133-580: Sadong-guyŏk , or Sadong District, is one of the 18 guyŏk, and one of the six, that constitute East Pyongyang , North Korea . It is on the eastern bank of the Taedong River , and the mouth of the Nam River. It is north of Ryŏkp'o-guyŏk (Ryokpho District), east of Taedonggang-guyŏk (Taedonggang District) and north east of Tongdaewŏn-guyŏk . It was established in September 1959. Sadong-guyŏk
266-484: A haejangguk , which is any type of food eaten as a hangover cure, usually a warm soup. Another representative Pyongyang dish, Taedonggang sungeoguk , translates as "flathead grey mullet soup from the Taedong River ". The soup features flathead grey mullet (abundant in the Taedong River) along with black peppercorns and salt. Traditionally, it has been served to guests visiting Pyongyang. Therefore, there
399-486: A Siberian city during winter snowfall, although edifices of traditional Korean design somewhat soften this perception. In summer, it is notable for its rivers, willow trees, flowers and parkland. Since the end of the Korean War the city was planned strictly according to Socialist principles. According to the 1953 masterplan designed Kim Jung-hee the city was planned to reach one-million residents stretching from
532-400: A hot-summer continental monsoon climate ( Köppen : Dwa ), featuring warm to hot, humid summers and cold, dry winters. Cold, dry winds can blow from Siberia in winter, making conditions very cold; the low temperature is usually below freezing between November and early March, although the average daytime high is at least a few degrees above freezing in every month except January. The winter
665-567: A Chinese-language epic poem written by the poet Yi Gyu-bo in 1193. Yi's work is much longer and more detailed than the Samguk sagi , but much of this may be due to the poet's own literary embellishment. The Dongmyeongwang-pyeon myth is summarized below. Haeburu , ruler of the kingdom of Buyeo , is childless. One day, he finds a boy in the shape of a golden frog (Korean pronunciation of Classical Chinese : 金蛙 geumwa ) and adopts him as his son. Some time later, Haeburu moves his court towards
798-439: A beautiful girl with a chicken beak from its left rib. When they wash the girl in a nearby stream, the beak falls off. When the boy and the girl are both thirteen years old, the chieftains crown them as the first king and queen of Silla and give the king the clan name of Bak. Hyeokgeose rules for sixty-one years and ascends to heaven. Seven days later, his dead body drops from the sky. The queen dies soon after. A giant snake prevents
931-415: A boy hatches from the egg. The boy is supernaturally potent, including shooting down flies with a bow—for which he is named Jumong , "good archer." The king makes Jumong the stable-keeper, which offends him enough that he decides to found his own kingdom. With three companions, Jumong flees south, leaving his mother and wife behind. When they find an unfordable river, Jumong proclaims his divine descent, and
1064-609: A capacity of 500 MW, East Pyongyang TPS with a capacity of 50 MW, and Kangdong TPS which is under construction. Pyongyang is home to several large department stores including the Pothonggang Department Store , Pyongyang Department Store No. 1 , Pyongyang Department Store No. 2, Kwangbok Department Store, Ragwon Department Store, Pyongyang Station Department Store, and the Pyongyang Children's Department Store. The city also has Hwanggumbol Shop,
1197-448: A chain of state-owned convenience stores supplying goods at prices cheaper than those in the jangmadang markets. Hwanggumbol Shops are specifically designed to control North Korea's expanding markets by attracting consumers and guaranteeing the circulation of money in government-operated stores. Korean mythology Korean mythology ( Korean : 한국 신화 ; Hanja : 韓國神話 ; MR : Han'guk sinhwa )
1330-491: A close relation to, late Joseon-era vernacular literature. Cross-cultural similarities have also been noted between Korean shamanic narratives and other East Asian myths, in particular the mythology of Manchu shamanism . Korean shamanism is currently undergoing a major restructuring that is not favorable towards a lengthy performance of the mythology. The traditional village community-oriented ceremonies are in decline, while rituals commissioned by individual worshippers are on
1463-466: A cortege procession when his corpse moved through the streets with a hearse as people cried out in hysteria while watching the funeral. In 2001, North Korean authorities began a long-term modernisation programme. The Ministry of Capital City Construction Development was included in the Cabinet in that year. In 2006, Kim Jong Il's brother-in-law Jang Song Thaek took charge of the ministry. Throughout
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#17327723651131596-601: A descendant of Hyeokgeose. He succeeds his father-in-law as king and founds the Seok clan. After his death, he becomes the patron god of a local mountain. A village-shrine bon-puri very similar to the Seok Talhae myth is transmitted by modern shamans in the southern island of Jeju . Hogong appears prominently in the Kim foundation myth as well. One night, Hogong sees a great light in the woods. When he goes closer, he discovers
1729-479: A dragon. The shamanic narratives are works of oral literature sung during gut —the Korean term for large-scale shamanic rituals—which constitute the mythology of Korean shamanism , the indigenous polytheistic religion of the country. Since the long-ruling Joseon dynasty (1392–1910), the attitude of the Korean population towards the traditional religion has been ambivalent. The Joseon, whose state ideology
1862-554: A funeral for his father, using the king's whip in place of his missing body, and becomes Goguryeo's second king. The foundation of the southwestern kingdom of Baekje is also linked to the Jumong myth. According to the Samguk sagi , when Yuri is made heir, Jumong's two sons by a local wife are excluded from the kingship. These two brothers, Biryu and Onjo, migrate south to found their own kingdoms. Biryu sets up court in an unfavorable place, while Onjo founds Baekje in good terrain in what
1995-524: A goddess, is either descended from or ancestral to a very similar mainland Korean folktale called the Fortune Quest. But because the Woncheon'gang bon-puri is a sacred story about a goddess, unlike the Fortune Quest, the former is a myth and the latter is not. Some Korean myths are mythicized folktales, while many Korean folktales are desacralized myths. State-foundation myths narrate the life of
2128-459: A golden chest hanging from a tree and a white rooster crowing below. He opens the chest and discovers a boy, who he names Alji . Alji is brought to court and made the Silla king's heir, but he later abdicates his position. Alji would become the mythical founder of the Kim clan, which would later monopolize the patrilineal line of the Silla kings. Until their conquest by Silla in the sixth century,
2261-522: A human to marry her. She gives birth to a boy named Dangun Wanggeom, who founds the kingdom of Gojoseon at the site of Pyongyang . Dangun rules for fifteen centuries, then departs from the kingdom when the Chinese King Wu of Zhou sends Jizi to rule over Korea. The king ultimately becomes a mountain god. The Dangun myth is of the northern type, featuring the founder's birth from a celestial father (Hwanung) and an earthly mother (the bear). It
