The Arch of Triumph is a grand monument telling forever the immortal exploits of the great leader Kim Il Sung who liberated the country by organizing and leading the anti-Japanese revolutionary struggle to victory.
It is at the foot of Moran Hill in the capital city of Pyongyang, where Kim Il Sung made a speech on his triumphant return home on October 14, Juche 34(1945).
It was unveiled on April 14, Juche 71(1982) on the occasion of his 70th birth anniversary.
The Arch of Triumph is a four-storey stone edifice. It is 60 metres high, 50.1 metres wide and 36.2 metres thick. The first and second floors are distinguished by balcony and the second, third and fourth floors by successively diminishing flat roofs.
Seen in the middle of the first floor is an archway leading to all directions, which is 27 metres high and 18 metres wide. The archway is fringed with 70 azalea reliefs symbolizing the 70th birth anniversary of Kim Il Sung.
Embossed on the walls of both sides are the figures “1925” and “1945” and under them are the reliefs of the subsidiary six-figure groups each. Here, 1925 refers to the year when Kim Il Sung set out on the road of revolution and 1945 to the year when he liberated the country. The reliefs show the pleasure and joy of the Korean people who greeted Kim Il Sung in the liberated country and their ardent desire for creating a new life.
The immortal revolutionary hymn “Song of General Kim Il Sung” is carved in relief in the middle of the front and back sides of the second floor and Mt. Paektu on the left and right walls. Mt. Paektu is associated with the glorious revolutionary history of Kim Il Sung who led the anti-Japanese revolutionary struggle to victory.
The Arch of Triumph shows a unique architecture combining modernity and national peculiarities.
The exploits performed by Kim Il Sung for national liberation will be told forever along with the immortal grand monument–the Arch of Triumph.
