Victorious War Museum

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Victorious Fatherland Liberation War Museum
조국해방전쟁승리기념관
Kŏnsŏl

The Victorious War Museum, or the Victorious Fatherland Liberation War Museum, is a history/military museum dedicated to the Korean War located in the North Korean capital-city of Pyongyang.[1]

The museum was first set up in August 1953[2] and built in the Central District of Pyongyang, initially named as the "Fatherland Liberation War Museum." In April 1963, it was relocated to the Sosong District and re-established in a purpose-built building compound.

In 2014, the museum was renovated and upgraded significantly[3] and the new design included a building spanning across the nearby Botong River, together with a large panorama-style display hall at the top.

Exhibits

The general character and influence of the museum reflects the official North Korean view of their 'success in fighting against their American arch-enemy and its puppet state of South Korea', and much of the museum presents the victories of North Korea and its military over its enemies, which are shown to be 'utterly defeated and broken by the might of the DPRK'. Such can be seen from how a display in the museum shows a large cache of captured US infantry-based weapons and combat-helmets stacked up, presenting the idea of the severe casualties sustained by the US military in the Korean War.[citation needed]

Exhibits in the museum include a 360-degree full-scale diorama and

US Navy vessel that was captured by North Korea when it allegedly entered North Korean territorial waters in January 1968. Local and foreign visitors to the museum are allowed to board the ship, now permanently moored on the river beside the museum, and enter and see the ship's secret code-room (which contains classified military intelligence and information on board) and former ship and crew artifacts now put on display, such as a US flag.[5][unreliable source
]

Alleged sinking of USS Baltimore

The museum has several exhibits that claim that the U.S. Navy

Atlantic Fleet. In 1955, Baltimore was transferred to the Pacific Fleet two years after the Korean War. Clearly, the ship was nowhere near Korea during the three years of conflict there.[6]

The

actual battle involved light cruiser USS Juneau as well as the Royal Navy's sloop HMS Black Swan and cruiser HMS Jamaica. Together, they destroyed several (at least 3) North Korean torpedo boats without suffering losses or damage.[6]

  • The North Korean propaganda poster proclaiming the sinking of USS Baltimore.
    The North Korean propaganda poster proclaiming the sinking of USS Baltimore.
  • The North Korean torpedo boat, No. 21, that supposedly sunk the heavy cruiser Baltimore.
    The North Korean torpedo boat, No. 21, that supposedly sunk the heavy cruiser Baltimore.

See also

References

  1. ^ Democratic People's Republic of Korea – Museums (Archived April 3, 2013, at the Wayback Machine)
  2. ^ "Victorious War Museum". 24 February 2022. Archived from the original on 26 November 2022. Retrieved 4 August 2023 – via PressReader.
  3. ^ "War Museum in Pyongyang". Korean Central News Agency. 27 July 2014. Archived from the original on 11 October 2014. Retrieved 28 July 2014.
  4. ^ "Must see attractions in Pyongyang, North Korea".
  5. ^ Donenfeld, Jeffrey (19 April 2015). "Full report: VIsit to North Korea and the Pyongyang marathon". jeffreydonenfeld.com. Retrieved 19 August 2015.
  6. ^ a b Salmon, Andrew (2012). Scorched Earth, Black Snow. Aurum. p. 41.

Further reading

External links