Day 6 - b) Revolutionary Martyrs' Cemetery, Foreign Languages Bookshop

Thursday September 9, 2010

Our National Day continued at the Revolutionary Martyrs' Cemetery where war veterans lay in rest. The memorial is located on Mt Daesong, so we enjoyed a spectacular view of Pyongyang from the site. Although the cemetery was established in the 19th century completion to its current state only took place in July.

On multiple terraces there were 130 veterans buried, with a bronze bust for each. In a theme conspicuously peppered throughout the tour the Korean guides explicitly pointed out that thirteen of the commemorated were women. One of the busts was of the younger brother of Kim Il Sung. We laid flowers on the bottom terrace and observed a moment of silence.

On the top level were a select group of especially revered veterans, with Kim Il Sung's first wife and Kim Jong Il's mother Kim Jong-suk's bronze bust featuring in the centre. We also laid flowers at her resting place and observed a moment of silence.

Kim Jong-suk's commemorative bust.

Again due to the public holiday there were many locals at the cemetery paying their respects. After taking in an obscured view of the Mt Daesong recreational area next door (noises emanated from the fun park) we hopped back on the bus to be taken to the Foreign Languages Bookshop.

The Foreign Languages Bookshop featured all sorts of North Korean publications translated into many western languages. Again our group bought many souvenirs here, but I found out later on the train to Beijing that the most popular was a book that detailed fables featuring Kim Il Sung - how he healed the sick, saved marriages, that sort of thing. I do regret not spotting that gem!