Samjiyon Grand Monument

North Korea


Set in a huge clearing in the woods with views to Paekdusan and overlooking a large lake, this must be North Korea's most impressive paean to the leadership outside Pyongyang. The monument commemorates the battle of Pochombo, where anti-Japanese forces first moved from guerrilla tactics to conventional warfare and took the town of the same name.

The centrepiece is a 15m-high statue of a 27-year-old Kim Il-sung, as well as a smaller version of Pyongyang’s Juche Tower and several large sculptures of various revolutionary scenes.