Buddhist Temples

There are some Buddhist temples in North Korea. Somehow Kim Il Sung knew that he had to stop revolutionary forces to destroy the rest of their old heritage that fires and shells of the Korean War hadn’t consumed. Nowadays North Korea tries to rebuild its history and sometimes, e.g. the kings’ graves, with surreal effects. Not so with the Buddhist temples. The ones you can visit are in good shape and masterly restored. You will see “monks” in the temples, but I think only one was really a monk, the others were actors, who only knew how often the Great Leader Kim Il Sung had visited the temple. There is an easy question to make sure, who may be a real monk: “Are you really a monk?” The wrong answer is: “Yes, of course.” But the real monk will answer: “Maybe.”

The pictures show Songbul Temple at the foot of Chonsong Peak (built in 898) and Anhwa Temple near Kaesong.