UPDATE 1 (2012-4-25): Better late than never! The statue of Kim Jong-suk has finally been unveiled. According to KCNA:
A hall where stands a wax replica of anti-Japanese war hero Kim Jong Suk was opened at the International Friendship Exhibition House of the DPRK.
Standing in the hall is a wax replica depicting woman commander of anti-Japanese guerillas Kim Jong Suk in uniform of the anti-Japanese guerrilla army on the table land full of azaleas in full bloom against the background of Mt. Paektu.
The gifts she received from personages and people of various countries are on display there.
An opening ceremony took place on Tuesday.
Present there were Kim Ki Nam and Choe Thae Bok, members of the Political Bureau and secretaries of the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea, and others.
Present there on invitation were staff members of the Chinese embassy here and the chief of the hall of wax replicas of great persons in China and his party.
Choe Thae Bok expressed deep thanks to personages of the Chinese hall for representing the wax replica of Kim Jong Suk.
He said the noble life of Kim Jong Suk was the most brilliant one of an outstanding woman revolutionary.
Zhang Molei, chief of the hall, in his speech bitterly grieved over the demise of leader Kim Jong Il, saying it was their wish to successfully represent the wax replica of Kim Jong Suk so they could please leader Kim Jong Il.
Expressing the will to do more things to contribute to the building of thriving socialist nation in the DPRK, he expressed belief that the Korean people would overcome difficulties and win great victory under the leadership of the dear respected Kim Jong Un.
The participants paid tribute to Kim Jong Suk and looked round the gifts on display.
You can see video of the unveiling here (KCNA, YouTube).
ORIGINAL POST (20120-10-19): According to the Korea Times:
China plans to send North Korea a life-size statue of Kim Jong-il’s biological mother as a gift, a local newspaper said, citing a North Korean document.
The waxwork statue of Kim Jong-sook, reportedly proposed by Kim Jong-il and accepted by China, will be shipped to the North in early December, Dong-a Ilbo said Saturday.
This year marks the 70th anniversary of the marriage between Kim Il-sung, the founder of North Korea, and Kim Jong-sook.
The project will be carried out by the China Waxwork Museum for Great Figures, which in the past also built famous Chinese individuals such as Mao Zedong and Jiang Zemin, the report said.
The North Korean Embassy in Beijing thanked the museum for carrying out the task which will “further enhance ties between the peoples of the two countries,” the report said, citing a North Korean embassy document dated July 15, which it obtained.
The newspaper didn’t say how it obtained the document.
Once completed, the statue will be sent to North Korea by a 10-member Chinese delegation and will be placed next to the wax statue of Kim Il-sung, which was also donated by China in 1996, it said.
Read the full story here:
China to donate statue of Kim Jong-il’s mother
Korea Times
10/16/2010
