On August 22, 1968, Chairman Kim Jong Il visited the Mausoleum of King Kyonghyo (Kongmin) during his tour of the historical relics in Kaesong together with officials.

   Looking round the mausoleum, he said: This is an old royal mausoleum for Kyonghyo, the 31^st king of Koryo, and his wife. It is large in scale, and its stone sculptures are good. This alone shows that sculptural art was developed in the period of Koryo. The stone sculptures of military officials stand one step lower than those of civil officials, not on the same level. It seems that King Kyonghyo treated military officials as inferior to their civil counterparts. It does not do to scorn military officials. Civil and military officials must be treated alike.

   It was a clear assessment which analysed the weakness of the political system in the closing years of Koryo.

   Noting that the mausoleum is a precious historical relic permeated with the talents of the Korean people, he underscored the need to preserve and maintain historical relics as they were and hand them down to the rising generation. Thus, we can imbue the rising generation with patriotic ideas and heighten their national pride, he stressed.