2394-484: A major city in old Joseon. Pyongyang was founded in 1122 BC on the site of the capital of the legendary king Dangun . Wanggeom-seong , which was in the location of Pyongyang, became the capital of Gojoseon from 194 to 108 BC. It fell in the Han conquest of Gojoseon in 108 BC. Emperor Wu of Han ordered four commanderies be set up, with Lelang Commandery in the center and its capital established as "Joseon" (朝鮮縣, 조선현) at
2527-546: A more experienced shaman as was traditional, the regional diversity of the mythology may also be in decline. Unlike the Greco-Roman or Norse mythologies familiar to Western readers, the deities of Korean shamanic mythology exist mostly independently of each other. Each shamanic narrative establishes the nature and functions of the deities it is dedicated to, but there are few cases where gods that have previously appeared in their own narratives interact with each other. It
2660-648: A population of 235,000. On 25 August 1945, the Soviet 25th Army entered Pyongyang and it became the temporary capital of the Provisional People's Committee for North Korea . A People's Committee was already established there, led by veteran Christian nationalist Cho Man-sik . Pyongyang became the de facto capital of North Korea upon its establishment in 1948. At the time, the Pyongyang government aimed to recapture Korea's official capital, Seoul. Pyongyang
2793-545: A ship with red sails, bearing great wealth from a distant kingdom called Ayuta. Heo tells Suro that Shangdi has commanded her father to marry her to Suro, and the two become king and queen. They both live for more than 150 years. The foundation myths of Silla and Gaya are of the southern type, with the founder descending directly from heaven on vessels such as eggs and chests. The myths may also reflect real historical figures and processes. Hyeokgeose may therefore symbolize an ancient migration of northern horse-riders who created
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#17327723651132926-463: A young boy inside. The boy, Seok Talhae , reveals that he is a prince of a country called Yongseong ( lit. ' dragon castle ' ). When he was born in the form of an egg, his father put him inside the chest and sent him away to found his own kingdom abroad. Having settled in Silla, Seok steals the house of the aristocrat Hogong through deceit and marries the eldest daughter of the Silla king ,
3059-699: Is a common saying, "How good was the trout soup?", which is used to greet people returning from Pyongyang. Another local specialty, Pyongyang onban (literally "warm rice of Pyongyang") comprises freshly cooked rice topped with sliced mushrooms, chicken, and a couple of bindaetteok (pancakes made from ground mung beans and vegetables). In 2018, there were many high-quality restaurants in Pyongyang with Korean and international food, and imported alcoholic beverages. Famous restaurants include Okryu-gwan and Ch'ongryugwan. Some street foods exist in Pyongyang, where vendors operate food stalls . Foreign foods like hamburgers, fries, pizza, and coffee are easily found. There
3192-611: Is an active nightlife with late-night restaurants and karaoke. The city has water parks, amusement parks , skating rinks, health clubs, a shooting range, and a dolphinarium. Pyongyang has a number of sports clubs, including the April 25 Sports Club and the Pyongyang City Sports Club . Pyongyang is North Korea's industrial center. Thanks to the abundance of natural resources like coal , iron and limestone , as well as good land and water transport systems, it
3325-544: Is bested. The river god concedes his defeat and allows Haemosu to marry Yuhwa, but after the marriage the former returns to the heavens without his wife. The river god sends Yuhwa into exile. She is captured by a fisherman and brought to Geumwa the frog-king, who has succeeded his adopted father in Eastern Buyeo. He keeps her in an annex of the palace. One day, sunlight falls on Yuhwa from the heavens, impregnating her. She gives birth to an egg from her left armpit, and
3458-1031: Is constitutionally designated as the country's capital. The seat of the Workers' Party Central Committee and the Pyongyang People's Committee are located in Haebangsan-dong, Chung-guyok . The Cabinet of North Korea is located in Jongro-dong, Chung-guyok . Pyongyang is also the seat of all major North Korean security institutions. The largest of them, the Ministry of Social Security , has 130,000 employees working in 12 bureaus. These oversee activities including: police services, security of party officials, classified documents, census, civil registrations, large-scale public construction, traffic control , fire safety, civil defence , public health and customs . Another significant structure based in
3591-538: Is divided into 13 tong (neighbourhoods) and 6 ri (villages): Pyongyang Pyongyang ( Korean : 평양 ; Hancha : 平壤 ) is the capital and largest city of North Korea , where it is sometimes labeled as the "Capital of the Revolution" ( 혁명의 수도 ). Pyongyang is located on the Taedong River about 109 km (68 mi) upstream from its mouth on the Yellow Sea . According to
3724-410: Is divided into 19 wards ( ku- or guyŏk ) (the city proper) , 2 counties ( kun or gun ), and 1 neighborhood ( dong ). Foreign media reports in 2010 stated that Kangnam-gun , Chunghwa-gun , Sangwŏn-gun , and Sŭngho-guyŏk had been transferred to the administration of neighboring North Hwanghae Province . However, Kangnam-gun was returned to Pyongyang in 2011. Panghyŏn-dong, a missile base,
3857-464: Is divided into five regional traditions, with each region having original narratives, as well as distinctive versions of pan-Korean narratives. The mythological tradition of southern Jeju Island is especially divergent. The two narratives found in all but one region respectively are the Jeseok bon-puri , featuring a girl who in most versions is impregnated by a supernaturally potent Buddhist priest —who
3990-486: Is first recorded in two nearly contemporaneous works: Samguk yusa , a history compiled by the Buddhist monk Iryeon around the late 1270s, and Jewang ungi , a Chinese-language epic poem written in 1287. Iryeon's account is as follows. Hwanung , a younger son of the sky god Hwanin (who the monk identifies with the Buddhist god Indra ), desires to rule the human world. Hwanin sees that his son could " broadly benefit
4123-466: Is generally much drier than summer, with snow falling for 37 days on average. The transition from the cold, dry winter to the warm, wet summer occurs rather quickly between April and early May, and there is a similarly abrupt return to winter conditions in late October and November. Summers are generally hot and humid, with the East Asian monsoon taking place from June until September; these are also
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4256-531: Is given in the fullest detail in Samguk yusa . Six chieftains of the Gyeongju area convene to found a united kingdom. They see a strange light shining on a well. When they go there, they see a white horse kneeling. The horse ascends to heaven, leaving a large egg behind. The chieftains break open the egg and find a beautiful boy inside, who they name Hyeokgeose . Some time later, a chicken-dragon gives birth to
