Cold Mountains

This 525-meter-high mountain pass is located on the border between Gwaneum -ri, Mungyeong-eup, Mungyeong-si, Gyeongsangbuk-do, and Mireuk-ri, Suanbo, Chungju-si, Chungcheongbuk-do. It was the first mountain pass to be developed in Korea, opened during the Three Kingdoms period (156 AD) by King Adalna, the eighth king of Silla, to attack Goguryeo. At the time, Hanuljae was a strategically important transportation hub and a military base, but its role diminished during the Joseon Dynasty when a new mountain pass called Mungyeong-saejae was developed.

It used to be called Gyelipryeong or Daewonryeong, but nowadays it is written as Hanuljae on most maps. As time passed, both sides of the pass were covered with dense forests of various trees such as fir, Chinese oak, and sawtooth oak. There is a monument to the Gyelipryeong ruins erected by Mungyeong City in 2001.