The Arch of Triumph in Pyongyang (Korean: 개선문) was built to commemorate the Korean resistance to Japan from 1925 to 1945.
Built in 1982 on the Triumph Return Square at the foot of Moran Hill (모란봉) in the North Korean capital city of Pyongyang, the monument was built to honour and glorify President Kim Il-sung's role in the military resistance against Japanese rule. Inaugurated on the occasion of his 70th birthday, each of its 25,500 blocks of finely-dressed white granite represents a day of his life up to that point.
The structure is modelled after the Arc de Triomphe and is slightly larger than the one in Paris, France. It is the world's tallest triumphal arch, standing 60 metres (197 ft) high and 50 m (164 ft) wide. The arch has dozens of rooms, balustrades, observation platforms and elevators. It also has four vaulted gateways, each 27 m (89 ft) high, decorated with azalea carved in their girth. Inscribed in the arch is the revolutionary hymn "Song of General Kim Il-sung", and the year 1925, when North Korean history states that Kim set out on the journey for national liberation of the country from Japanese rule. Also depicted on the arch is the year 1945, when Japan's control in Korea formally ended.
Famous quotes containing the words arch and/or triumph:
“Thir dread commander: he above the rest
In shape and gesture proudly eminent
Stood like a Towr; his form had yet not lost
All her Original brightness, nor appear’d
Less than Arch Angel ruind, and th’ excess
Of Glory obscur’d: As when the Sun new ris’n
Looks through the Horizontal misty Air
Shorn of his Beams, or from behind the Moon
In dim Eclips disastrous twilight sheds
On half the Nations, and with fear of change
Perplexes Monarchs.”
—John Milton (1608–1674)
“I am thankful to God for this approval of the people. But while deeply grateful for this mark of their confidence in me, if I know my heart, my gratitude is free from any taint of personal triumph. I do not impugn the motives of any one opposed to me. It is no pleasure to me to triumph over any one.”
—Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865)