The Arch of Triumph () is a

triumphal arch A triumphal arch is a free-standing monumental structure in the shape of an archway with one or more arched passageways, often designed to span a road. In its simplest form a triumphal arch consists of two massive piers connected by an arch, crow ...

Pyongyang Pyongyang (, , ) is the capital and largest city of North Korea, where it is known as the "Capital of the Revolution". Pyongyang is located on the Taedong River about upstream from its mouth on the Yellow Sea. According to the 2008 populatio ...

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu River, Y ...

. It was built to commemorate the Korean resistance to Japan from 1925 to 1945. It is the second tallest triumphal arch in the world, after

Monumento a la Revolución The Monument to the Revolution ( es, Monumento a la Revolución, links=no) is a landmark and monument commemorating the Mexican Revolution. It is located in the Plaza de la República, near to the heart of the major thoroughfares Paseo de la Re ...

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

, standing high and wide. Built in 1982 on the Triumph Return Square at the foot of

Moran Hill Moranbong or Moran Hill (literally "PeonyHill", often "PeonyPeak") forms a park located in central Pyongyang, the capital of North Korea. Its summit is the location of the Pyongyang TV Tower. There are multiple monumental structures located o ...

() in the North Korean capital city of Pyongyang, the monument was built to honour and glorify President

Kim Il-sung Kim Il-sung (; , ; born Kim Song-ju, ; 15 April 1912 – 8 July 1994) was a North Korean politician and the founder of North Korea, which he ruled from the country's establishment in 1948 until his death in 1994. He held the posts of ...

's role in the military resistance for

Korean independence The Korean independence movement was a military and diplomatic campaign to achieve the independence of Korea from Japan. After the Japanese annexation of Korea in 1910, Korea's domestic resistance peaked in the March 1st Movement of 1919, which ...

. Inaugurated on the occasion of his 70th birthday, each of its 25,500 blocks of finely-dressed white

granite Granite () is a coarse-grained (phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies undergro ...

represents a day of his life up to that point.McCormack, Gavan, ''Target North Korea: Pushing North Korea to the Brink of Nuclear Catastrophe'', p. 59. Nation Books, 2004, .

Design

The structure is modeled after the

Arc de Triomphe The Arc de Triomphe de l'Étoile (, , ; ) is one of the most famous monuments in Paris, France, standing at the western end of the Champs-Élysées at the centre of Place Charles de Gaulle, formerly named Place de l'Étoile—the ''étoile'' ...

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

, but is taller. The arch has dozens of rooms, balustrades, observation platforms and elevators. It also has four vaulted gateways, each high, decorated with

azalea Azaleas are flowering shrubs in the genus ''Rhododendron'', particularly the former sections ''Tsutsusi'' (evergreen) and '' Pentanthera'' (deciduous). Azaleas bloom in the spring (April and May in the temperate Northern Hemisphere, and Octob ...

carved in their girth. Inscribed in the arch is the revolutionary hymn "

Song of General Kim Il-sung The "Song of General Kim Il-sung" (Korean: 김일성장군의 노래) is a North Korean marching song composed by Kim Won-gyun in 1946. As a part of an ongoing cult of personality, the song praising Kim Il-sung, North Korea's " Eternal President ...

", and the year 1925, when North Korean history states that Kim set out on the journey for national liberation of the country from

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

rule. Also depicted on the arch is the year 1945, when Korea was liberated. The arch is illuminated at night and has its own single cylinder

diesel generator A diesel generator (DG) (also known as a diesel Genset) is the combination of a diesel engine with an electric generator (often an alternator) to generate electrical energy. This is a specific case of engine generator. A diesel compression- ...

in case of main power failure. File:0643 - Nordkorea 2015 - Pjöngjang - Triumphbogen (22781888920).jpg File:Arch of Triumph (Pyongyang) 06.JPG File:Arch of Triumph (Pyongyang) 03.JPG File:L9998918-2.jpg

Notes

References

* ''Korean Central News Agency of DPRK''
link
– last accessed on January 19, 2006.

External links

Satellite image from Google Maps''Arch of Triumph'' picture book
at

Naenara Naenara () is the official web portal of the North Korean government. It was the first website in North Korea, and was created in 1996. The portal's categories include politics, tourism, music, foreign trade, arts, press, information technology, ...

Video from the top

Video from inside

360° Virtual Tour of Arch of Triumph
{{coord, 39, 2, 40, N, 125, 45, 10, E, region:KP_type:landmark, display=title Cultural infrastructure completed in 1982 Terminating vistas

Monuments and memorials in North Korea Buildings and structures in Pyongyang 1982 establishments in North Korea

Design

See also

Notes

References

External links