Sogwang Temple in the DPRK
"Today I prayed at a church that this year marking the 110th birth anniversary of President
In the e-mail he asked if we have a church or a temple in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. If we have any, he wants to visit it, he said and requested us to let him know.
There are churches and temples in different places of the capital and provinces in Korea.
The foreign visitors to Korea can go pray at a church or a temple according to their will.
Now we introduce the Sogwang Temple in brief for those listeners who want to know a lot about our country.
The Sogwang Temple is found in Kosan County of Kangwon Province. It was built first in 1386 in the closing years of the Koryo Dynasty. Afterwards, many structures were built during the feudal Joson dynasty (1392--1910). So the temple became a large-scale one with over 50 big and small structures. It is one of the biggest temples of Korea. It is a valuable cultural heritage comprehensively showing the excellent architecture of the Korean ancestors from the last period of the Koryo Dynasty to the feudal Joson dynasty.
Most of the Sogwang Temple was destroyed by the barbaric bombing of the US imperialists during the past Fatherland Liberation War (1950--1953).
Thanks to the state's policy on protecting the national heritages, however, the temple was reconstructed with success in Juche 108(2019), making it possible to hand down the precious cultural heritages of the nation forever.
Parts of the reconstructed Sogwang Temple
In the DPRK those places with the Sogwang and other temples and churches have been built into cultural recreation resorts for the people.