One thing l noticed about Pyongyang was how clean and tidy the city (or certainly the parts there-of we got to see) was. There are two reasons for this – one proffered by our guide and an additional one added by me. Continue reading “A City to be Proud off”
The thing that first struck me about the Children’s Palace was the sheer size of the place. It is massive and given that up to 10,000 children pass through here each day it would have to be. The purpose of the Palace, and others though smaller around the country, is to provide extracurricular activities for children so that their mothers can engage in “work, political and cultural activities”. While all children are apparently eligible to attend classes and other activities this Palace is very clearly a place for the most gifted and/or the privileged elite. Continue reading “The Mangyongdae Children’s Palace”
As we headed out of Pyongyang bound for Mt Myohyang we passed one of the most recent additions to the Pyongyang landscape. A cemetery with around 600 headstones.
Yes, I know what you are thinking. Exactly as I was, doesn’t the size of a cemetery grow overtime and, bar some disaster, one wouldn’t expect them to pop up overnight. Continue reading “People’s Army Martyrs’ Cemetery”
Our guide assured us that Kim Il-sung was born here, into a patriotic and revolutionary family of several generations standing, on 15 April 1912 and that it was from here, at the tender age of 13, that he set out on the road of revolutionary struggle for Korea’s liberation from Japan. Once he left Mangyongdae in 1925 he didn’t return to Pyongyang until “he” had liberated Korea in Oct 1945. Continue reading “Mangyongdae – Birthplace of Kim Il-sung”
Where does one begin?
Today was the day when shirts and ties were required for men with appropriately modest attire required for the ladies. We were headed for the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun, final resting place for both Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il. Both leaders have been embalmed and lie in state for loyal subjects and tourists to visit. Clearly this is a site of very great importance to the North Korean people and one, quite reasonably, requiring a level of reverence and discretion from all those who visit. Continue reading “Kumsusan Palace of the Sun – Meet the Leaders”
Kim Il-sung died in 1994 but the North Korean Constitution states that he is and will remain forever the president of the DPRK. My review – Eternal Life for the Eternal President – covers Yeong Saeng ( Eternal Life) monuments throughout North Korea. These monuments, all similar, imbue the citizens of North Korea to remember that Kim Il-sung will be with them for ever.
This, the Tower of Immortality built at the entrance of Kumsong Street in 1997, does pretty much the same thing and bears a legend reassuring the people that The Great Leader Comrade Kim Il-sung and the Dear Leader Comrade Kim Jong-il (subsequently added of course) will always be with them. Continue reading “Tower of Immortality”
Suitably clad in a shirt and tie this morning, the primary focus of the morning’s activity would be a visit to the Mausoleum of Kim Il-Sung and Kim Jong-il. While we made our way there we got to see a couple of monuments relevant to the immortality of the two leaders. The first of these was an Eternal Life monument. Continue reading “Eternal Life for the Eternal President”
Driving around (or rather being driven around) Pyongyang it is hard to believe you are in an Asian city – and only a very short distance from China. The city was razed to the ground in the Korean War and rebuilt with Soviet assistance in the next few decades hence its very distinct and overwhelming Soviet appearance.
Continue reading “Pyongyang’s Old Gates”
On the early evening of the Greater Leader’s 102nd birthday our group was in the Pyongyang Gold Lane Bowling alley. While most of the group were enjoying a game of bowls, some were having a drink and I was engaged in a deep and meaningful political discussion with our main guide. After bowls our (ok, not ours but rather the guides’) plan was to return to the hotel for dinner – it had been a long day. Continue reading “Kim Il-Sung’s 102nd Birthday Fireworks”
Readers of North Korean reviews here and elsewhere might be forgiven for concluding that a visit to North Korea is all about Kim Il-Sung and his successors, grand buildings and monuments set in a sea of poverty, empty roads, berating the United States, lists of what you can do and what you can’t, electricity shortages, the sporting prowess of North Koreans, its military might and such like. Continue reading “Ten Pin Bowling in Pyongyang”
The Rambling Wombat 