4389-701: Is in the west-central part of North Korea; the city lies on a flat plain about 50 kilometres (31 mi) east of the Korea Bay , an arm of the Yellow Sea . The Taedong River flows southwestward through the city toward the Korea Bay. The Pyongyang plain, where the city is situated, is one of the two large plains on the Western coast of the Korean peninsula, the other being the Chaeryong plain. Both have an area of approximately 500 square kilometers. Pyongyang has
4522-499: Is now inaccessible to scholarship. The religion of South Hamgyong Province may form a coherent shamanic tradition independent of other northern shamanism. The South Hamgyong mythology includes a large corpus of unique shamanic narratives, of which the most important is the Song of Dorang-seonbi and Cheongjeong-gaksi , centering on a woman who attempts to meet her beloved husband after his death. Other notable South Hamgyong myths include
4655-548: Is now southern Seoul . The former dies of shame when he learns that his brother's kingdom is flourishing, and the remnants of his people join Baekje. The myth of Jumong is of the northern type, with Haemosu as the celestial father and Yuhwa as the earthly woman. Contemporaneous Chinese sources report that Jumong and Yuhwa were both actively worshipped as gods by the Goguryeo people, including in rituals involving shamans. Like
4788-594: Is often interpreted as a mythicized account of interactions between three clans whose totemic symbols or mythological ancestors were a sky god, a bear, and a tiger respectively. The tiger-associated clan was somehow eliminated, but the bear clan joined the dominant sky god clan in the establishment of the Gojoseon polity. Folklorist James H. Grayson draws connections to the Japanese foundation myth. Ninigi-no-Mikoto descends to earth with three treasures as well, and
4921-566: Is put on the production and supply of fresh produce and subsidiary crops in farms on the city's outskirts. Other crops include rice , sweetcorn and soybeans . Pyongyang aims to achieve self-sufficiency in meat production. High-density facilities raise pigs, chicken and other livestock. Until the late 2010s Pyongyang still experienced frequent shortages of electricity. To solve this problem, two power stations – Huichon Power Stations 1 and 2 – were built in Chagang Province and supply
5054-483: Is the Jemyeon-gut narrative , which appeared in the city of Gangneung for the first time in 1974 despite not being attested when the same ritual was held in 1966 and 1969. The Jemyeon-gut myth has no clear source for its story, and researchers have noted an increase in narrative details from the 1970s to the 1990s. Several other shamanic narratives appear to have been adapted at some point from, or otherwise bear
5187-479: Is the de facto mayor . The supreme standing state organ is the Pyongyang People's Committee, responsible for everyday events in support of the city. This includes following local Party guidance as channeled through the Pyongyang Party Committee, the distribution of resources prioritised to Pyongyang, and providing support to KWP and internal security agency personnel and families. P'yŏngyang
5320-461: Is the group of myths told by historical and modern Koreans . There are two types: the written, literary mythology in traditional histories, mostly about the founding monarchs of various historical kingdoms , and the much larger and more diverse oral mythology, mostly narratives sung by shamans or priestesses (mansin) in rituals invoking the gods and which are still considered sacred today. The historicized state-foundation myths representing
5453-621: Is the tale of Cheoyong. Cheoyong, a son of the Dragon King of the East Sea , arrives in the Silla court where he marries a beautiful woman. One night, he goes home to find the smallpox god having sex with his wife. Rather than punish the intruder, Cheoyong only sings a song . The smallpox god is so astounded by his mercy that he repents and agrees to never enter any house with Cheoyong's face on its gate. The people of Silla then attach portraits of Cheoyong to their gates. The story of Cheoyong
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5586-496: Is thus not possible to establish a genealogy of the gods. The shamanic mythology is divided into five regional traditions ( 무가권 ; 巫歌圈 muga-gwon ), representing the primary variations of the two narratives the Jeseok bon-puri and the Princess Bari , which are both found throughout the Korean peninsula. Each of the five regions also has myths not found in the other regions, as well as distinctive tendencies in
5719-402: Is traditionally interpreted as the myth of a shaman or benevolent deity who wards off the spirit of pestilence, although the exact relationship between Cheoyong's song (which survives in two different versions) and Korean shamanic chants continues to be debated. Another genre of literary mythology are the origin myths of specific family lineages, which are recorded in genealogies. The motif of
5852-722: The Seng-gut narrative , which combines the creation myth and the Jeseok bon-puri ; the Donjeon-puri , in which a husband and wife become the gods of money; and the Jim'gajang narrative, about three boys who take vengeance on their murderer by reincarnating as his sons. By contrast, Hwanghae Province in North Korea has virtually no shamanic mythology. The ritual and entertainment role played by mythical narratives in other regions
5985-493: The gongsu rite in which the shaman conveys messages directly from the gods to the worshipper. With the emergence of other forms of entertainment, the entertainment value of shamanic rituals has also declined. In at least Seoul, the performance of the Princess Bari is therefore becoming increasingly shorter. As many new shamans now learn narratives from published books or recordings rather than being taught personally by
6118-838: The 105th birthday of the founder and first leader, Kim Il Sung , 4,804 units were built in the new Ryomyong Street complex . The second decade of the 2000s saw the construction of residential projects in Songhwa Street near the Taedonggang Brewing Company in Sadong District (2022), in Taephyong area in Mangyongdae district, and in the Pothong Riverside Terraced Residential District located at
6251-593: The Arch of Triumph and the Mansu Hill Grand Monument . The first of them is a 170-meter (560 ft) granite spire symbolizing the Juche ideology. It was completed in 1982 and contains 25,550 granite blocks, one for each day of Kim Il Sung's life up to that point. The most prominent building on Pyongyang's skyline is Ryugyong Hotel , the seventh highest building in the world terms of floor count,
6384-589: The Forbidden City as well as various monuments and memorials, which together form an important axis of symbolic places which promotes the Ideology of the Workers' Party of Korea and North Korean cult of personality around Kim family with the epicentre and Kilometre zero of the central district located at Kim Il Sung Square . The 1953 masterplan set the basic layout from which the city's development
6517-546: The Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). Pyongyang served as the provincial capital of South Pyongan Province until 1946, and Pyongyang cuisine shares the general culinary tradition of the Pyongan province. The most famous local food is Pyongyang raengmyŏn , or also called mul raengmyŏn or just simply raengmyŏn . Raengmyŏn literally means "cold noodles", while the affix mul refers to water because
