The torch
Always lit.
Uri Tours — CC BY-SA 2.0 · Laika ac from USA — CC BY-SA 2.0 · Laika ac from USA — CC BY-SA 2.0 · Bjørn Christian Tørrissen — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Laika ac from USA — CC BY-SA 2.0
Juche Tower is a 170-metre monument on the east bank of the Taedong River in Pyongyang, the capital of North Korea. It was completed in 1982 and is named after Juche, the official state ideology, and Kim Il Sung Square faces it on the west bank. It was built for the 70th birthday of Kim Il Sung, the country's first leader. It consists of a 150-metre tapering four-sided spire of 25,550 granite blocks faced with white stone, topped by a 20-metre metal torch that is always lit. Its shape draws on old Korean stone pagodas. You see a tall white spire capped with a red torch, a bronze group of three figures raising symbols in front of it, and a wide stone plaza stepping down to the river. From the opposite bank the tower is reflected in the water between apartment towers, and a large fountain plays in the river. It is about 2.4 km from central Pyongyang in a straight line. Visitors usually ride a lift to a platform near the top for a view over the city. Foreign visitors can only come on organised tours, and the country has been closed to most tourists in recent years. The UK Foreign Office advises against all but essential travel to North Korea, so read the current advice before you plan.
Always lit.
A city view.
The tower's reflection.
East bank of the Taedong, Pyongyang, North Korea
25,550 granite blocks topped by a 20-metre metal torch.
Yes, the UK Foreign Office advises against all but essential travel to North Korea.
