact us for information on how you can help.

For any questions regarding becoming a member, volunteering, or anything else regarding the work and profile of the KMPL, please feel free to contact us.

By becoming a member you can directly help to finance the work of the KMPL. And remember, the KMPL is a grassroots non-profit organization. We are essentially volunteers and receive no money for the work we do. All the money that is donated to us is used to finance our work, research, and educational programs.

The 2009 International Mountain Day Seminar: Success!

The year 2002 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of the Mountain. The purpose of this designation was to raise awareness of the significance that mountain ecosystems have on the global environment, as well as human culture and society. Due to the success of this designation, the UN decided to appoint a day in which these relationships can be annually underlined. Since 2003, December 11 has been celebrated as the United Nations International Mountain Day.

The Korean Mountain Preservation League and its colleagues and partners have hosted seminars since 2007 to mark UNIMD. South Korea is nearly 75% mountainous, home to an ancient culture derived from these mountains, and greatly dependent on this montane ecology. UNIMD, therefore, is of particular significance to Korea.

This year, in cooperation with KMPL’s partners, the Korea Tourism Organization and Korea on the Rocks, the UNIMD seminar was held on Sunday, December 13 in the Korea Tourism Organization’s Tourism Tower.

We had a nice turn out of wonderful people, with representatives from UNESCO and various embassies, all showing support for the education about the natural, cultural, and social integrity and importance of South Korea’s mountains, and all the mountains of Planet Earth.

This year’s panel of speakers included:

- Master Kim Hyun-moon: master of Seon-do, Korean Daoism

- Mr. Roger Shepherd: author, mountaineer, and infield leader of the Baekdu Daegan Project, a research endeavour providing the first ever in English in depth information on Korea’s Baekdu Daegan mountain system

- Mr. Steven Adoranti: educator, landscape photographer, and mountaineer

- Mr. Shawn James Morrissey: author, naturalist, and president of the Korean Mountain Preservation League

Unfortunately, Mr. Jake Preston of Korea on the Rocks at the last minute was unable to make it and give his presentation.

Door prizes included a 2010 calendar with some stunning photography of some of the world's most beautiful mountains; an autographed copy of David A. Mason's Spirit of the Mountains; a copy of the now out-of-print Korean Tigers by the late master of traditional Korean folk-culture, Zo Zayong; and a full membership, paid for by the KMPL, into the Snow Leopard Trust.