Mansu Hill Grand Monument, Monument complex in Pyongyang, North Korea

The Mansudae Grand Monument centres on two 22-metre bronze statues of Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il on pale stone pedestals reached by a wide flight of steps. Kim Il-sung, in a long overcoat, raises his right hand with open palm; Kim Jong-il stands with arms slightly out from his sides. Behind them, the Korean Revolution Museum wall carries a mosaic mural of Mount Paektu, and rows of soldiers, workers and farmers, about 5 m tall, extend on either side, 229 figures in all.

Kim Jong Il erected the monument in April 1972 for Kim Il Sung's 60th birthday, when it showed Kim Il Sung alone overlooking Pyongyang. The statue was gilded five years later, then stripped of its gold leaf after Deng Xiaoping objected to how Chinese aid was spent. After Kim Jong Il's death in 2011 a statue of him was placed on the north side, and Kim Il Sung's figure was reworked to a later, smiling face with a Western suit replacing his Mao suit.

Locals are required to lay flowers before the statues, and wedding couples are often photographed there. All visitors, foreign ones included, are expected to bow; foreigners may also leave flowers. The sound system plays solemn music around the clock.

All visitors, local and foreign, are expected to bow before the statues, and locals must lay flowers while foreigners may do so. Photographs are allowed only if they show the statues in full; close-ups of any part of them are forbidden. A wide flight of pale stone steps leads up to the pedestals.

The mosaic of Mount Paektu behind the statues forms the wall of the Korean Revolution Museum building. Flanking the central pair, two long monuments carry rows of soldiers, workers and farmers averaging 5 m tall, bringing the complex to 229 figures in all.