GRAND MONUMENT MANSUDAE

This monument to the glory of Kim Il-Sung and Kim Jong-Il is a must for every visitor in North Korea. These two bronze statues of 22 meters were erected by the Mansudae Workshop at the top of a few steps, with in backdrop a giant mosaic which represents Mount Paektu (considered by the Koreans as the place of origin of their population, it is also there that Kim Jong-Il was born according to his official biography). This mosaic is located on the outside wall of the Museum of the Korean Revolution which is further up.

If the Juche Tower was built to honour the ideology of the same name, the Grand Monument Mansudae homours the glory of the Kim family. Their evolution describe this very well: in 1972 there was only one statue, that of Kim Jong-UN; after the death of Kim Jon-IL in 2011 they added his statue. The statues themselves have evolved: thus, still in 2011, the upper part of the statue of Kim Il-Sung is modified to represent him being older than his son whose statue has just been added. In the same way, Kim Jong-Il was first depicted, like his father, with a long coat: in gold for some time after the installation and then the statue was modified to represent Kim Jong-Il as everyone knew he looks like today, that is, with a zipper parka.

On either side of the two main statues are two revolutionary monuments in red and bronze stone. The one on the left represents the fight against the Japanese during the revolution and the one on the right represents the Socialist Revolution. These memorials measure 22.5 meters in height and each character that is represented on average is a quarter of the size of the two main statues.

It is compulsory for visitors to bow with respect infront of the statues and it is recommended to make an offering (a shop sells flowers for a few euros at the parking level). You can take pictures but it will be necessary to make sure, as every time, that no statue was cut on the clichés and that both of them should appear in full.