Pyongyang (North Korea)

The city of Pyongyang is known for its ancient history, monumental architecture, deep subway and significant political events. Combining cultural heritage and modern ideological symbols, the city is the center of political and cultural life in the DPRK.

Capital of North Korea

Pyongyang – the capital of North Korea (DPRK) – one of the most mysterious and closed to tourists cities in the world is located in the bend of the large Korean river Tae Donggang, which flows through the West Korean Gulf into the Yellow Sea of the Pacific Ocean. The country itself occupies the northern part of the Korean Peninsula in eastern Asia. Its closest neighbors, in addition to the South Koreans, are the Chinese and Japanese. Both of them, as well as Mongols and Manchurians, have tried to subjugate the territory more than once. When foreigners tried to enter the country, the fortress city of Pyongyang in the western part of Korea stood in their way. Located at an altitude of about 300 meters above sea level, on a convenient, slightly hilly terrain, in the bend of a large river, after only 89 kilometers flowing into the ocean, made Pyongyang the most important strategic point for its owners.

History

The empires of antiquity were difficult to form and quickly (in historical terms) succeeded each other. There were several such shifts in Korean history. According to the “Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms” (“Samguk Yusa”, which collected national myths and legends, was written down in the 13th century), the founder of the first of the three early feudal Korean kingdoms of Kochoson, i.e. Ancient Joseon (2333-108 B.C.), is considered to be Tangun Wanggong, the son of the celestial Hwanun and a female bear who turned into a woman. Of course, not all scholars support this dating. The capital of Tangun was approximately in the same place where the modern capital of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, which changed many names in the course of history, later appeared.

The official capital history of the future Pyongyang began in 427-668 A.D. in the kingdom of Kogure, which existed from 37 B.C. until its unification with the third early Korean state of Silla in 668 A.D. After the fall of Silla, the capital of the kingdom of Kore (935-1392) was again Pyongyang, though under the name of Sogyeong (Sodo). It is from “Kore” (shortened Kogure) is known to Europeans modern name of the peninsula and the states of North Korea and South Korea.

In 1392 the Kore dynasty was replaced by the last Korean royal dynasty Joseon, which ruled the country until 1897.

Koreans managed to preserve their independence and original culture for quite a long time. This was facilitated by the policy of self-isolation, which the country deliberately pursued from the XVI to XIX century. At the end of the XIX century, the Korean territories began to be claimed by China and Japan (the war of 1894-1895). Since 1899 Pyongyang became open for trade with foreigners, and foreign agricultural processing industries, mostly Japanese, appeared in the city.

After the victory over China and the Russo-Japanese War in 1905, Japan actually annexed Korea. The 26th head of the Joseon house Emperor Gojong (1852-1919) was forced to abdicate in favor of his son Sunjong (1874-1926), who in 1910 signed Korea’s renunciation of national independence. In 1910, after the official annexation, the Korean imperial court moved to Kaise (present-day Seoul, then Japanese territory), the heir to the throne was married to a Japanese princess, and Korea became a Japanese colony (1910-1945). The largest anti-Japanese demonstrations of the colonial period took place in Korea during the funeral of Kojong in 1919, later – his son Sunjong in 1926.

Korea itself underwent significant changes after World War II, with the northern part falling under the influence of the Soviet Union and the southern part under the influence of the United States. In 1948, this division was finally consolidated and the capitalist Republic of Korea (south) and the socialist DPRK (north) appeared on the world map. Pyongyang is the capital of the DPRK and also represents an independent administrative unit, equal in status to a province. Here are all the main governing bodies of the government and, of course, the residence of the president. The title of “Eternal President” of the DPRK belongs to its founder – Kim Il Sung (1912-1994). Around the largest (75,000 m2) city square named after him in Pyongyang (created in 1954) are concentrated all the most important architectural structures of the capital: government buildings, the Grand Theater, the Palace of National Culture, the Palace of Sports and the Central Library of Pyongyang, the Central History Museum and the Art Gallery of Korea. Special grandstands have been built to make it comfortable for the leaders to watch the parades. A number of sights of the city are connected with the name of Kim Il Sung. Thus, on his 49th birthday the city received a symbolic monument of the horse “Chollima” (height 46 m), or “A Thousand Leagues per Hour”, and the 70th anniversary of Kim Il Sung the city celebrated the construction of the Triumphal Arch (total height 60 m) and the Monument of Juche Ideas (height 170 m) – the North Korean version of Marxism. It is clearly visible from Kim Il Sung Square, located just below on the other side of the river, and as if makes a single ensemble with it. Moreover, in the evening the top of the granite monument imitating a torch is illuminated, which should symbolize the triumph of Juche ideas. In front of it there is a sculptural group, which, unlike the Soviet monument “Worker and Kolkhoz Woman”, includes not only a worker with a hammer and a peasant woman with a sickle, but also a third character – an intellectual with a brush. The gigantic monuments glorifying the party’s ideas, which give the central ensembles of the city a note of officiousness and heaviness, are intended to create a feeling of stability and constancy of the ruling regime.

The ancient eastern gate of Taedonmun (III century, rebuilt in the XVII century, rebuilt in 1950), the western gate of Pothonmun (X century, rebuilt in the XV century, rebuilt in 1956), the observation tower (Yongwangjon Pavilion, 1111, rebuilt in the XVII century, rebuilt in 1950) and others remind of the city’s past.

