Jo Aug 3, 2026
The Ryongwang Pavilion is located in Taedongmun-dong, Central District, Pyongyang.
It was built in the mid-6th century in the period of Koguryo Kingdom and rebuilt several times afterwards. The present site of the pavilion was originally the site of a general’s terrace in the east of the keep of the Walled City of Pyongyang during the period of the kingdom. As the walled city was renovated and named Sogyong during the Koryo Dynasty, the pavilion was rebuilt in the same place and named Sansu Pavilion in 1111. It was repaired several times later and rebuilt in 1670 during the feudal Joson dynasty and renamed Ryongwang Pavilion.
It has been known as one of the eight scenic spots in the northwestern part of Korea from olden times for the beautiful scenery. It was also called the “most beautiful pavilion” and “Manhwa Pavilion”. On the pavilion is a calligraphic hanging board inscribed with the letters “The most beautiful place in the world”.
The pavilion showcasing the excellent architecture of the Koreans is associated with the patriotic struggles of the ancestors who repulsed foreign invasions.
Although it was badly damaged by the brutal bombing by the enemy during the Fatherland Liberation War, it was restored soon in the postwar period. It is now under good preservation as a national treasure and serves as a cultural recreation site for working people.
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Jo Jul 6, 2026
The Kaesong Chomsongdae Observatory is an astronomical observatory from the period of Koryo Kingdom which is situated in the west of Manwoltae in Kaesong Municipality.
In view of its present position and the records of the History of Koryo, the observatory is believed to have been built in the early period of Koryo, when the Yongyong Palace was being built on Manwoltae. Now there remains only its granite platform. Originally, there were astronomical observation instruments on the platform.
The plane of the platform was square and the platform consisted of stone pillars and stone floors laid on the pillars. The platform is 2.8 metres high and each side of it is 2.6 metres long. The pillar stones number five, four standing at the four corners and one in the middle. The sides of the platform face the cardinal points. It was constructed accurately and solidly.
From the early period of its foundation Koryo had national agencies in charge of astronomical and meteorological observation to do relevant observation at astronomical observatories and record the results meticulously. The records of sunspots observed from 1105 to the closing years of Koryo number over 150.
The Kaesong Chomsongdae Observatory is a valuable legacy showing the state of astronomical observation and high architecture of Korea at that time.
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Jo Jun 7, 2026
Originally, the word sinsollo was the name of a vessel with a unique structure used to boil foods. Many years later, the name of the vessel came to indicate the food boiled in it.
Sinsollo is well-known to the world as a representative dish of the Korean cuisine, which has the best taste as if dainties of all lands and seas are put into one vessel and is also appealing to the eyes. Its broth is mainly made of chicken and fish and meat are used with gingko nuts, pine nuts, chestnuts, jujubes and walnuts.
Dozens of kinds of ingredients are used to make the dish.
Sinsollo is served with individual bowls as it is shared by several people.
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Jo Jun 3, 2026
The DPRK has a long history of making and eating jang (soybean paste and sauce).
The names of jang are derived from its making methods and features. In Korean, toenjang (soybean paste) means thick paste and kanjang (soybean sauce) means seasoning sauce.
According to historical data, jang has been called by different names. It was originally called si and later si and jang, and at last its name was fixed as jang. The word meju was used by Korean ancestors to call jang but later became to indicate the basic material of jang. In its nascent period, jang was today’s fermented soybean that was made by wrapping boiled soybean with rice straw, fermenting it on a heated floor and mixing it with salt. Later, they dried and powdered fermented soybean and soused it in salty water before eating. In the long course of their life, Koreans discovered that materials contained in jang have health-promoting effects and medicinal efficacies in the treatment and prevention of cerebral thrombosis.
Nowadays, wheat paste is widely applied in the people’s dietary life to enrich it.
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Jo May 6, 2026
Among the traditional dishes that the Korean people have enjoyed from olden times are pickles, which reflect their taste and likings.
The Korean ancestors had long known that salt can prevent food spoilage and used it in their dietary life to pickle such foods as vegetables, fish and meat so as to store them for a long time.
Such practice of pickling has a very long history. According to historical records, Koreans produced salt from ancient times and ate salted fish a lot.
Kimchi can also be said to have started from pickling at first.
There were parsley kimchi, chives kimchi, radish kimchi, leaf mustard kimchi, etc.
These kinds of kimchi are salted foods created by Koreans in the course of making wide use of pickles in their dietary life for a long time.
Pickling was further developed in the period of the feudal Joson dynasty.
Pickles in those days were divided into salt pickles directly preserved in salt, pickles preserved in bean paste or soy sauce, vinegared pickles and bran pickles using rice bran according to pickling agents. They were also divided into vegetable pickles, meat pickles, fish pickles and herb pickles according to ingredients.
Pickles are very good preserved foods that make it possible to store seasonal foods for a long time under the climatic conditions of the DPRK with distinctive seasons.
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Jo May 4, 2026
Horse riding is a sports event to decide who rides faster on horseback and who performs more spectacular stunts on horseback.
Our country has a very long history of using horses. The Koreans have bred many horses of native kinds suitable for breeding in the mountainous and rugged terrain of the country since long time ago.
The excellent riding skills of the ancestors were inherited and developed at a high level, with such contents as handling weapons and hurdling on horseback being added to them. The best horse riders in the history of the country were the Koguryo people.
The technical contents of horse riding include preparation for horse riding, methods of mounting and dismounting a horse, standard sitting position, learning how to ride at a walking pace, quick pace and gallop and others.
Horsemanship is particularly conspicuous in horse riding.
It is literally performing stunts on horseback, including those of standing on a running horse, turning over from one side to the other by holding the saddle and dragging feet on the ground by clinging to the horse.
As the country has full conditions for horse riding good for health, the enthusiasm for riding is steadily growing stronger among working people, youth and children.
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