Kim Il-Sung Square was the second site we visited soon after our arrival in North Korea. While Kim Il-Sung Square is incredibly impressive, it is far from the largest in the world. The Chinese, with Tiananmen Square in Beijing, are the current record holders for largest square in the world. Kim Il-Sung Square comes in at a measly #16! Nevertheless, Kim Il-Sung Square still manages to accommodate the Dear Leader’s need for a large area to show off his army’s precision marching capabilities and outdated military hardware.
(Reuters/Xinhua news)
Although we were in Pyongyang for one of North Korea’s biggest holidays (Independence Day), no massive parades were scheduled. And even if there were, we wouldn’t have been allowed to watch them and likely would have been sent off to some mountain resort far from Pyongyang. Apparently U.S. Imperialists just can’t be trusted to see anything.
North Koreans love volleyball, too
Grand People’s Study House
Across the river is the Tower of Juche Idea
Can you spot Marx and Lenin?
Kim Il-Sung (of course)
Schoolchildren
Our guides took us back to the square at night. I think the entire country’s electric generation capacity was being used to light up Kim Il-Sung Square, because the rest of the city was eerily dark.
Related posts:
- North Korea: U.S. Imperialists wandering around Kim Il-Sung Square Here is the North Korean Tourism DVD clip of us wandering around Kim Il-Sung Square in Pyongyang and taking lots of photos....
- North Korea: Schoolchildren marching on Kim Il-Sung Square in Pyongyang Here’s a short video I shot of some schoolchildren marching and singing their way through Kim Il-Sung Square in Pyongyang. As I don’t speak Korean, I haven’t the slightest idea what they are singing, so if anyone out there does, let me know....
- POTD: Portraits of Kim Il-Sung and Kim Jong-Il on the Pyongyang Metro You are always under the watchful eyes of the “Dear Leader” and “Great Leader” wherever you go in North Korea, including the metro. These portraits of Kim Il-Sung and Kim Jong-Il were spotted in a Pyongyang Metro car in September 2009. While we were only allowed in one metro car...
From satuon:
Even the Kim Il Sung square isn’t that much alight.