South Korea's No Cut News and Yonhap reported that North Korea's dictator Kim Jong Un kicked off the new year by paying a visit to the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun, also known as the Kim Il-Sung Mausoleum. The year 2015 has already begun in Korea and it is believed that Kim along with high ranking government and military officials had visited the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun also to commemorate the 70th anniversary of Korean independence from Japan and also the establishment of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
The Kumsusan Palace of the Sun was built in 1976 originally as Kim Il-Sung's personal, official residence. Kim Il-sung is the founder of the North Korean regime, and after his death in the summer of 1994, his son, Kim Jong-il deified his father and turned the palace into a mausoleum. Before his father's death, Kim Jong-il was the man in charge of propaganda and worked hard to create the god-like image of his father. He renovated the huge structure while thousands of citizens outside the capital were starving to death. The Kumsusan Palace is the largest memorial that was ever dedicated to a Communist leader.
In December 2011, Kim Jong-Il also died with his son Kim Jong Un in charge. Russian experts were brought to renovate the palace once again to permanently preserve Kim's body like that of other previous Communist leaders such as Vladimir Lenin and Mao Zedong. In February of 2012, it has been confirmed that Kim Jong-Il's body will be preserved in the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun alongside his father.
While foreign visitors are allowed to visit the palace, they are granted access only on Thursdays and Sundays. Smoking, video and photography are all banned in the entire structure. The visits must all be authorized by the North Korean government. One section of the palace is called the Hall of Tears, where there is a larger-than-life statue of Kim Il-Sung. An actress is there to tell the story of the death of the founder of North Korea. It is called the Hall of Tears because the actress' job is to make the visitors cry by telling them the story. All visitors are required to stop by this section of the palace.
The palace also preserves a number of artifacts that are relevant to the first Kim's life, including a medal that was awarded to him by the USSR after World War II for "victory over Japan" (Kim fought the Japanese while serving in the Soviet army). There are also paintings of other leaders that Kim had met on his trips abroad including Joseph Stalin, Mao Zedong, and more well-known figures such as former U.S. president Jimmy Carter Cuba's Che Guevara.
With the recent hacking of Sony Pictures and the release of The Interview there is a great deal of tension regarding North Korea and U.S. relations. Even with New Year literally on the horizon, South Korean border guards are still taking precautions to ensure nothing and no one goes across the DMZ.
