The statues are traditionally placed in front of gates, as symbolic projections of power and as guardians against evil spirits.

The statues have been compared to jangseung, traditional wooden totem poles around Korea whose function was similarly to ward off bad spirits.

[4][3] It was decided by the Jeju Cultural Property Committee in 1971 to make dol hareubang the official term for the statue, and this name has since become the predominant one.

[3] Names including useongmok (우석목; 偶石木),[4][3][2] museongmok (무석목; 武石木),[4][3][2] ongjungseok (옹중석; 翁仲石),[4] beoksumeori (벅수머리),[2] dolyeonggam (돌영감), sumunjang (수문장), janggunseok (장군석), dongjaseok (동자석), and mangjuseok (망주석).

The position of these logs signaled whether entrances were open or closed to passersby,[4] as per the jeongnang system used around Jeju.

[4][8] The statues projected images of power and security, and also served superstitious function in warding off bad spirits.

[3] There is some commonalities shared between the dol hareubang of three Joseon-era historical regions of Jeju, although there is still intra-region variance.

Dol hareubang in Jeju-seong and Jeongeuihyeon-seong tend to be standing on stone platforms called giseok (기석; 基石), but those in Daejeonghyeon-seong do not.

[4] The statues were reportedly moved around over time, which caused wear-and-tear and made it difficult to place where they were originally from.

[2] By 1754, there were reportedly 48 statues; 24 of these were at Jeju-mok (now Jeju City), with 4 pairs each at the fortress's west, south, and east gates.

The creation of the statues was reportedly motivated by a belief that, after several famines in the reigns of kings Sukjong and Yeongjo, vengeful spirits were roaming and tormenting the living.

[3][11] During the 1991 Soviet-South Korean summit on Jeju Island, Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev was given a dol hareubang as a gift.