Juche Tower
The Juche Tower, completed in 1982, is a monument in Pyongyang, the capital of North Korea, and the tallest structure in the city. The monument is named after the ideology of Juche introduced by the country's first leader, Kim Il Sung.
The Juche Tower is situated on the east bank of the River Taedong, directly opposite Kim Il Sung Square on the west bank. It was built to commemorate Kim Il Sung's 70th birthday.
The structure is composed of a four-sided tapering spirethe tallest granite structure in the worldcontaining 25,550 blocks, dressed in white stone with seventy dividers and capped with a -high 45-ton permanently illuminated metal torch.
Background
The Juche Tower is situated on the east bank of the River Taedong, directly opposite Kim Il Sung Square on the west bank. It was built to commemorate Kim Il Sung's 70th birthday. Although his son and successor Kim Jong Il is officially credited as its designer, interviews with North Korean former officials contradict this assertion.The architectural style of the Tower is inspired by stone pagodas of premodern Korea. The structure is a four-sided tapering spirethe tallest in granitecontaining 25,550 blocks, dressed in white stone with seventy dividers and capped with a -high 45-ton illuminated metal torch.
The torch on top of the tower is always lit. It is possible to ascend the tower by elevator and there are wide views over Pyongyang from the viewing platform just below the torch.
At its base, there are reception rooms where videos explaining the tower's ideological importance are sometimes shown. The Juche Tower is the second-tallest monumental column in the world after the San Jacinto Monument in Texas, United States, which is taller.
Associated with the tower is a statue consisting of three idealised figures each holding a toola hammer ; a sickle ; and a writing brush in a classic Stalinist-style reminiscent of the Soviet statue Worker and Kolkhoz Woman. The three tools form the emblem of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea. There are also six smaller groups of figures, each high, that symbolize other aspects of Juche ideology.
A wall carrying 82 friendship plaques from foreign supporters and Juche study groups forms part of the Tower.