Tower of the Juche Idea - the tallest stone monument in the world

Juche Tower | Worker, Peasant, and Intellectual Monument | Around Juche Tower

Juche Tower, Pyongyang

On the other side of the Taedong River from Kim Il Sung Square, there is Juche Tower which honours the North Korean philosophy of Juche. It was unveiled to mark the president’s 70th birthday in 1982. The tower is made up of 25,550 granite blocks – one for every day of president’s life until his 70th birthday. The tower stands at 170 m and a trip to the top by lift (€5) is well worth it, providing a great view over the capital on a clear day. For the best views go in the morning, as the sun is still in the east, lighting up the western, more interesting side of the city. A popular local outing is to hire a rowboat on the Taedong River in Pyongyang. Soaring in the background is the grandiose Juche Tower, which is dedicated to the self-reliance philosophy of Juche – a fundamental ideology in North Korean politics.

Worker, Peasant, and Intellectual Monument

Associated with the tower is a 30-metre (98 ft)-high statue consisting of three idealised figures each holding a tool – a hammer (the worker); a sickle (the peasant); and a writing brush (the "working intellectual") – in a classic communistic style reminiscent of the Soviet statue Worker and Kolkhoz Woman. The three tools form the insignia on the flag of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea. There are also six smaller groups of figures, each 10 metres (33 ft) high, that symbolize other aspects of Juche ideology.

Around Juche Tower