Views From The Juche Tower In Pyongyang
Building the Skyline
Cities such as New York, London, and Singapore have some of the most iconic skylines in the entire world. A mere silhouette of its skyscrapers can be made into an easily recognizable emblem. Pyongyang also has an easily recognizable landmark erected in the heart of the capital. The Ryugyong Hotel towers like a volcano over the stubby apartment flats at its feet. Criticized as being a massive eyesore, it isn’t this behemoth alone that makes up the Pyongyang skyline.
While the Ryugyong Hotel seems likes an alien spaceship that has crashlanded in the heart of North Korea. The Juche Tower is one landmark that fits right in with the oddly satisfying symmetrical uniform landscape. With its cold unwelcoming demeanor, the Juche Tower looms over the Taedong River. The only splash of color found in this cheerless scene is the red flame perched at the summit of this chilling obelisk.
Wanting to get out of the big city? Read about traveling to Sariwon in the North Korean countryside here!
Beauty in the Dystopia
Although it may sound strange to some, words such as desolate, gloomy, and grim do not necessarily mean Pyongyang is not a city you will dream of returning to. With its drab monotonous scenes and brutalist architecture, traveling to the capital of North Korea is almost like venturing to an alien planet. At the center of its obscurity is the Juche Tower.
As you may well know, tourists are not allowed to roam free down the streets of Pyongyang. While on one of the many tour groups to North Korea, traveling to the Juche Tower is one of the essential stops while in the capital. Built-in 1982, the tower is the second largest column in the world. Unveiled on the 70th birthday of Kim Il-Sung, the is made up of 25,550 granite bricks, one for each day leading up to the eternal leader’s birthday.
Another one of the highlights when touring Pyongyang is the Mangyongdae Children’s Palace!
United Under The Juche Tower
The Juche Tower is not just a mere landmark built to bring more diversity to the otherwise blocky unimaginative skyline of Pyongyang. This monument serves as a reminder for the ideology which all North Koreans base their lives on. Both a system of government and religion Juche is a form of Communism that Kim Il-Sung molded and made purely Korean.
This ideology literally turns Marxist socialism upside down by adding a little “Kim Il-twist” to the whole philosophy. Rather than the masses being directly linked to the means of production, Juche emphasizes that it is man that is the driving force behind everything. To put it simply, Juche is a governing ideology that promotes relying on oneself in terms of economy, politics, and defense. Isolationism is just the beginning, this way of thought also advocates the need for a supreme leader. Only through this demi-god alone can the working-class struggle be realized.
You have to travel to North Korea with a tour, read about traveling with Young Pioneers here!
The Top of Juche Tower
Although the tower represents an ideology that has driven the country through famine and international conflicts the past several decades, traveling to Pyongyang is not all doom and gloom like you would imagine. The Juche Tower is, at its heart, a tourist attraction. After passing through an entrance made up of signs representing the various Juche followers around the world, you will step into a gift shop.
For 5 Euros tourists can be shuttled into the elevator and be taken 150 meters up the column to the viewing platform at the top of the Juche Tower. From its peak, you will be offered sweeping views of Pyongyang. With its Bizzare Scientist Street to the wide-open Kim Il-Sung square, all of the most iconic landmarks will be caught in one panoramic shot, including your hotel isolated on an island in the middle of the Taedong River.
Thinking about just checking out the DPRK from the border? Read about traveling to Dandong here!
Taking In Pyongyang
After shelling out so much money on a tour to North Korea, you may not be willing to fork over extra money for what you may think is just another mundane view of the unassuming city of Pyongyang, This is where you would be dead wrong. Even the helicopter tour over the capital can not compare with the views you get from the Juche Tower.
What may seem like drab square buildings from the ground transforms into a showcase of rainbow-colored pastel flats sprinkled across the city. Mixing together futuristic space-age skyscrapers, age-old traditional Korean palaces, and dramatic Soviet-inspired architecture, you get a skyline that is uniquely North Korean. And from the top of the Juche Tower, you can truly bask in the conflicting feelings of authoritarianism and urban bliss.
You will, of course, want to check out the Korean DMZ. Read about traveling from Pyongyang to Kaeson here!
Another Stop On The Tour
Traveling to the Juche Tower in Pyongyang is sure to be one of the highlights of your trip to North Korea, but this is just one of the many sites that your tour group will jam-pack into a single day. Like many capital cities, Pyongyang is practically drowning in heroic monuments and statues glorifying the feats of its benevolent leaders. What the Juche Tower offers that many of the other murals and sculptures do not is sweeping views of the city and reflections of the cold city in face of the Taedong River.
You may have first traveled to North Korea unsure what you were getting yourself into. Although you are a thrill-seeker, you may begin to fear that you are pushing your luck venturing into one of the most hostile countries on the planet. But as your tour group leads you by the nose through the streets of Pyongyang, touring some of the most outlandish and perplexing architecture in the world, you will oddly enough feel right at home.