6650-729: The Mansudae People's Theatre opened in 2012, the Munsu Water Park opened in 2013, and the renovated and expanded Sunan International Airport and Pyongyang Sci-Tech Complex , both completed in 2015, the Samjiyon Orchestra Theater, which was fitted out of the domed Korean People's Army Circus built in 1964, and the Pyongyang General Hospital , of which construction started in 2020. Additional re-development projects occurred in
6783-654: The March First Movement in 1919 and severe anti-Japanese socialist movement in 1920s due to economic exploitation. It was called Heijō (with the same Chinese characters 平壤 but read as へいじょう ) in Japanese. In July 1931, the city experienced anti-Chinese riots as a result of the Wanpaoshan Incident and the sensationalized media reports about it which appeared in Imperial Japanese and Korean newspapers. By 1938, Pyongyang had
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#17327723651136916-533: The Qing invasion of Joseon until peace arrangements were made between Korea and Qing China. While the invasions made Koreans suspicious of foreigners, the influence of Christianity began to grow after the country opened itself up to foreigners in the 16th century. Pyongyang became the base of Christian expansion in Korea. By 1880 it had more than 100 churches and more Protestant missionaries than any other Asian city, and
7049-522: The Sea of Japan , where he founds the kingdom of Eastern Buyeo (Dong-Buyeo). Haemosu, son of the sky god, descends to Haeburu's former capital in 59 BCE on a chariot steered by five dragons and founds a new kingdom there. One day, Haemosu encounters the three beautiful daughters of the god of the Yalu River and abducts Yuhwa, the oldest. The outraged river god challenges him to a shapeshifting duel but
7182-494: The Taedong River to the Pothong River . The city center was planned as the main administrative district with main landscape structures constructed in between districts and are used as buffer zones so that they cannot expand freely. The city center was planned with wide avenues and streets and monumental structures and forms the central administrative district where many government and public buildings are located including
7315-425: The diversion of resources to the army . The 2010s and 2020s saw renewed efforts in urbanization and increasing density with the reconstruction of streets and avenues located further from the center and transformation of former rural parts of the city into high density residential districts. The streets are laid out in a north–south, east–west grid, giving the city an orderly appearance. North Korean designers applied
7448-501: The idu system , was the pronunciation of the Chinese characters of "Pyongyang". "Buru" ( 부루 ) means "field" whereas "na" ( 나 ) means "land", therefore the meaning of Pyongyang in native Korean would be "Land of the field". The city's other historic names include Ryugyong , Kisong , Hwangsong , Rakrang , Sŏgyong , Sodo , Hogyong , Changan , and Heijō (during Japanese rule in Korea ). There are several variants. During
7581-595: The 13th-century Samguk yusa . Historians deny this claim because earlier Chinese historiographical works such as the Guanzi , Classic of Mountains and Seas , Records of the Grand Historian , and Records of the Three Kingdoms , mention a much later "Joseon". The connection between the two therefore may have been asserted by North Korea for the use of propaganda. Nevertheless, Pyongyang became
7714-440: The 1953 master plan, it diverted from it in some aspects, such as the construction of high-rises along the central avenues, a step conflicted with the 1953 plan which called for more even distribution of the residential construction throughout the city in several multi-cores. The 90s saw a relative slowdown in the development of the urban structure due to the deep economic crisis and famine which swept through North Korea and led to
7847-550: The 2008 population census, it has a population of 3,255,288. Pyongyang is a directly administered city ( 직할시 ; 直轄市 ; chikhalsi ) with a status equal to that of the North Korean provinces . Pyongyang is one of the oldest cities in Korea. It was the capital of two ancient Korean kingdoms, Gojoseon and Goguryeo , and served as the secondary capital of Goryeo . Following the establishment of North Korea in 1948, Pyongyang became its de facto capital. The city
7980-463: The Confucian framework of patriarchy using the very values of Confucianism. All shamanic narratives meet the purposes of both religiosity and entertainment, albeit to varying degrees. Shamanic narratives are almost never sung in non-religious circumstances, and the ritual context is critical to a full understanding of the mythology. For instance, the story of Bari is performed at ceremonies where
8113-595: The Confucian virtues. The story of Princess Bari is a typical example. The myth centers on the princess's journey to the world of the dead to save her parents. The story is thus "an affirmation of a Confucian virtue," that of filial piety . Yet the parents' savior is not a son but a daughter—indeed, the very daughter that Bari's parents abandon at birth merely for being a girl. Later, Bari leaves her husband for her parents, although Confucian culture demands that women transfer their loyalties to their husband's family after marriage. The myth therefore can be interpreted to subvert
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#17327723651138246-469: The Dangun myth, the story is also subject to euhemerized interpretations. For instance, Seo Daeseok argues that Haemosu symbolizes an ancient iron-using, agricultural sun-worshipping people, that Yuhwa was a member of a riverine group of hunters, farmers, and fishermen, and that Geumwa's polity centered on hunting and pastoralism . The Jumong myth is first attested in the fifth-century Gwanggaeto Stele, but
8379-417: The Goguryeo myth and may be a direct descendant of the ancient tale. The ancient (pre-Goryeo) state-foundation myths are classified into two major types, northern and southern, though both share the central motif of a king associated with the heavens. In the northern kingdoms of Gojoseon, Buyeo , and Goguryeo, the founding monarch is born from the coupling of a celestial male figure and an earthly woman. In
8512-714: The Lelang Commandery was destroyed by an expanding Goguryeo in 313. Goguryeo moved its capital there in 427. According to Christopher Beckwith , Pyongyang is the Sino-Korean reading of the name they gave it in their language: Piarna , or "level land". In 668, Pyongyang became the capital of the Protectorate General to Pacify the East established by the Tang dynasty of China. However, by 676, it
8645-554: The Swedish experience of self-sufficient urban neighbourhoods throughout the entire country, and Pyongyang is no exception. Its inhabitants are mostly divided into administrative units of 5,000 to 6,000 people ( dong ). These units all have similar sets of amenities including a food store, a barber shop, a tailor , a public bathhouse, a post office , a clinic, a library and others. Many residents occupy high-rise apartment buildings. One of Kim Il Sung's priorities while designing Pyongyang
8778-460: The WPK which has its headquarters in the so-called Forbidden City . The name Pyongyang is borrowed from Korean "평양" (literally "flat land"), from McCune–Reischauer (MR) romanisation P'yŏngyang, a Sino-Korean word from 平壤. It indicates the geographical feature of the location to have a smooth terrain. In native Korean, the city was called "Buruna" ( 부루나 ) or less commonly "Barana" ( 바라나 ) which, using
