In Kaesong City which was the capital of Koryo, there are many historical remains from the period of the kingdom, such as Manwoldae, Namdae Gate, the Mausoleum of King Wang Kon, the Mausoleum of King Kyonghyo, Koryo Songgyungwan (the highest institution of learning at the time), Sungyang Confucian Shrine and Academy and Sonjuk Bridge.

   On his on-the-spot guidance tour of Kaesong on May 5, Juche 81 (1992), President Kim Il Sung inspected the tomb of King Wang Kon, the founder of Koryo which was the first unified state of Korea.

   At that time, the road to the mausoleum was rugged as it was a country lane.

   But the President headed for the royal tomb, saying he should visit it inspite the poor condition of the road.

   The surroundings of the tomb were disordered, the altar was shabby and the parapet around the tomb was in disrepair.

   Looking around the accompanying officials, he said those who had not come to see the tomb of ancestors should be beaten on the hips and said it was wrong that though the Mausoleum of King Kyonghyo, the 31^st king of Koryo, was widely introduced in such publications as pictorials, there was no introduction about the Mausoleum of King Wang Kon, the founder of Koryo.

   And he noted that as they had not taken care of the tomb like that, King Wang Kon might rebuke us descendants under the ground for being disrespectful to their ancestors.

   Wang Kon was a military officer of the State of Taebong which was a powerful feudal force in the Kaesong area. He became the lord of a castle at the age of 19 and became king at 41.

   After he founded Koryo, he annexed Silla and Later Paekje and demonstrated national power of Koryo, the first unified state of Korea which succeeded Koguryo.

   Today Korea is called thus in English, Korea in German, Корея in Russian and Corée in French and this derives from the name of Koryo with the history of nearly 500 years.

   But although the officials regarded the tomb of King Kyonghyo, which was built magnificently, as of historical value, they did not care about the tomb of King Wang Kon.

   President Kim Il Sung set their wrong views right and taught them to reconstruct the King Wang Kon’s tomb properly.

   If foreign guests want to see royal tombs, he said, they should show them King Wang Kon’s tomb before King Kyonghyo’s tomb. In order to do so, he continued, it is necessary to build a road straight to King Wang Kon’s tomb, arrange its surroundings and always keep them neat and tidy.

   That day the President also visited the Mausoleum of King Kyonghyo.

   The platform of the first floor of the mausoleum was 15 metres high, 40 metres long from east to west and 24 metres wide from north to south, and at the centre of it there were tombs of the king and the queen.

   Screen stones carved in 12 horary signs like mouse, cattle, tiger and rabbit were put around at the bottom of tombs and stone tigers and sheep were put alternately around the outside of the parapet of the tombs. And on the left and right corners of the second and third floors, there were stone statues depicting civil and military officials.

   As stone carvings were depicted at high level and arranged in a harmonious way, the mausoleum reminded viewers of a “stone art museum”.

   After looking around the mausoleum, he said that the stone statues of civil and military officials were well made at the mausoleum.

   Originally, King Kyonghyo constructed his and his wife’s tombs magnificently by mobilizing people for nearly 10 years but did not care about the tomb of King Wang Kon though the latter was his ancestor.

   The tomb of King Wang Kon was as good as the tomb of a rich old man in a village as compared to King Kyonghyo’s mausoleum, he said. He continued to say that Koryo ruling circles did not keep their ancestors’ tombs properly, which means that they did not value their national history and therefore they worshipped big countries and ruined the nation. He then noted it was a big mistake that the tomb of King Wang Kon was built poorly as compared to that of King Kyonghyo, who undermined national strength and ruined the country.

   And looking round his entourage, he said we are also the descendants of Koryo, and if we do not build the tomb of King Wang Kon properly, our descendants will rebuke us.

   He said it was advisable for historians to meet and discuss how to reconstruct the tomb and it would become magnificent if they built statues of civil and military officials, tigers, horses and the like at the tomb like at King Kyonghyo’s mausoleum. He continued that pine and other fast-growing trees should be planted around the tomb in order to ensure its majesty. Saying he sent the pine-nut trees that were grown tall at his residence to Kwangbok Street, he added that there still remained such trees and proposed planting them at the tomb of King Wang Kon.

   Listening to him, the officials were deeply impressed by the noble spirit of the President who value historical remains of the nation so much.

   Much struck with admiration at the news, the descendants of Wang family, who had lived on by changing their surname to avoid harsh persecution since the establishment of the feudal Joson dynasty, presented to President Kim Il Sung their valuable relics including their genealogical record which they had handed down for generations as heirlooms.

   Upholding his instructions officials and people totally reconstructed the Mausoleum of King Wang Kon majestically and magnificently as befits the tomb of the founder of the unified state of Korea in Juche 83 (1994).

   Like this, under the wise leadership of President Kim Il Sung, the Mausoleum of King Wang Kon which was vanishing with our passage of time came to shine brilliantly as a valuable treasure of the nation to be handed down to posterity.