The hermit capital — monumental boulevards and a city unlike anywhere on Earth
Pyongyang is one of the world's most extraordinary and least-visited cities — the capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, accessible only through state-organised tours led by official guides. What visitors encounter is a city of deliberate monumentalism: vast empty boulevards lined with Soviet-era apartment towers, colossal bronze statues of Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il on Mansu Hill, the Ryugyong Hotel's 105-story pyramid still unfinished after 30 years, the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun (where the embalmed bodies of the two leaders lie in state), the Arirang Mass Games in Rungrado…
Pyongyang is one of the oldest cities in Korea, with settlement dating back over 2,000 years — it served as the capital of the Goryeo Kingdom briefly and was an important centre throughout the Joseon period. It was almost completely destroyed during the Korean War (1950–53), when US bombing campaigns left virtually no building standing. Kim Il-sung rebuilt the city from scratch as a socialist showcase, with wide boulevards, monumental public buildings, and a metro system (Pyongyang Metro, opened 1973) famous for its deep stations and socialist realist mosaics. The DPRK, founded in 1948, has b…