A Monument Symbolizing the Chollima Era

The Chollima Statue, a monument symbolizing the Chollima era, is standing high above the Mansu Hill in Pyongyang, the capital of the DPRK, demonstrating the heroic spirit and inexhaustible creative ability of the Korean people.

President Kim Il Sung decided to build a Chollima Statue as the one reflecting the heroic struggle of the Korean people in the Chollima era and led the creators to the creation of a new monument of our own style.

The great leader Comrade Kim Il Sung said:

"We should erect a Chollima statue. At the moment all our people are bringing about a great revolutionary upsurge in all fields of socialist construction at the speed of Chollima. Therefore, it would be a good idea to erect a statue of Chollima, which depicts a worker and a farmer galloping fast forward astride the horse, symbolizing the revolutionary spirit of our people who are bringing about a great revolutionary upsurge."

In September Juche 47 (1958) when they received a letter from the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea calling upon all the Party members and other working people to wage the Chollima Movement on all fronts of socialist construction, our people worked new miracles one after another in the revolution and construction by rushing forward in the spirit of Chollima, and finally our country was called "Chollima Korea" admired by all the people of the world.

In April Juche 48(1959), making a round of the construction site of Moranbong Park President Kim Il Sung said that a monument symbolizing the Chollima era should be erected on Mansu Hill and it would be good to build the statue like a horse.

In the past, an equestrian statue was regarded as a sculpture built in praise of the heroism or feats of outstanding individuals.

The President said to the creators who had intended to portray an individual on the Chollima Statue in the early days that if they portrayed a man sitting on Chollima at that time, the next generations would think that a man sitting on a horse was an individual hero representing the times, and earnestly taught them to make the masters of Chollima clearly known not to be individual heroes but the popular masses.

The creators got down to producing a draft with great creative excitement to erect a Chollima Statue, but none of them had ever created an equestrian statue. Moreover, as Chollima's portrayal was not the substantial figure, but it was engraved only in the hearts of our people, no one had ever seen it.

The first collective discussion of the drafts was made for more than a month, but no draft was approved because of many disagreements.

On November 17, Juche 48(1959), the President saw a draft of the Chollima Statue displayed in the waiting lounge of the building of the Party Central Committee.

Looking closely at the draft on which three horses were running towards the sky, President Kim Il Sung said that it was a good point to have a plan of popular portraying for the Chollima Statue, but it was a mistake to make the horse unremarkable. He pointed out the essential shortcoming of the draft at a go and clarified the solution that a man and a woman were to ride on a horse not on three horses on behalf of the popular masses from all strata.

The President continued to say it would be nice to make the horse winged as Chollima is a symbolic animal which symbolizes something unusually fast, and it would be better to portray a horse with a man riding in front with a red letter and a woman holding an apparatus behind the man.

The creators completed three drafts as instructed by President Kim Il Sung and showed them to him at the end of February, Juche 49 (1960).

One of them put stress on the speed of Chollima, another emphasized its symbol and the other was Chollima on lightning.

The President said it would be good to have a second draft mainly depicting the speed of Chollima, with the male worker holding a red letter, a hammer, a sickle and a brush in one hand, and said that it would be better to have only a red letter in one hand and a bird's fur in the belly of a horse should be removed, as it looked like the belly of a bird.

Carefully watching every part of the draft, from the portrayal of the worker and the peasant in Chollima to the wings of horses and their furs, he said it would be advisable to combine the portrayals of the horse's head in the first draft and the woman in the third draft.

Looking at the sculptures depicting clouds to represent the spirit of Chollima running above clouds, he said it would be good to reconsider the sculptures as they were good but wavelike.

The creators completed a miniature model for the original work of the Chollima Statue in slightly over a week since they were instructed by President Kim Il Sung.

In early March Juche 49(1960) President Kim Il Sung watched the miniature model nearby and then in the distance and expressed great satisfaction. He taught that as the Chollima Statue was a monument symbolizing the Chollima era, and a model should be built in the same size as the prototype to collect the opinions of the people.

The creative workers were deeply impressed by his boundless enquiry and his inexhaustibly humble popular traits to make it an immortal monument which would remain absolutely perfect even in the distant future and clearly reflect the wishes and aspirations of the people.

In less than a month, the creative workers built a model of the same size as the real one, and set it on the spot and put two books for opinions under it.

Hearing the news that the Chollima Statue was to be built, people from all walks of life rushed to Mansu Hill to write down their opinions without hesitation. The common thing was that the statue was rather small.

On June 10, Juche 49(1960), President Kim Il Sung came out to visit Moranbong Park and personally looked at the model of Chollima Statue and asked officials if the Chollima Statue was a little small.

He said that when he looked it up on the way to the local area a few days ago, it seemed a little small, and that it would be better to expand twice. He added that it should be larger as it would symbolize the Chollima era, and the lower part of Chollima statue should be well arranged.

The creators and creative workers finished building the prototype of the Chollima Statue, the world's biggest equestrian statue, in 36 days as soon as they were told the teachings of President Kim Il Sung, and stepped up the plaster cast and casting work to finish the construction of the Chollima Statue before the founding anniversary of the Workers' Party of Korea in Juche 49(1960).

The builders in charge of the construction of the Chollima Statue displayed mass heroism and creative wisdom and finally had a historic opening ceremony on April 15, Juche 50(1961) marking the 49th birth anniversary of the President.

Indeed, the Chollima Statue is a proud creation of the Chollima era which was born thanks to the outstanding wisdom and genius insight of President Kim Il Sung.