In 1967, Mt. Chiri was the first area in Korea to ever be designated as a national park. Its area (1,456 million pyong) is the largest among the territorial parks. It has all the typical features normally associated with Korean mountains so Chirisan has come to represent and symbolize Korean mountains. Also, its history shares memories of the Korean people that are too sour to forget. For these reasons, it is called a spiritual mountain of the Korean people. This natural heritage is situated at the end of the spinal mountain range which begins at Mt. Baekdu in North Korea, so it is called Duryu. In ancient days it was known as Mt. Bangjang, one of the three divine mountains. The founder and first king of the Chosun Dynasty, before he took the throne, performed religious services for all the gods of the famous mountains across the nation to announce his intention of taking the throne to the gods. But he held the great rituals only in Mt. Jiri.