The Tower of the Juche Idea is the second tallest monumental column in the world and one of the landmark buildings in Pyongyang. It was built (or at least completed…) in 1982 to commemorate the Juche Idea, Kim Il-sung’s ideology stating that every nation has to develop its own way to handle social revolution. In case of Korea it is based on three fundamental principles:
1.) Political Independence
2.) Economic self-sustenance
3.) Self-reliance in defense
Kim Il-sung started talking about Juche (sometimes spelled Chuch’e) in 1955 and first applied it in the Five-Year Plan of 1956-1961 – sadly it didn’t really work out and North Korea never became autarkic in any shape or form, at least not for a longer period of time.
Despite that the Juche Tower is a great monument to visit. Located on the eastern bank of the Taedong River it is in one line with the Kim Il-sung Square and the People’s Great Study House on the other side of the river. The tip of *Yanggak Island* also offers a great view at the Juche Tower – and vice versa! Since our schedule was rather tight we had to go to the viewing platform at 150 meters on a grey and rainy afternoon (by elevator for a fee of 5 Euros…), nevertheless the view was absolutely gorgeous. I could have spent hours up there looking around, taking photos. You know about the “general knowledge” that the “guards” only show you the “beautiful parts” of Pyongyang… Impossible from up there! You could see pretty much everything. The rather modern parts, the run-down parts, the parks, the monuments – everything! I quickly took 8 ultra wide-angle shots to cover a 360° view and a short video before taking a couple of zoom shots. Too bad we barely had 15 minutes, because my fellow travelers instantly started to freeze in the pleasantly cool breeze, so I went down with the last group possible, actually another tourist group (and Ben and Mr. Yu…). We didn’t even have time to see the rest of the monument, a bronze sculpture and three granite sculptures depicting the Korean population, the Korean People’s Army and industrial workers. It was a packed day, with five locations crossed off our list before, three more followed! A couple of days later though I was able to snatch a photo of the bronze statue from the balcony of the Grand People’s Study House; not a great photo, but better than nothing…
(Please *click here to get to Abandoned Kansai’s North Korea Special* and *here for a map about the tour at GoogleMaps*. If you don’t want to miss the latest article you can *follow Abandoned Kansai on Twitter* and *like this blog on Facebook* – and of course there is the *video channel on Youtube*…)
Great pictures. I’ve never been to North Korea. I was Soul, South Korea once for 3 days. I was not that impressed. The smell of kimchee overwhelmed me.
I’ve only been to Incheon Airport, but it definitely smelled different than Japan or North Korea…
A very seldom explored place. You’re very lucky to have gone I think! I love the pictures.
I can only encourage people to visit the DPRK – you can book vacations there like any other trip and unless you are a journalist or a photographer you will be granted a visa. I just saw a documentary that stated “Only 1000 to 2000 visitors a year are granted permission to visit!” – which is kind of bullshit, because it implies that tons of people are declined; which isn’t the case. If more people would apply for a visa, more people would be granted permission to visit. So go there, bring a tablet with photos and videos from home plus some games and show people what the world really looks like – they need to know what they don’t have to develop an urge to get it, too!
Really neat. Looks gloomy in that light! What is your impression of the people there?
At the Juche Tower we only met two or three staff people and we didn’t really talk to them.
North Koreans in general… It depends on where you meet them. At the *Kumsusan Palace* they acted very disciplined, very guarded, as they were on a trip with their colleagues and we were at the mausoleum of the two dead Kims – they knew as well as us that we were there because it was a tourist spot, not because we wanted to cry over their dead leaders. When we had contact with families or groups of friends in parks or at fun fairs the atmosphere was completely different. The North Koreans talked to us, invited us to eat with them, were interested in what we had to say and show – probably the friendliest, most generous people I’ve ever met. (And no, they were not actors as we approached them randomly, groups of 4 to 8 people out of thousands.)
Wow, really interesting. I hope to experience this someday for myself. Thanks so much for sharing…
I really wish more people would – so if you get the chance, do it! It’s a really unique experience, whether you have a relaxed group like mine or a rather strict one like most other tourists.
I definitely will. Contemplating teaching in China next year, which would provide an easier opportunity than my current location. We’ll see…
If you are not sure if you want to spend several days in North Korea you can take the night train from Beijing to Dandong and do a 1 day trip to Sinuiju right across the border – it’s a new option that was made available just days after I passed through Sinuiju…
(Good luck if you decide to teach in China! I was surprised how different it was from Japan, which is rather similar to Europe or the States in comparison.)
Looks like the sets for a sci-fi film – what a great trip and incredible photos!
Thanks a lot!
What I am worried about: If there ever will be a second Korean War it actually will be like a sci-fi movie – North Korea will be leveled without firing a single shot; or at least without killing a single enemy. They missed 60 years of technological development… So let’s hope for a peaceful solution so more people will be able to enjoy this wonderfully bizarre city.
We can only hope – you’d think they would have figured out that opening up to the tourist trade (and the rest of the world) can only be economically helpful – can’t live in a bubble forever…
The problem is, as always, that the people in charge are living a luxurious life and the common people don’t know it any other way. That’s why tourism can be helpful.
What a great spot to spend time looking at the real city – shame it was such a quick stop for you, but good idea on getting shots of every angle as you can study those later.
Yeah, I really loved it up there. If I ever come back to Pyongyang I wouldn’t want to revisit 80% of the locations as once is very interesting, but enough – the Juche Tower though is a reason to come back!
One really noticed the lack of personal cars. The streets look so empty…
Pyongyang definitely has a lot less traffic than most cities, but it was a rainy Sunday afternoon – nobody left the house if they hadn’t to…
it looks so interesting, i wonder what the soundscapes are like, i kind of envy you lol i d love to go there to get some audio recordings. thanks for sharing
It was pretty windy up there, but I generally recommend watching my videos – the audio is far from professional recording, but at least it’ll give you an impression…
i did actually, and it seems very quiet but considering the lack of cars (a dream for city listening), i wonder what it would sound like if you were allowed to walk anywhere at anytime, like you mentioned in a previous post i think, set all those alarm off lol. thank you again.
Oh, I’d love to roam freely – and I actually did sometimes, but I guess crowded parks and river banks on the morning of a national holiday sound the same everywhere in the world.
wow! i was in North Korea in ’95, during my early teens. They had invited student delegations from 16 countries for a summer conference or kinda summer camp. Spend few days in Pyongyang and then went to wonsan for the conference. After that many things have changed in the world politics and the two koreas have always been on a brink of war. But looking at these pictures, it seems very little had changed in pyongyang. nostalgic