In the last installation of the oddity series, I discussed one of the most sacred places in the DPRK, and that was the Kumsusan Memorial Palace. Today, we look at another sacred monument: The Tower of the Juche Idea. The monument is all over the place from the mass games to the currency. Yes, the images of the Kims are everywhere, and most things in North Korea, most if not all of everything has to do with the Kims, the Juche Idea and the hatred of everything else. It does not seem to waver.
The Tower of the Juche Idea seems to be very well known and is one of the stops in the tours. However, what is the story behind the Tower? Here is a link to a page that gives some clues:
The tower of the Juche idea was unveiled on April 15, 1982, on the occasion of the 70th birthday of the North Korean leader Kim Il-sung. The 150-meter tall tower is tipped with a torch made of “rare materials”. The body of the tower is faced with 70 granite slabs, one for each year of Kim Il-sung’s life up to that time. The tower represents the idea of Juche (roughly, “self reliance”) in that its architectural form is derived from obelisk-type stone pagodas built in premodern Korea.
This gives a rough idea on when it was made, but I cannot seem to find any information regarding the Tower when it was unveiled. However, there are accounts and some older articles describing the Tower. One travel account was interesting, and I am sure a lot of you folks have read it. If you have not, here is the page. Some interesting tidbits on the page:
Continue reading ‘North Korean oddities: Tower of the Juche Idea’
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