Trying to walk the northern fortress trail

On Monday I set my mind on walking the northern fortress trail around mount Bukaksan. The trail follows the old fortification line and gives some excellent scenery.

The area itself is restricted - apparently in the 1970s, the mountain was infiltrated by North Korean spies who used it as a staging ground for an assassination attempt against the then president, General Park. Since then, you need to show an ID to get in. So I got there with my passport ready - and it turns out this particular day is a national holiday - so no entry...

Oh well. If I can't go on the restricted route, I can still follow the general tracks around the mountain. Turns out there were some great scenes there to, so all wasn't lost!