Political rumblings under a volcano on the China-North Korea border
FOR much of the year the lake in the crater at the top of Mount Changbai, a dormant volcano that straddles the frontier between China and North Korea, is covered with ice or hidden by clouds. On a recent weekend its waters, through which the border runs, shone a stunning azure blue. Sightseers on the Chinese side of the peak jostled for elbow-room at a busy cliff-top viewing point, grinning excitedly for selfies. Across the lake, in North Korea, there was not a soul to be seen.
On such a day it is easy to see how the mountain became not just a famous beauty spot but also a potent national symbol. The ethnic Manchus who founded China’s last imperial dynasty, the Qing, claimed that their progenitor was conceived on its alpine slopes. Koreans, who call it Mount Paektu, have a similar myth. In their folklore, the mountain is the birthplace of the founder of the first Korean kingdom. North Korea eagerly exploits the peak’s near-sacred...