The Juche Tower of North Korea is a product of the reigning dictatorial regime. Where other bombastic mass monuments came to a hold on the implosion of the Soviet-Union, the megalomaniac building frenzy continues in this Stalinist country.
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The isolated country that still considered a rogue state is still dwelling in the high days of communism and the architecture is at the service of the doctrine of the part bureau and most of all to the blind adoration of the leaders of the country. The dynasty of cruel dictators cultivates a personality cult that is both extravagant as grotesque.
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Ironically, those who call themselves the keepers of communism stole the ideas from Nazi Germany. Not only are most buildings replicas of designs from Albert Speer, the architect of Hitler, but also the ideology is a copy of Hitler’s views: a super nationalism and an economic self-sufficiency.
Those characteristics are so typical for totalitarian states who know that they only prepare themselves for war.
Even the propaganda machine of North Korea is following the doctrine of Goebbels, the infamous Nazi propaganda minister in the Third Reich. If today there is fake news, in North Korea everything is fake due to a self-hypnotic constant state of delusion.
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The Juche Tower constructed in 1980, named after the economic system developed by the dictator Kim-Il-Sung. The construction is 170m/557ft high and is the second highest building of that kind. In San Jacinto, Texas, there is a similar but higher tower.
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The tower consists of 25.500 white stones, each representing one day in the life of the dictator. The torch is made of metal and weighs 45 ton. The top is accessible with an elevator.
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Even if the building is impressive, you cannot deny that this construction cost a lot of money while most of the population works as slaves and in terrible conditions. The vanity of the regime is an insult to humanity and only based on illusions and lies. It illustrates that sometimes nothing is what it seems.