Pyongyang
This tower honours the North Korean philosophy of Juche and was unveiled to mark President Kim Il-sung's 70th birthday in 1982. Indeed, the tower is made…
Must-see attractions in Pyongyang
Monument to the Foundation of the Workers' Party
Pyongyang
This startlingly bombastic monument has starred on the cover of more books about North Korea than almost any other. The three hands portrayed represent…
Pyongyang
This is Pyongyang’s top recreation ground: couples wander, families picnic and there are people playing guitars and sometimes even dancing in an…
-
Pyongyang
History continues to evolve in North Korea, with new revolutionary discoveries being made every year. While the government announced in 1993 that its…
-
Kumsusan Memorial Palace of the Sun
Pyongyang
Kim Il-sung’s residence during his lifetime, the Kumsusan Palace remained so after his death. North Koreans come here en masse to pay their respects to…
-
Pyongyang
Every itinerary includes an homage to these vast bronze statues of the smiling Great Leader and Dear Leader, the latter in his trademark parka. The first…
-
Pyongyang
Several films a year are churned out by the country’s main film studios in the suburbs of Pyongyang. The two main focuses are predictably the anti…
-
Pyongyang
A surreal, enormous exhibition complex, North Korea’s answer to Florida’s Epcot theme park details the ‘three revolutions’ Kim Il-sung brought about in…
-
Pyongyang
Pyongyang’s central square is where North Korea’s massive military parades normally take place. The plaza is ringed by austere-looking buildings: most…
-
Pyongyang
Visiting the impressive Pyongyang metro is definitely a highlight of the capital. The network, which is made up of two lines, has a simultaneous function…
-
Pyongyang
This impressive statue portrays Chollima, the Korean Pegasus. It’s an interesting example of how the North Korean state has incorporated traditional…
-
Pyongyang
The USS Pueblo is a US surveillance vessel that was seized by the North Koreans off the east coast of Korea in January 1968, during a heightening of…
-
Pyongyang
This impressive building on Kim Il-sung Sq is the country’s largest library and centre of Juche studies, where any North Korean over 17 can come for free…
-
Pyongyang
Three decades after construction began on this extraordinary hotel in 1987, it still has not been completed. Planned as a prestige project but abandoned…
-
Monument to the Victorious Fatherland Liberation War 1950–53
Pyongyang
This impressive monument, which was unveiled in 1993 to mark the 40th anniversary of the end of the Korean War, now forms part of the display of the…
-
Victorious Fatherland Liberation War Museum
Pyongyang
Perhaps the most interesting museum in Pyongyang, this mouthful of an institution opened its current home in 2013 to mark the 60th anniversary of the end…
-
Pyongyang
Despite the museum’s rather misleading name, its main function is to document the death of Kim Il-sung (including a film of the extraordinary public…
-
Pyongyang
The suburb of Mangyongdae houses the place of Kim Il-sung’s birth, a typical Korean peasant house with a thatched roof and a block of living rooms, as…
-
Pyongyang
Your guides will tell you proudly that the Triumphal Arch is 6m higher than its cousin in Paris, making it the largest of its kind in the world. The arch…
-
Pyongyang
Located on the southern slope of Haebang Hill is this museum that originally housed the Central Committee of the Korean Workers’ Party, as well as Kim Il…
-
Pyongyang
After the relentless propaganda, you can relax with some day trippers from the capital at the Mangyongdae Funfair, a pleasant oasis built around the base…
-
Pyongyang
This stone column topped with a red star commemorates the Soviet liberation of Pyongyang from Japanese rule in 1945. Built in 1947, it is thoroughly…
-
Pyongyang
The largest stadium in the world, the May Day Stadium seats an incredible 114,000 people. It's most famous as the home of the impressive feat of North…
-
Mangyongdae Revolutionary Museum
Pyongyang
The Mangyongdae Revolutionary Museum, located near Kim Il-sung's birthplace, continues the theme of the Great Leader's childhood and makes the point that…
-
Pyongyang
This massive mural depicts the hypothetical scene of the joyful masses celebrating Kim Il-sung's arrival in Pyongyang, even though the event wasn't quite…
-
Pyongyang
This was the eastern gate of the ancient walled city of Pyongyang, built in the 6th century to defend the entrance to the inner fortress from the Taedong…
-
Pyongyang
This large gallery on Kim Il-sung Square is worth a visit to see the postwar socialist-realist art collection. There are 14 rooms of prewar Korean art…
-
Pyongyang
The Metro Museum details the Great and Dear Leaders' roles in the construction of the Pyongyang metro in detail, although technical information beyond…
-
Pyongyang
Located inside what is today Pyongyang's main park, the Chilsong Gate was once the northern entrance to the original walled city of Pyongyang and dates…
-
Pyongyang
The writing on this tower, through the base of which traffic drives, pledges that the 'Great Leader Kim Il-sung and the Dear Leader Kim Jong-il will…
-
Pyongyang
The Korean Central History Museum is all rather predictable – a large number of exhibits about the North's struggle against imperialism and oppression.
-
Pyongyang
This television tower was built as a gift from the Chinese to the DRPK. It's possible to take the lift to the top and have a drink at the small cafe.
-
Pyongyang
The western gate of the original walled city of Pyongyang dates from the 6th century, but was rebuilt in the 15th century and then again in 1955.
