In March, 2005, Shawn James Morrissey set about his plans to organize a cleanup of various trails in Bukhansan National Park. The plan: send a group of people into the park and pick up trash found along the trails, separate it from recyclable material, and properly dispose of it, and eventually organize cleanups via a non-profit NGO. He put together handmade posters, created a mission statement, thought up a name, and designed a logo. On April 22, 2005 – Earth Day – three groups of volunteers travelling to different sections of the park set out on the very first cleanup. The Korean Mountaineering League was off the ground.
Regular cleanups ensued and within a year, the KML was getting some media attention through newspapers and TV. The member and volunteer base grew and a council of decision makers was organized. Soon a website was online and the KML chugged along, and by the end of 2006 had located, removed, and properly disposed of nearly 1000 litres of trash and recyclables. Little changed in the KML’s foundational work in the first two years, but eventually the group began broadening its focus on other issues such as responsible mountaineering, trail conditions, erosion, and biodiversity. In 2008, it was decided by the council that “Korean Mountaineering League” was an unsuitable title for the group. Thus, the group was renamed the Korean Mountain Preservation League while keeping true to its foundations set in 2005.