Pyongyang has many large and small towers. Mostly built since the 1980s, they are featured by being related to the idolization of Kim Il Sung, North-South relations, or the unification issue. Among them are the Juche (self-reliance) Ideology Tower, Party Foundation Memorial Tower, Eternity Tower, Fatherland Liberation War Victory (Korean War) Memorial Tower, Unification Front Tower, Three Unification Principle Memorial Tower, Friendship Tower and Chinese People's Army Volunteers Tower.

Of them, the biggest, most sturdy and most typical is the Juche Ideology Tower. Seen from the Kim Il Sung Square, considered the center of the North Korean capital city, the tower stands across the Taedong River. Dedicated in April 1982 in commemoration of Kim's 70th birthday, the tower is 170m tall, taller than the Washington Memorial Tower in Washington DC. The 70-storey tower body is built with a total of 25,500 pieces of white marble, and the number of floors represents Kim's 70th birthday. In November 1979 the central party's political committee even adopted a written decision on construction of the tower. So-called “shock troops” were mobilized to complete the tower body in 35 days at a daily pace of between 4.2m and 7m, and the attachment of marble on the tower body in 76 days, according to North Korean publicity material.

The Party Foundation Memorial Tower in East Pyongyang's Munsu Street by the Taedong River was dedicated in October 1995 on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the foundation of the Workers' Party. The tower consists of a stele, 20m in height and 70m in diameter, and has a 50m-high representation of formative arts depicting the emblem of the Workers' Party; a hammer, representing workers, a sickle symbolizing farmers, and a pen symbolizing intellectuals. The figure 50 represents the number of years passed since the founding of the Workers' Party, and the figure 70 that since the inauguration of the League for Crushing Imperialism in 1926, in which the party claims it originated. The construction of the tower took more than a year, with citizens and students mobilized under the names of support groups or shock troops.

The Eternity Towers built in every province, special city, county and ri or dong (village) under an instruction given by National Defense Commission chairman Kim Jong Il were originally called Longevity Towers, wishing for the longevity of Kim Il Sung. The re-christening followed Kim's death in 1994. The most typical of them is the 92.52m-high Eternity Tower located at the entrance of Pyongyang's Kumsong Street, which was dedicated in July 1997 when the three-year mourning period for the late founder of the state expired. The original phrase on the tower body "We respectively wish Great Supreme Leader Grand Marshall Kim Il Sung a long life," has been changed into "Great Supreme Leader Comrade Kim Il Sung stays with us forever."

The Fatherland Liberation War Victory Memorial Tower was dedicated in Sojang-dong village, Botonggang District, Pyongyang in July 1993 to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Korean War armistice. Calling the Korean War, "the fatherland liberation war," Pyongyang has claimed victory in the war. When its relations with the United States deteriorate, ranking officials of the North Korean party, administration and military stage rallies there resolving revenge against or denouncing the U.S.

The Unification Front Tower was built to commemorate the North-South joint conference held in April 1948 in Pyongyang, which the North publicizes as the model of the unification front. It is built on Ssuk Island in the Taedong River with 56 pieces of granite, the figure representing the 56 North and South Korean political parties and social organizations that took part in the joint conference.

The Three Unification Principle Memorial Tower that has been dedicated most recently is located at the entrance of Pyongyang's Tongil (unification) Street. Originally initiated in August 1999 for planned dedication on August 15, 2000, the tower's design and venue were changed to the current shape and site in the wake of the North-South summit meeting held in the North Korean capital in June last year.

(Kim Kwang In, kki@chosun.com )