history

Among the national cultural heritage elements of the DPRK is the Walled City of Pyongyang which was the capital of the Koguryo Kingdom (277 BC-668 AD).

It was in 427 that Koguryo moved its capital to Pyongyang.

It built the new capital by enclosing the whole city with walls on its great national strength, hence the Walled City of Pyongyang.

The walled city built between 552 and 586 was surrounded by Moran Hill with rugged ridges and precipitous cliffs to the north and by Taedong and Pothong rivers as natural moats to the east, west and south, so it was inimical to foreign invasion and instrumental to defence.

The inside of the walled city was partitioned by walls into the keep and the middle, outer and northern parts. The total length of the walled city’s walls, including those of the four parts, was approximately 23km. There were seven command posts in the walled city. Typical of them are Ulmil Pavilion in the keep and Choesung Pavilion in the northern part.