Kim Mausoleum

Kim Il Sung & Kim Jong Il Mausoleum - darkometer rating : 9 - Originally the grand final resting place of North Korea 's "Great Leader" Kim Il Sung (in his former palace) – but since 2012 he has been joined by his successor son, the equally deceased Dear Leader Kim Jong Il . It was already the most incredible place of its type in the world, the absolute pinnacle of the " Big 4 " (at the same time, however, the least accessible of them). Now, doubled to dual occupancy, it must be even more incredible. > More background info > What there is to see > Location > Access and costs > Time required > Combinations with other dark destinations > Combinations with non-dark destinations More background info: When North Korea 's "Great Leader" Kim Il Sung suddenly died in 1994, the country was in a state of (staged) national mourning that had never been seen on such a scale before. Hundreds of thousands of people filled the streets bawling their eyes out and collapsing in front of the television cameras swearing their hearts were so broken they couldn't imagine how they could possibly live on … all, of course, on a par with the degree of cult-of-personality that had already surrounded the big man in his lifetime. A three-year official period of mourning was decreed – and Kim Il Sung was eventually declared "eternal president". And indeed, to this day, guides refer to him as "our president" – when it's not the usual "Great Leader". Then, when his successor, the Great Leader's son Kim Jong Il , the Dear Leader, suddenly snuffed it as well at the end of 2011, the almost inevitable had to happen: the scenes of public mourning even topped those in 1994. And, perhaps less predictable, but not too surprisingly, Kim Two, too, was eventually laid to eternal rest next to the Eternal President, i.e. he's been kind-of reunited with his dead dad.