The Point He Re-emphasized

It was in 1956 that the project of the Pyongyang Schoolchildren’s Palace started to be designed. At that time, Korea was in a difficult economic situation and had a lot of things to do.

At this juncture, Kim Il Sung, top leader of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, proposed to build schoolchildren’s palaces in Pyongyang and Kaesong. True to his intention, architects drew up designs with the total floor space of 8 200 square metres each.

Examining the designs several times, the leader said that large and wonderful palaces should be built for children and told the architects to design great structures with 50 000 square metres each, which was over five times larger than the original one.

One day in 1961 when the foundation and brickwork of the palace were underway, Kim Il Sung called in some officials concerned to indicate the direction and ways to build a fine palace, saying that as they were working for the good of younger generation, flower buds of the nation, they should erect a good palace for them.

Later, visiting the construction site, he advised to coat floors and walls of the entrance and other halls with marble, adding that high-quality marble should be used for none other than children and that they should spare no expense for them.

That day, he emphasized repeatedly that the palace should be built as edifice of eternal value.