The city is mostly built up with typical buildings (20-40 floors), reminiscent of late Soviet residential architecture. This is not surprising, as the Soviet Union helped to rebuild it. Numerous sculptures and fountains in pompous style are a characteristic feature of the “allowed to visit” neighborhoods of the city, while foreigners are simply not allowed into the slum neighborhoods off the “tourist paths”.

Frequent fogs and the grayish color of the buildings, reminiscent in style of the USSR era architecture, give this peculiar city even more mystery than the legends that the few tourists who have broken into the closed country make about it.

General information

• Previous names: Wanggomseong, Sogyeong (Sodo), Ryugyeong, Heijo and others.
• Province: Pyongyang-Namdo.
• Administrative-territorial division: 19 districts and 4 counties.
• Ethnic composition: more than 99% are Koreans, less than 1% are Chinese.
• Religions: officially traditional religions were replaced by Juche ideology; Buddhism and Confucianism.
• Language: Korean.
• Currency: the DPRK won.
• The most important river: Taedongan (Taedon).
• The most important port: Pyongyang.
• The most important airport: Sunan International Airport.
• Area: 1578 km2.
• Population: 4,138,187 (2010).
• Population density: 2,622.4 people/km2.

Climate and weather

• Monsoonal, continental.
• Average temperature in January: -6°C.
• Average temperature in July: +24.3°C.
• Average annual precipitation: 940 mm.

Economy

• GDP: $40 billion (2011) (North Korea does not provide data to calculate GDP, this figure is based on purchasing power parity.
• GDP per capita: $1.64k (2011).
• Center of coal basin.
• Industry: engineering, textile, food, electrical.
• Services: financial, information, transportation; tourism is poorly developed.

Attractions

• Cultural and historical: numerous tombs of Kogure period (including Pyokhwanbun and Sasinchon; Pyongyang suburbs), eastern gate of Taedonmun (III c., rebuilt in XVII c., restored in 1950), western gate of Pothonmun (X c., rebuilt in XV c., restored in 1956), observation tower (Yongwangjon pavilion, 1111, rebuilt in XVII c., restored in 1950), the top of Moranbong (now the City Park of Culture and Recreation) with the watchtower Yilmilde (III c., rebuilt in the XIV c., restored in 1950), the gate Chilseongmun (X c., rebuilt in the XVIII c., restored in 1950) and the pavilion Chesyndae (III-IV c., restored in 1950).
• Modern: Triumphal Gate – one of the largest in the world; “Snow is falling” – sculptural composition (28 giant dancers) in the fountain, train station (1957), Bolshoi Theater (1960), Pyongyang Hotel (1960), Pyongyang Palace of Students and Pioneers (1963), radio station (1963-1964), Sports Palace (1973), subway (since 1973), People’s Palace of Culture (1974); Kim Il Sung Stadium (70,000 spectators). Kim Il Sung Stadium (70,000 spectators, 48th largest in the world in capacity), May Day Stadium (150,000 spectators, largest in the world in capacity); Kamsusan Sun Memorial Palace, the tomb of Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il (1994).
• Monuments: Liberation (in memory of Soviet Army soldiers: 1947), monument to fallen soldiers of the Korean People’s Army (1959), Cheollima (1961), statue of Kim Il Sung and monument to the revolutionary liberation struggle (1972).
• Parks: “Youth” (at Moranbong Mountain), “Taesongsan” (in the neighborhood).
• Museums: Central Historical Museum of Korea, Ethnographic Museum, Museum of Korean Revolution, Museum of Victory in the Patriotic Liberation War.

Fun Facts

• The Juche calendar is a chronology in the DPRK, used along with the chronology from the Nativity of Christ. The year of Kim Il Sung’s birth, 1912, is taken as the starting point in the Juche calendar. There is no zero year in the Juche calendar. For events before 1912, it does not apply.
• Pyongyang has only two subway lines (since 1973) with a total length of 22.5 kilometers. But all 16 stations are decorated with luxury: mosaic paintings, sculptural reliefs, frescos and murals depicting the nature of the country and scenes of its daily life, illuminate chandeliers of real crystal, whose light is reflected in marble columns and floors of precious natural stone. The escalator shafts are illuminated by the luminous walls of the escalator itself. The luxurious subway can serve as a shelter, particularly in case of a nuclear explosion. The city also has a system of trolleybuses and streetcars. The streetcar system, which existed until the early 1950s, was renewed only in 1991. Personal cars are a great luxury, so this capital does not suffer from traffic jams.
• For a long history, this city has changed many names, each of which characterizes it in its own way. For example, in medieval Korean literature, the image of Pyongyang is associated with the abundance of willow trees. That’s when one of the most poetic names was born – Ryugyong, i.e. “willow capital”. Now it is the name of the famous hotel, one of the world’s super-high buildings (105 floors, 330 meters) and the tallest in Pyongyang. The city was called Heijo during the Japanese colonial rule (1905-1945).
• Both in Pyongyang and throughout North Korea, it is forbidden to take a picture of Kim Il Sung or Kim Jong Il in front of a picture of Kim Il Sung or Kim Jong Il if their figures are not entirely in the frame. It is also strictly forbidden to copy the pose of a monument – it’s not something to joke about.
• Traffic on the roads of North Korea is controlled by male traffic controllers, and only in Pyongyang it is girls who change every 2 hours. Flashing LED lights are sewn into their uniforms for better visibility.