Pothong Gate in Pyongyang, Boasting of its Long History

President Kim Il Sung said:

"The Taedong and Pothong gates in Pyongyang are our nation's valuable cultural asset bequeathed by our ancestors."

Pothong Gate is one of the precious cultural heritages showing the long history and brilliant culture of Pyongyang which is the capital of the DPR Korea.

Pothong Gate in Pothongmundong, Central District, was first built in the middle of the 6th century as the west gate to the central castle of the walled city of Pyongyang which was the capital of Koguryo.

Pothong Gate was used to be the west gate of SoGyong in the period of Koryo Dynasty and it was described "Kwangdok Gate" in "The History of Koryo Dynasty" and it also had another name of "Uyang Gate" which implies that they could see the morning sun once more in that building.

Later, it was named Pothong Gate because it was located on the bank of the Pothong River. In the period of the Feudal Joson Dynasty it had great importance in the field of military and transportation as it was the gate to the northwest.

The existing gate was repaired in 1473 in a large scale and has undergone several enlargements.

From olden times, "Pothongsonggaek (the scene of seeing the visitor off at Pothong Gate)" was famous for being one of the eight famous beauty scenes in Pyongyang.

Pothong Gate is one of the oldest remaining gates in our country.

It consists of a heavy embankment and a solemn two-storey gatehouse.

The embankment was built with granite which was carefully trimmed and laid in a balanced way and there is an arch(4.4 m wide and 4.55 m high) in the center of the embankment. The arch is semicircular and the solemn wooden doors are covered with iron-plates.

A structure which leans towards the inner part was built to reinforce the embankment on a plane view and there are battlements on the embankment.

The gatehouse is a double-eaved and two-storey gabled house with three spaces(14.8 m) in the facade and three spaces (9.15 m) on sides.

With the structure which leans towards the inner part built on the embankment on a plane view and with anvils in four corner pillars, the gate was reinforced and better looking. In the center of the gatehouse the wooden floor was laid down and the left and right columns of the floor stretched up to the second floor. The ridge beam was supported by a Hwaban-shaped king post. The gatehouse was covered with a red and blue anvil.

The gate is extremely stable and balanced.

Pothong Gate is an unusual architectural legacy from the early days of the Feudal Joson Dynasty, which contains various elements of Koryo architecture. The diameter of the central part of the column is bigger than those of the upper and lower parts of the column, three cow tongue-shaped bracket is put up between the column and the beam on the inside and outside and the decoration of the bracket is plain, the left and right sides of the ridge beams are supported by ㅅ-shaped support structure and all of these are elements of Koryo architecture.

During the Imjin Patriotic War, Pothong Gate was called the "Sinmun" even though the Japanese imperialists submerged Pyongyang in the sea of flames, and in the period of the Fatherland Liberation War the people sacrificed the gate when it was ignited by the brutal bombing of the U.S. imperialists.

Pothong Gate is marked with the immortal exploits of the great Leaders.

President Kim Il Sung, believing in the victory in the days of the torrential war, said that Pyongyang should be built to be a beautiful city where the Korean-style and the modern-style buildings are architecturally balanced by preserving the excellent national cultural heritages of the Korean nation including Pothong Gate on several occasions including May 21, Juche 40 (1951).

Under the loving care of the President, the reconstructions of the historical relics including Pothong Gate and Taedong Gate were given the first priority in the post-war period even though they were short of everything.

Upholding the President's plan for building the capital, Chairman Kim Jong Il ushered in the golden age of constructing Pyongyang and wisely led the work to preserve and add brilliance to the historical relics including Taedong Gate and Pothong Gate.

Thus, Pothong Gate became the centre of traffic linking Pothong Gate Street, Chollima Street and Mansudae Street, all of which lead to other parts of the city.

Today, the Pothong riverside terraced residential district has been built as the cradle of the people under the loving care of the respected Comrade Kim Jong Un near Pothong Gate, and these contribute to pervade the national mood of Pyongyang.