The Moranbong theatre was not on our tour but just prior to entering the Moranbong Park for a walk and picnic I sighted the theatre, easily identifiable due to its neo-classical facade, off to our left.
The 800 seat theatre is currently the home base for the National Symphony Orchestra. While I am very partial to a bit of classical music it is the theatre’s past that I want to comment on briefly in this review.
The theatre, on the lower reaches of the Moran Hill near the Chollima Statue, was opened in 1946 on the site of a former Shinto Shrine used by the Japanese during their occupation of Korea.
In 1948 it assumed an important political role when it hosted the North –South Joint Conference of that year. At that conference representatives from both North and South Korea called for the withdrawal of foreign troops from the Korean Peninsula. It was also in this theatre that, on the 1st May 1948, Kim Il-sung proclaimed the creation of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. The first session of the Supreme People’s Assembly (Parliament) was then held in the theatre.
During the Korean War the theatre was almost completely destroyed (as was the whole of Pyongyang) with only two external walls remaining. In 1954 it was reconstructed according to its original plans, including the beautiful neo-classical facade which you can see today.
While our group was gathering together to go into the park we did have a couple of minutes to watch some teenagers practising their soccer skills in the car park at the bottom of the steps up to the theatre.
It is a bit of a shame that we didn’t have time to go up for a closer look especially, as you can just about see from my second image, because the fountains outside the theatre were actually operating.
This blog entry is one of a group (loop) of entries on The Rambling Wombat’s trip to Pyongyang, North Korea which I recommend you read in a particular order. I suggest you continue with my next entry – Moranbong Youth Park Walk – S**t Happens. If necessary, go to my Pyongyang introduction entry – Pyongyang – A Capital City Unlike any Other – to start this loop at the beginning.
The Rambling Wombat 