Juche Tower
Template:Short description Template:Infobox monument The Juche Tower (more formally, the Tower of the Juche Idea; Template:Korean), completed in 1982, is a Template:Convert 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 Template:Convert structure is composed of a four-sided tapering Template:Convert spireTemplate:Spaced ndashthe tallest granite structure in the world Template:Spaced ndashcontaining 25,550 blocks (one for each day of Kim Il Sung's life),<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> dressed in white stone with seventy dividers and capped with a Template:Convert-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,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> interviews with North Korean former officials contradict this assertion.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
The architectural style of the Tower is inspired by stone pagodas of premodern Korea.<ref name="Harris2012">Template:Cite book</ref> The Template:Convert structure is a four-sided tapering Template:Convert spireTemplate:Spaced ndashthe tallest in graniteTemplate:Spaced ndashcontaining 25,550 blocks (365 × 70: one for each day of Kim Il Sung's life, excluding supplementary days for leap years),<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> dressed in white stone with seventy dividers and capped with a Template:Convert-high 45-ton illuminated metal torch.
The torch on top of the tower is always lit.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> 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 Template:Convert taller.
Associated with the tower is a Template:Convert statue consisting of three idealised figures each holding a toolTemplate:Spaced ndasha hammer (the worker); a sickle (the peasant); and a writing brush (the "working intellectual")Template:Spaced ndashin 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 Template:Convert 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.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Gallery
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See also
- Monas, a similarly designed monument-tower in Jakarta, Indonesia, topped with flame statue and elevator ride to the top observation deck
- Washington Monument in Washington, D.C., United States, an obelisk erected to commemorate George Washington
- San Jacinto Monument near La Porte, Texas, United States, the world's tallest masonry column to commemorate the Battle of San Jacinto
- Monument to Party Founding
- Arch of Triumph (Pyongyang)
- Arch of Reunification
References
External links
- 1982 establishments in North Korea
- Towers completed in 1982
- Buildings and structures in Pyongyang
- Monuments and memorials in North Korea
- National symbols of North Korea
- Towers in North Korea
- Tourist attractions in Pyongyang
- Monumental columns in North Korea
- Articles containing video clips
- 20th-century architecture in North Korea