The Arch of Triumph () is a triumphal arch in Pyongyang, North Korea. 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 in Mexico, standing high and wide.
Built in 1982 on the Triumph Return Square at the foot of Moran Hill () in the North Korean capital city of Pyongyang, the monument was built to honour and glorify President Kim Il-sung's role in the military resistance for Korean independence movement, Korean independence. Inaugurated on the occasion of his 70th birthday, each of its 25,500 blocks of finely-dressed white granite 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 in Paris, 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 carved in their girth. Inscribed in the arch is the revolutionary hymn "Song of General Kim Il-sung", and the year 1925, when North Korean history states that Kim set out on the journey for national liberation of the country from Korea under Japanese rule, Japanese 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 in case of main power failure.
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File:Arch of Triumph (Pyongyang) 06.JPG
File:Arch of Triumph (Pyongyang) 03.JPG
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See also
*Korean architecture
*Tourism in North Korea
*Juche Tower, ''Juche'' Tower
*Kaeson Revolutionary Site
*Monument to Party Founding
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
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
Triumphal arches, Pyongyang
Monuments and memorials in North Korea
Buildings and structures in Pyongyang
1982 establishments in North Korea