8911-466: The actual performance of the narratives. The mythological tradition of southern Jeju Island is particularly divergent. A characteristic of Korean mythology is that the corpus is poorest in and near the capital of Seoul—the traditional political, economic, and cultural center of the country—and largest and most diverse in South Hamgyong Province and Jeju Island, the northernmost and southernmost peripheries respectively. The two peripheral mythologies are
9044-416: The ancestor of all Korean polities. By the twentieth century he had become accepted as the mythical founder of the Korean nation and plays an important role in the ideologies of both North and South Korea. The foundation myth of the northern kingdom of Goguryeo is recorded in detail in both the Samguk sagi , the oldest surviving work of Korean history, compiled in 1145, and the Dongmyeongwang-pyeon ,
9177-403: The animals twenty pieces of garlic and a clump of sacred mugwort , and tells them that they will become humans if they eat them and do not see sunlight for a hundred days. The two animals then fast, and the bear becomes a woman on the twenty-first day. The tiger fails to fast and remains an animal. The bear-turned-woman prays for a child at the sacred tree, and Hwanung grants her wish by becoming
9310-402: The area around the Arch of Triumph where the Pyongyang People's Hospital no. 1 was demolished. Apartment blocks in the area of Inhŭng-dong, in Moranbong-guyok district and in the area of Sinwon-dong in Pothonggang district were demolished in 2018–2019 for the construction of new apartment buildings. Also in 2018 the Youth Park Open-Air Theatre in Sungri Street, used to host political rallies,
9443-481: The bulk of the literary mythology are preserved in Classical Chinese -language works such as Samguk sagi and Samguk yusa . One state's foundation myth, that of Dangun , has become the founding myth of the whole Korean nation . State-foundation myths are further divided into northern, such as that of the kingdom of Goguryeo and its founder Jumong , where the founder is the son of a celestial male figure and an earthly female figure, and southern, such as that of
9576-536: The chieftains open it, they find six golden eggs. The eggs hatch into giant boys, who fully mature in merely two weeks. On the fifteenth day, the six each become kings of the six Gaya kingdoms. The first to hatch, Suro , becomes king of Geumgwan Gaya. Later, Suro is challenged by the Seok clan's founder Seok Talhae. According to the history of Gaya given in Samguk yusa , the two engage in a shapeshifting duel, after which Seok acknowledges defeat and flees to Silla. A beautiful princess named Heo Hwang'ok then arrives on
9709-560: The city center next to the Pothong River on land previously used by the headquarters of the International Taekwon-Do Federation . Kim Jong Un ordered that the residential district be renamed "Kyongru-dong" meaning "beautiful bead terrace". From the 50s to the 70s the area was the location of the residence of Kim Il Sung and was known as "Mansion No. 5". Other recent public building projects include
9842-403: The city is the Ministry of State Security , whose 30,000 personnel manage intelligence, political prison systems, military industrial security and entry and exit management. The politics and management of the city is dominated by the Workers' Party of Korea , as they are in the national level. The city is managed by the Pyongyang Party Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea and its chairman
9975-593: The city through direct transmission lines. A second phase of the power expansion project was launched in January 2013, consisting of a series of small dams along the Chongchon River . The first two power stations have a maximum generating capacity of 300 megawatts (MW), while the 10 dams to be built under second phase are expected to generate about 120 MW. In addition, the city has several existing or planned thermal power stations . These include Pyongyang TPS with
10108-480: The delta of the southern Nakdong River was occupied by the Gaya polities . The Samguk yusa preserves the foundation myth of one of the most powerful Gaya kingdoms, that of Geumgwan Gaya . The nine chieftains of the country hear a strange voice announce that heaven has commanded it to found a kingdom there. After singing and dancing as commanded by the voice, a golden chest wrapped in red cloth descends from heaven. When
10241-499: The dish is served in a cold broth. Raengmyŏn consists of thin and chewy buckwheat noodles in a cold meat-broth with dongchimi (watery kimchi) and topped with a slice of sweet Korean pear . Pyongyang raengmyŏn was originally eaten in homes built with ondol (traditional underfloor heating ) during the cold winter, so it is also called "Pyongyang deoldeori" (shivering in Pyongyang). Pyongyang locals sometimes enjoyed it as
10374-633: The early 20th century, Pyongyang came to be known among missionaries as being the " Jerusalem of the East", due to its historical status as a stronghold of Christianity , namely Protestantism , especially during the Pyongyang Revival of 1907. After Kim Il Sung's death in 1994, some members of Kim Jong Il 's faction proposed changing the name of Pyongyang to "Kim Il Sung City" ( Korean : 김일성시 ; Hanja : 金日成市 ), but others suggested that North Korea should begin calling Seoul "Kim Il Sung City" instead and grant Pyongyang
10507-484: The entire war, involving 1,400 UN aircraft. Already during the war, plans were made to reconstruct the city. On 27 July 1953 – the day the armistice between North Korea and South Korea was signed – The Pyongyang Review wrote: "While streets were in flames, an exhibition showing the general plan of restoration of Pyongyang was held at the Moranbong Underground Theater", the air raid shelter of
10640-436: The final Korean dynasty, there are no newer founding myths. State foundation myths were once also narrated orally, perhaps by shamans. The poet Yi Gyu-bo (1168–1241) mentions that both written and spoken forms of the Goguryeo foundation myth were known during his lifetime, even though the kingdom itself had fallen more than five centuries earlier. The modern Jeseok bon-puri shamanic narrative has many structural parallels to
10773-463: The first Japanese emperor Jinmu is a younger son like Hwanung. Grayson also notes Siberian myths where a bear is the mother of a tribal ancestor. Dangun appears to have been worshipped only locally in the Pyongyang area until the thirteenth century, when intellectuals attempted to bolster the legitimacy of the Korean state , then imperiled by Mongol invasion and domination , by establishing him as
10906-589: The first ruler of a new Korean kingdom or dynasty . They include the founder's supernatural birth, the story of how the founder came to create his kingdom, and his miraculous death or departure. They are often interpreted as euhemerized accounts of actual events that happened during the kingdom's founding. The oldest surviving accounts of the founding myths of the ancient Korean kingdoms—such as Gojoseon , Goguryeo , and Silla —are transcribed in Classical Chinese in Korean texts compiled during or after
11039-445: The first-century Chinese text Lunheng describes a barbarian tale of a good archer who crosses a river on the backs of fish and turtles to found a new kingdom in the south. However, this figure's mother is a slave-girl impregnated by an egg-like energy rather than a goddess who gives birth to a physical egg, and the figure himself founds the kingdom of Buyeo, rather than that of Goguryeo. The Goguryeo foundation myth thus incorporates
