
This was the official residence of North Korea's head of state until Kim Il Sung's death. Then, it was transformed into a mausoleum to Kim Il Sung.
The 'Kumsusan Memorial Palace', sometimes referred to as the 'Kim Il Sung Mausoleum', is a large building located northeast of downtown
Pyongyang, the capital city of the
Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea). The palace is claimed to have been the former
official residence and office of North Korea's president and founder, "Great Leader"
Kim Il-sung. Following Kim's death in 1994, it is said that his son and successor,
Kim Jong-il, had the building renovated and transformed into his father's final resting place. Deep inside the vast palace, the Great Leader's embalmed body lies viewable in state inside a clear sarcophagus.
The palace is situated in a secluded area in Pyongyang and is only accessible to foreigners on official government tours. It is fronted by a massive square and is bordered on its northern and eastern sides by a
moat. Along with the
Juche Tower, the
Arch of Triumph,
Kim Il Sung Square, and the Mansudae Grand Monument, the Kumsusan Memorial Palace is one of the most important landmarks in Pyongyang and the most sacred site of all of North Korea.
North Korea is one of only four nations in the world that houses the embalmed corpse of its founding leader in a mausoleum. The other three leaders who are also embalmed in their respective mausoleums (all of which are/were also Communist) are
Vladimir Lenin in
Moscow,
Russia (former USSR),
Ho Chi Minh in
Hanoi,
Socialist Republic of Vietnam, and
Mao Zedong in
Beijing,
People's Republic of China.
External link
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Satellite photo of the Kumsusan Memorial Palace on Google Maps