Chosŏn'gŭl 만수대해외개발회사 | Hancha 萬壽臺海外開發會社 Founded 1967 | |
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Revised Romanization Mansudae Haeoe Gaebal Hoesa McCune–Reischauer Mansudae Haeoe Kaebal Hoesa | ||
Mansudae Overseas Projects is a construction company based in Jongphyong-dong, Phyongchon District, Pyongyang, North Korea. It is the international commercial division of the Mansudae Art Studio. As of August 2011, it had earned an estimated US$ 160 million overseas building monuments and memorials. As of 2015, Mansudae projects have been built in 17 countries: Angola, Algeria, Benin, Botswana, Cambodia, Chad, Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Germany, Malaysia, Mali, Mozambique, Namibia, Senegal, Togo, Zimbabwe. The company uses North Korean artists, engineers, and construction workers rather than those of the local artists and workers. Sculptures, monuments, and buildings are in the style of North Korean socialist realism.
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Angola
Mansudae Overseas Projects constructed the President Dr. Agostinho Neto Cultural Center in Luanda, Angola.
Benin
In Benin, the company has built a statue of Béhanzin.
Botswana
In Botswana, it constructed the Three Dikgosi Monument, also called the Three Chiefs monument.
Cambodia
Angkor Panorama museum was built next to the Angkor temples. The museum is operated jointly by APSARA and Mansudae. About half of 40 staff members are from North Korea. Unlike the earlier Mansudae's projects abroad, this time North Korea is attempting to make money by complementary sales of tickets and art. As of April 2016 the museum is projected to be completely handed over to Cambodians in twenty years, unless North Korean profits stay low, and the time needs to be extended. Amount of visitors to the museum have been meager so far. However, Cambodian deputy director of the museum stated in an interview that in the present day it is very hard to make money with museums, and he remarked that marketing of the museum has not yet started.
Democratic Republic of Congo
In the Democratic Republic of Congo, it has built a statue of Laurent-Désiré Kabila.
Ethiopia
The Tiglachin Monument, also known as the Derg Monument, is a 50 metres (160 ft) tall pillar erected in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in 1984. The monument has fallen into neglect.
Germany
Reconstruction of Frankfurt’s so-called Fairy Tale Fountain, an art nouveau relic from 1910 that had been melted down for its metal during World War II.
Mozambique
In Mozambique, Mansudae Overseas Projects constructed the Samora Machel Statue in Independence Square, Maputo in 2011.
Namibia
Namibia is the only country to have commissioned four public works by Mansudae Overseas Projects.
Senegal
In Senegal, the company built the African Renaissance Monument.
Zimbabwe
National Heroes Acre a 57-acre (230,000 m2) burial ground and national monument in near Harare, Zimbabwe. Work began on the site in 1981 and used by Zimbabwean and North Korean workers. It closely mirrors the design of the Revolutionary Martyrs' Cemetery in Taesong-guyŏk, just outside Pyongyang, North Korea.
The Joshua Nkomo Statue was constructed in 2010 in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. The statue had to be removed immediately due to public outcry; thousands of supporters of Joshua Nkomo were killed by troops trained by North Korea advisors.