11172-528: The fish and turtles of the river allow them to cross on their backs. Jumong founds the kingdom of Goguryeo in 37 BCE. He is opposed by an established local chieftain named Songyang. After a series of confrontations between the two, Songyang ultimately surrenders when Jumong causes a great flood in his country. Yuri , Jumong's son by his wife he has left behind in Eastern Buyeo, asks his mother who his father is. When she tells him that he does not have any one father, he attempts to kill himself, forcing her to reveal
11305-471: The founding ancestor's birth from a stone or golden chest also appears in the genealogies of many non-royal lineages. Other ancestor myths involve the coupling of a human and a non-human. The Chungju Eo ( 魚 eo "fish") claim descent from a man who was born to a human mother and a carp father, while the Changnyeong Jo are thought to descend from the offspring of a Silla noblewoman and the son of
11438-441: The gods and to entertain the human worshippers. As oral literature, the shamanic narrative is regularly revised with each performance, although a certain degree of consistency is required; new narratives have appeared since the 1960s. It has frequently been at odds with the official ideologies of Korean society, and its mythology is often characterized as subversive of traditional norms such as patriarchy . The shamanic mythology
11571-465: The government under Moranbong . "On the way of victory... fireworks which streamed high into the night sky of the capital in a gun salute briefly illuminated the construction plan of the city which would rise soon with a new look". After the war, the city was quickly rebuilt with assistance from the Soviet Union , and many buildings were built in the style of Stalinist architecture . The plans for
11704-437: The hitherto neglected village-shrine myths ( 당신화 ; 堂神話 , dang sinhwa ) that involve the patron god of one specific village, and feminist interpretations. The oral mythology is always religious, and must be distinguished from the broader corpus of Korean folklore , which might be secular. For instance, the Woncheon'gang bon-puri , a Jeju shamanic narrative about a girl who goes in search for her parents and becomes
11837-545: The hottest months, with average temperatures of 21 to 25 °C (70 to 77 °F), and daytime highs often above 30 °C (86 °F). Although largely transitional seasons, spring and autumn experience more pleasant weather, with average high temperatures ranging from 20 to 26 °C (68 to 79 °F) in May and 22 to 27 °C (72 to 81 °F) in September, coupled with relatively clear, sunny skies. Major government and other public offices are located in Pyongyang, which
11970-422: The human world ," and gives him three unspecified treasures to take with him to earth. Hwanung descends beneath a sacred tree on Mount Taebaek ( lit. ' great white mountain ' ), where he and his three thousand followers found the "Sacred City." With the gods of wind, rain, and cloud, Hwanin supervises various human affairs. A bear and a tiger then ask that Hwanung turn them into humans. The god gives
12103-427: The kingdom of Silla and its founder Hyeokgeose , where the founder begins as an object descended from the heavens, and himself marries an earthly woman. Other literary myths include the origin myths of family lineages recorded in genealogies . The narratives of Korean shamanism , the country's indigenous religion, feature a diverse array of both gods and humans. They are recited in ritual contexts both to please
12236-458: The literary mythology, the shamanic mythology is a living tradition capable of creating new narratives. In the 1960s, an unknown shaman in eastern Gangwon Province adapted the Simcheong-ga , a story involving a blind man, into the new Simcheong-gut narrative , recited in order to ward off eye disease. The new myth has since become very popular in the region. Another apparently new myth
12369-416: The literary myths, with historians such as Choe Nam-seon (1890–1957) and Yi Pyong-do (1896–1989) pioneering the first studies of state-foundation myths. But research into the much richer oral corpus was minimal until the 1960s, when the study of the shamanic narratives was spearheaded by scholars such as Kim Yeol-gyu (1932–2013), who applied structuralist , comparative , and myth-ritual approaches to
12502-423: The location of Pyongyang. Several archaeological findings from the later, Eastern Han (20–220 AD) period in the Pyongyang area seems to suggest that Han forces later launched brief incursions around these parts. The area around the city was called Nanglang during the early Three Kingdoms period . As the capital of Nanglang ( 낙랑국 ; 樂浪國 ), Pyongyang remained an important commercial and cultural outpost after
12635-405: The masterplan, the 60s and 70s saw new wave of development which included expansion of the central boulevards, construction of high-density apartment buildings along the central boulevards, grandiose civic and cultural buildings and monumental statues and squares. This tendency included also the inclusion of traditional Korean architecture for some buildings. While the development generally followed
12768-489: The modern city of Pyongyang were first displayed for public viewing in a theatre building. Kim Jung-hee, one of the founding members of the Korean Architects Alliance, who had studied architecture in prewar Japan , was appointed by Kim Il Sung to design the city's master plan. Moscow Architectural Institute designed the "Pyongyang City Reconstruction and Construction Comprehensive Plan" in 1951, and it
12901-545: The moniker "Kim Jong Il City". In the end, neither proposal was implemented. In 1955, archaeologists excavated evidence of prehistoric dwellings in a large ancient village in the Pyongyang area, called Kŭmtan-ni, dating to the Jeulmun and Mumun pottery periods. North Koreans associate Pyongyang with the mythological city of " Asadal ", or Wanggeom-seong , the first second millennium BC capital of Gojoseon ("Old Joseon") according to Korean historiographies beginning with
13034-468: The most archaic. Several similar myths are found in both Hamgyong and Jeju despite the great distances involved, suggesting that the two mythologies both descend from a common ancient Korean source. The northern tradition is poorly understood because all of its area is now part of North Korea, where ethnographic research is not feasible. Ethnologist Hong Tae-han calls it a grouping made for convenience's sake, as what regional diversity may have existed there
13167-475: The myth or even across multiple myths, and which are memorized by shamans when they first learn the songs. For instance, a series of highly metaphoric descriptions of Bari's mother's pregnancies is found in all regions where the Princess Bari myth is performed. On the other hand, shamans regularly add new content and reword phrases of the narratives, and the same shaman may even sing different variants of
13300-603: The myths of Haemosu and Yuri and the Buyeo foundation myth into a single narrative. The ancient Silla kingdom was originally dominated by three clans: the Bak , the Seok , and the Kim . At some point the Seok were eliminated from power, and all Silla monarchs from then on were children of a Kim father and a Bak mother. All three clans have associated founding myths. The Bak foundation myth
