The construction of the War Memorial
of Korea was completed in December 1993. The project was carried in
consultation with war experts while collecting a wide range of
exhibition items at home and from abroad. Upon the completion of the
interior the War Memorial of Korea opened officially on June 10,
1994, and became the largest landmark of its kind in the world.
Located on the old site of Army
Headquarters, the War Memorial of Korea accommodates four
aboveground floors and two underground floors in the main building,
which stands on an area of about 20,000 square meters. On the green
area around the memorial, loudspeaker emissions to foster patriotic
spirit can be heard.
In
cloistered left and right galleries flanking the facade of the main
building are rows of black marble monuments inscribed with the names
of those who died during the Korean and Vietnam Wars and of
policemen who died on duty. The plaza in the museum compound has an
artificial waterfall, and around it are widespread rest areas so
that visitors can picnic while enjoying the pleasant landscape. In
the center of the plaza stands the Statue of Brothers, the elder a
South Korean soldier and the younger a North Korean soldier, which
symbolizes the situation of Korea's division.
