[imText1]Keumsoosan Assembly Hall was turned into Keumsusan Memorial, a luxurious tomb palace. This is where Kim Il Sung is mummified.
In 1995, while 3 million starved to death, the construction began. Reconstruction of the Assembly Hall to Palace cost 8.9 billion dollars. 8.9 billion dollars could have saved 23 million lives since the money is enough to purchase 60 million tons of corn.
A North Korean website, www.uriminzokkiri.com disclosed the inside of the Kim Il Sung Tomb Palace as they introduced a picture book called “In order to actualize the project Eternal Life for the General.”
The picture book introduced the activities of Kim Jong Il to establish the Keumsoosan Palace, Tower of Eternal Life, The name of the Juche era and the Day of the Sun (Kim Il Sung’s birthday) was established, The publication of the memoir, excavation of historical sights of revolutions and battles along with hundreds of pictures were shown.
Keumsoosan Memorial Palace, included in the first part of the picture book is located at Keumsoosan (Moran Bong), Mi Am Dong, Dae Sung District. The building was originally called Keumsoosan Assembly Hall, and was built between March 1973 and April 1977 on the 65th birthday of Kim Il Sung.
[imText2][imText3][imText4]Kim Il Sung wanted to be buried near the Revolution Patriot Memorial at Dae Sung Mountain. However, Kim Jong Il refused to carry out Kim Il Sung’s will and made Keumsoosan Assembly Hall into a Palace for his tomb, in order to fulfill his role of the successor, Kim Jong Il, to pay tribute to the eternal leader Kim Il Sung.
In 1994, Kim Jong Il commanded to construct the Palace in order to keep Kim Il Sung’s body mummified. On 12 June 1995, the Assembly hall was reconstructed to Keumsoosan Memorial Palace, with the agreement of Center of the Party, Committee of military in the Center of the Party, National Defense Commission, Central People’s CommitteeNorth Korean people's committees are akin to local governmen... More, and Administration Council.
The total lot is 3,500,000 ㎡. The building takes up 34,910㎡, and the square is 10,000 ㎡ where 200,000 people can gather, which is twice of Kim Il Sung Sqaure. 700000 granites carved into 20 different shapes decorated the building.
The Assembly hall was European Style stone made complex with five floors. However, the Tomb Palace has a statue and portrait of Kim Il Sung in the Central Hall and the Square in front of the palace is 415m×216m, symbolizing Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il’s birthday (15 March and 16 February)
[imText5]The square was built by engineer corps 1 Team (Expert at building cottages for Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il). Because they are experts at building cottages, heavy equipment is available and this group is better equipped than other construction groups.
[imText6]Visitors leave their coats at the dressing room when they enter into the room of the Mummified Kim Il Sung. Men need to wear suits and women need to wear Han Bok (traditional Korean clothes). Nobody with jackets or work clothes can enter. Many people from provincial areas had to go back without entering the room with the mummified Kim Il Sung, because they had not been aware of the dress code.
[imText7][imText8][imText9][imText10]In 1996, a long aisle was constructed outside of the building in order for people to come visit. In 1998, an arboretum with 100 different kinds of trees was constructed. The palace is connected to Pyongyang Subway which is 200m underground, and more than 30 checkpoints prevent common people from entering the palace.
For the hygiene and convenience in the palace, an air purifier, automatic shoes cleaner and escalator were built into the palace at the expense of billions of dollars. All the rooms and halls were decorated with granite and marble stones.
Keumsoosan Memorial Palace is the epitome of loyalty and love for the Father Kim Il Sung , and was built at the expense of millions of lives. This is the reality of the Kim Jong Il dictatorship.
Outside Aisle on the left side of Palace (above). Stone Gate at the Palace (Middle). Granite wall surrounding the palace
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