13433-589: The old apartments of the 1970s and '80s replaced by taller high rise buildings and leisure parks like the Kaesong Youth Park , as well as renovations of older buildings. In 2018, the city was described as unrecognizable compared to five years before. Notable landmarks in the city include: Pyongyang TV Tower is a minor landmark. Other visitor attractions include the Korea Central Zoo . The Reunification Highway stretches from Pyongyang to
13566-414: The people from holding a funeral until they dismember the body into five parts, which is why Hyeokgeose has five different tombs. The Samguk yusa also records the Seok and Kim foundation myths. In the first, a ship surrounded by magpies lands on the Silla coast after sailing away from Gaya for unspecified reasons. There is a giant chest in the ship, and when they open it they find slaves, treasures, and
13699-527: The retelling of the myth, or by having the accompanying musicians interrupt the narrative with often vulgar jokes. Such humorous elements also helped convey the subversive message of many shamanic myths, such as criticism of gender hierarchies and class structures. As oral literature, shamanic narratives are also affected by both the received tradition and the performing shaman's original innovations. Many narratives have lengthy formulaic paragraphs and imagery that appear identically throughout multiple versions of
13832-455: The rise. The setting of the gut has also shifted to ritual places where only the shamans and the relevant worshippers are present, in contrast to the public participation that was traditional for the ceremonies. Most of these individual worshippers have little interest in the mythology itself, sometimes even leaving when the narrative begins, but are very invested in ceremonies specifically related to themselves or their friends and family, such as
13965-625: The rule of Kim Jong Un a number of residential projects were constructed. In 2012, Changjon Street, a residential project with 2,784 units, was inaugurated in the heart of Pyongyang. 2013 and 2014 residential projects dedicated to scientists were completed in Unha Scientists Street and Wisong Scientists Street with more than 1,000 units each while in 2015 work took place on a residential project in Mirae Scientists Street with 2,584 units. In 2017, in dedication to
14098-467: The same myth depending on the specific circumstances of the gut . A certain degree of consistency is nonetheless expected; in one case, a Jeju shaman reciting the Chogong bon-puri narrative was interrupted ten times for giving inaccurate details until more experienced shamans demanded that he name the man who taught him. The shamanic mythology is thus unusually conservative for oral literature. Unlike
14231-456: The shamanic narratives ( 서사무가 ; 徐事巫歌 , seosa muga ), which are sung by Korean shamans during gut , religious ceremonies in which shamans invoke the gods. While also mythological in content, these narratives are very different in function and content from the literary myths. The state-foundation myths are preserved only in writing, deprived of their original ritual context, and have existed in written form for centuries. By contrast,
14364-514: The shamanic narratives are oral literature that is "living mythology," sacred religious truth to the participants of the gut . They began to be published only in 1930, centuries after the first attestation of the literary myths. Unlike the historicized accounts of the literary myths, shamans's songs feature elements such as the primordial history of the world , the ascent of human individuals to divinity, and divine retribution upon impious mortals. The academic study of Korean mythology began with
14497-583: The sixth-century Book of Wei , but also more general texts such as the Lunheng , written in 80 CE. In the case of Goguryeo, there are also five Chinese-language stelae narrating the kingdom's foundation myth from the perspective of the Goguryeo people themselves. The oldest of the five is the Gwanggaeto Stele , erected in 414 CE. The founding myth of the Goryeo dynasty, which ruled Korea from
14630-454: The songs, Hyeon Yong-jun (1931–2016), who published a vast encyclopedia of Jeju ritual and mythology, and Seo Daeseok (born 1942), who established the literary study of the shamanic narratives and whose comprehensive work on the Jeseok bon-puri narrative proved a model for future researchers. Recent trends in the study of Korean mythology since the 1990s include a greater focus on comparisons with neighboring mythologies, new research into
14763-401: The soul of the deceased is sent off to the realm of the dead. Bari is the goddess that guides the soul on its way, and the story of the princess's journey thus further reassures the bereaved that the spirit of their loved one is in good hands. At the same time, shamans also seek to entertain worshippers. This may be done by inserting riddles, popular songs, or humorous or sexual descriptions into
14896-421: The southern kingdoms of Silla and Geumgwan Gaya , the king is generated from a physical object that descends from heaven, and then marries an earthly woman himself. In the northern myths, the demigod king succeeds his heavenly father or creates a new kingdom himself. In the south, the celestial being is crowned by the consensus of local chieftains. The foundation myth of Gojoseon , the earliest Korean kingdom,
15029-531: The state of Silla with the support of local chieftains, while Seok Talhae stands for a maritime group that was defeated by Gaya and was integrated into the Silla state and Heo Hwang'ok preserves the historical memory of a merchant group that contributed to the establishment of the early Geumgwan Gaya polity. Many other supernatural stories are contained in the Samguk yusa to the point that Grayson calls its compiler, Iryeon, "the first Korean folklorist." Some of these stories reflect shamanic mythology. One example
15162-703: The tallest unoccupied building in the world, and one of the tallest hotels in the world . It has yet to open. Pyongyang has a rapidly evolving skyline, dominated by high-rise apartment buildings. A construction boom began with the Changjon Street Apartment Complex, which was completed in 2012. Construction of the complex began after late leader Kim Jong Il described Changjon Street as "pitiful". Other housing complexes are being upgraded as well, but most are still poorly insulated, and lacking elevators and central heating. An urban renewal program continued under Kim Jong Un's leadership, with
15295-513: The tenth to the fourteenth centuries, is recorded in Goryeo-sa , the official dynastic history published in the fifteenth century. Yongbieocheon'ga , a poem published around the same time as Goryeo-sa by the succeeding Joseon dynasty, is sometimes seen as the Joseon foundation myth, but it is debated whether Yongbieocheon'ga should be seen as having a narrative at all. As the Joseon were
15428-414: The traditional Korean histories, such as the thirteenth-century work Samguk yusa . The myths contained in these volumes are heavily historicized , to the point that it is often difficult to differentiate between historical fact and mythology. The primary literary myths are the state-foundation myths ( 건국신화 ; 建國神話 , geon'guk sinhwa ), which recount the story of how a particular kingdom or dynasty
