So many aspects of our time in North Korea have related to the life (and legend) of Kim Il Sung, our first activity this morning seemed like the climax of a long story. Our destination was Kumsusan, the mausoleum of Kim Il Sung. Converted from the office he used during the last couple of decades of his life, the Kumsusan Memorial Hall was created by closing off the windows and renovating the interior at the suggestion of Kim Jong Il following the death of his father.
The life of Kim Il Sung has taken on a religious dimension, and Kumsusan was its cathedral. To visit the mausoleum, which is many times larger even than Mao Zedong’s mausoleum in Beijing, we all had to wear formal clothing - as indeed did all the local people who were also visiting to pay their respects. No cameras were allowed inside, together with no metal objects and of course no talking.
We entered the (thankfully air conditioned on this very hot day) mausoleum after walking across pads to sanitise the soles of our shoes, passing through metal detectors, and then standing on a series of very slow moving red moving footways (a type of moving red carpet). The first large room was a reception hall with a much larger-than-life white statue of Kim Il Sung standing against a background of orange lighting that transformed into blue through a gradient.
We then entered the ‘crying hall’ where Kim Il Sung’s body was laid out to view following his death. We inspected the relief sculptures on the halls and a large red granite flag adorned with the smiling face of Kim Il Sung while listening to miniature MP3 players with a translation of the Korean commentary that described the profound sorrow of the Korean people when Kim Il Sung passed away. It was a beautiful though very over-written piece of prose, discussing among other things the way in which the flowing tears of the masses became fossilised into crystal as they touched the ground - you probably get the idea.
We were then ushered through strong jets of air (presumably to blow any insects out of our hair or from our clothes) into a large darkened room where the body of Kim Il Sung lies in state, visible in a glass coffin and draped in a red flag (symbolising the blood of the revolutionary martyrs). In accordance with Korean custom, we bowed at the feet and on each side of the body, but not above the head.
We were then ushered into a large room with medals and academic awards presented to Kim Il Sung, mainly while he was alive, although several were dated in the years following his death (the most recent award I saw was given in 2008). I guess if he is still the President, he can continue to receive recognition, although I thought the honorary doctorate in information technology awarded by a university in Belarus in 2002 was stretching things a little.
Finally, we passed through some rooms displaying Kim Il Sung’s railway carriage and his last car (a black Mercedes-Benz) before walking through a room where people (but not us this time) are invited to write their reflections and tributes in special books, and then emerging into an outdoors courtyard where group photos could be taken. For most of my students, it was the first time they had met a currently serving President.
After the deeply moving mausoleum visit (the most frequent comment from my students being “Wow!”), we took the short drive to the Revolutionary Martyrs’ Cemetery. Built on a hill overlooking the city of Pyongyang, this is the final resting place of many heroic soldiers and fighters against the Japanese and/or the US. Pride of place at the top of the hill, just below a huge red granite flag, was Kim Jong Suk, the wife of Kim Il Sung and the mother of the present leader, Kim Jong Il. Each grave was marked by a stone tablet topped with a bronze bust of the person’s head and shoulders, reconstructed as far as possible from old photographs or, where this was not possible, from descriptions from comrades or family members. The busts all faced towards the city of Pyongyang at the foot of the hill, and were arranged in such a way that no bust obscured the view of those behind it. The overall effect was very impressive - dignified, sensitive and respectful.
The temperature was very hot, being about 36 degrees, so we did not linger at the cemetery but returned to the cool of the hotel for an early lunch. Then, at 2 pm, we left with our bags, first to the stamps shop and then to Mount Myohyang, a 160 kilometre drive north of Pyongyang.
The drive was on an excellent, wide road that passed through pretty if unspectacular farming fields growing rice, corn and beans. We arrived at Mount Myohyang at about 5 pm, and after taking our things to the rooms of our hotel, we set off for a 6 kilometre hike up the mountain to a waterfall named Sangwon. Although we followed the course of a mountain stream, recent rainless conditions meant that several sections of the river were dry.
It was interesting to note that even on a bush walk one is never away from political messages, with many large rocks being engraved with slogans about national reunification, and a display area of the wild plants that soldiers had to eat to avoid starvation during the hard times of the anti- Japanese struggle. There was a trickle of water at the Sangwon Falls, and the area was very picturesque, featuring a beautiful pavilion overlooking the waterfall and the surrounding valley. Not may people can claim to have been on a hike in North Korea, and it did provide us with some much needed exercise.
