The altar is 9 meters in height, 36 meters in length and width of its lower part and 15 meters and 12 meters in length and width of its upper part.

Two plate stones inscribed with letters were also discovered at the spot. And over 20 letters carved in one of them, 140 centimeters long and 80 centimeters wide, say that the sacrificial rite of praying for power used to take place in the early period of the Feudal Joson Dynasty (1392-1910).

Ri Kwang Hui, head of the History Faculty, told KCNA:

The recent survey and study in the area of Lake Chon on Mt Paektu are of great significance in elucidating the history of the mountain.

With the discovery of new material evidence showing that the Korean ancestors set up an altar in Mt Paektu to hold the rite in old times, it comes to prove more clearly that the Korean nation has regarded it as the ancestral mountain, the holy mountain of the nation, from a historical point of view.

It was well known by different historical records and already-discovered relics like Jongdok Temple that the Korean nation worshipped the mountain, but it is the first time to verify that the rite was held on the altar in Mt Paektu.