Kumsusan Memorial Palace
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The Kumsusan Memorial Palace, sometimes referred to as the Kim Il-sung Mausoleum, is a large building located northeast of downtown Pyongyang, the capital city of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea). The palace is claimed to have been the former official residence and office of North Korea's president and founder, "Great Leader" Kim Il-sung. Following Kim Il-sung's death in 1994, it is said that his son and successor, Kim Jong-il, had the building renovated and transformed into his father's final resting place. Deep inside the vast palace, the Great Leader's embalmed body lies viewable in state inside a clear sarcophagus.
The palace is situated in a secluded area in Pyongyang and is only accessible to foreigners on official government tours. It is a popular belief that foreigners are not allowed to see the embalmed body of Kim Il-sung, however this is untrue. Photography is not permitted in any shape or form. It is fronted by a massive square and is bordered on its northern and eastern sides by a moat. Along with the Juche Tower, the Arch of Triumph, Kim Il-sung Square, and the Mansudae Grand Monument, the Kumsusan Memorial Palace is one of the most important landmarks in Pyongyang and the most sacred site of all of North Korea.
North Korea is one of only four nations in the world that house the embalmed corpses of their founding leaders in mausoleums. The other three leaders who are also embalmed in their respective mausoleums (all of which are/were also Communist) are Vladimir Lenin in Moscow, Russia (former USSR), Ho Chi Minh in Hanoi, Socialist Republic of Vietnam, and Mao Zedong in Beijing, People's Republic of China.