15561-415: The truth. After solving a riddle his father has left, Yuri finds his father's token, a half of a sword. He goes to Goguryeo and meets Jumong. Yuri and Jumong match their halves of the sword, and the sword becomes one while oozing blood. When Jumong asks his son to show his power, the boy rides atop sunlight. Jumong then makes Yuri his heir. In 19 BCE, the king ascends into heaven and does not return. Yuri holds
15694-417: The twelfth century. Such texts include Samguk sagi , Samguk yusa , Jewang ungi , Eungje siju , and Tongguk t'onggam . These texts were compiled on the basis of earlier sources that are now lost. Several ancient Chinese texts are also important contemporaneous sources for myths; these include not only the official dynastic histories such as the third-century Records of the Three Kingdoms and
15827-436: Was Neo-Confucianism , were opposed to shamanism and made significant efforts to eliminate the religion from the public sphere. As Koreans increasingly accepted the Joseon state's patriarchal and anti-shamanic ideology, shamanism became increasingly associated with women, who were also marginalized by the new social structure. It was in this restrained capacity as women's private religion, without public influence, that shamanism
15960-583: Was administrated by Kusong , North Pyongan Province . It had been transferred to the administration of P'yŏngyang on February 10, 2018. After being destroyed during the Korean War, Pyongyang was entirely rebuilt according to Kim Il Sung's vision, which was to create a capital that would boost morale in the post-war years. The result was a city with wide, tree-lined boulevards and public buildings with terraced landscaping, mosaics and decorated ceilings. Its Soviet-style architecture makes it reminiscent of
16093-418: Was again devastated during the Korean War , but was quickly rebuilt after the war with Soviet assistance. Pyongyang is the political, industrial and transport center of North Korea. It is estimated that 99% of those living in Pyongyang are members, candidate members, or dependents of members of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea (WPK). It is home to North Korea's major government institutions , as well as
16226-456: Was again severely damaged in the Korean War , during which it was briefly occupied by South Korean forces from 19 October to 6 December 1950. The city saw many refugees evacuate when advancing Chinese forces pushed southward towards Pyongyang. UN forces oversaw the evacuation of refugees as they retreated from Pyongyang in December 1950. In 1952, it was the target of the largest aerial raid of
16359-656: Was called "the Jerusalem of the East". In 1890, the city had 40,000 inhabitants. It was the site of the Battle of Pyongyang during the First Sino-Japanese War , which led to the destruction and depopulation of much of the city. It was the provincial capital of South Pyeongan Province beginning in 1896. During the Japanese colonial rule , Japan tried to develop the city as an industrial center, but faced
16492-409: Was derived in the next decades with a unit district system which mixes residential and industrial zoning. Those districts are spread around the central administrative district and together with it they form the key axis of directionality for the city expansion. While in the 50s the major emphasis was placed on the reconstruction of Pyongyang from its ruins as carefully a socialist city in strict line with
16625-431: Was founded, although the category also includes other supernatural stories found in the historical chronicles as well as the origin myths of non-royal lineages. The second corpus is the modern oral mythology ( 구비신화 ; 口碑神話 , gubi sinhwa ), which is "incomparably" richer than the literary tradition in both sheer quantity of material and the diversity of themes and content. The oral mythology primarily consists of
16758-523: Was initiated on the former territory of Kangdong Airfield which was demolished in 2019. In April 2024 the second stage of construction in the Hwasong area was completed in Rimhung Street with 10,000 apartments was marked with an extravagant ceremony. Pyongyang, alongside Seoul , launched a bid to host the 2032 Summer Olympics , but failed to make the joint city candidate list. Pyongyang
16891-452: Was officially adopted in 1953. The transformation into a modern, propaganda-designed city featuring Stalin-style architecture with a Korean-style arrangement (and other modernist architecture that was said to have been greatly influenced by Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer ) began. The 1972 Constitution officially declared Pyongyang the capital. The funeral of Kim Il Sung was held in Pyongyang in 1994. Then on 19 July, it concluded with
17024-405: Was probably originally a sky god—and gives birth to triplets who themselves become gods; and the Princess Bari , about a princess who is abandoned by her father for being a girl and who later resurrects her dead parents with the flower of life. Korean mythology comprises two distinct corpora of literature. The first is the literary mythology ( 문헌신화 ; 文獻神話 , munheon sinhwa ) recorded in
17157-614: Was rebuilt. In 2021–2022 a major housing project was executed along Songhwa Street in southeast part of the city Hwasong Street in Hwasong District in northern Pyongyang with high-rises. In 2023 phase two of construction of housing in Hwasong district was launched, on the former territory of the Pyongyang Vegetable Science Institute. In addition, a complex of greenhouse farm and housing
17290-744: Was still tolerated by Joseon society. Despite the continued presence of shamanism as a significant force in Korean religious life, a cultural ambivalence regarding it persists. As of 2016, the capital of Seoul alone has hundreds of ritual places, where gut are held on most days of the year. Yet when in public, many worshipers—often Christians or Buddhists as well as practitioners of shamanism—avoid discussing their shamanic worship and sometimes disparage their own beliefs as superstition. Reflecting this ambivalence, shamanism and its mythology are often characterized as subversive of Korea's mainstream values and official culture , though some may also simultaneously incorporate more mainstream thinking such as
17423-661: Was taken by Silla , but left on the border between Silla and Balhae . Pyongyang was left abandoned during the Later Silla period, until it was recovered by Wang Geon and decreed as the Western Capital of Goryeo . During the Imjin War , Pyongyang was captured by the Japanese and held the city wall until they were defeated in the Siege of Pyongyang . Later in the 17th century, it became temporarily occupied during
17556-406: Was the first industrial city to emerge in North Korea after the Korean War. Light and heavy industries are both present and have developed in parallel. Heavy manufactures include cement , industrial ceramics, munitions and weapons, but mechanical engineering remains the core industry. Light industries in Pyongyang and its vicinity include textiles , footwear and food, among others. Special emphasis
17689-472: Was to limit the population. Authorities maintain a restrictive regime of movement into the city, making it atypical of East Asia as it is silent, uncrowded and spacious. Structures in Pyongyang are divided into three major architectural categories: monuments, buildings with traditional Korean motifs and high-rises. Some of North Korea's most recognisable landmarks are monuments, like the Juche Tower ,
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