View source for Mansudae Overseas Projects

{{Short description|North Korean monument construction company}}
{{Infobox Korean name/auto
|hangul=^만수대_해외_개발회사
|hanja=萬壽臺海外開發會社
|lk=Mansudae Overseas Development Company
}}

'''Mansudae Overseas Projects''' ({{Korean|만수대해외개발회사}}) is a construction company based in [[Jongphyong-dong]], [[Phyongchon District]], [[Pyongyang]], North Korea.<ref name="NK 2009">{{cite web |last=Dannatt |first=Adrian |title=Art in the DPRK |url=http://www.nkeconwatch.com/category/dprk-organizations/companies/mansudae-overseas-development-group/page/2/ |publisher=North Korea Economy Watch |accessdate=10 October 2012 |date=April 22, 2009 |archive-date=24 October 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121024223259/http://www.nkeconwatch.com/category/dprk-organizations/companies/mansudae-overseas-development-group/page/2/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Mansudae Overseas Project Group of Companies |website=[[Naenara]] |archive-date=2005-02-13 |accessdate=2016-05-16 |url=http://www.kcckp.net/en/trade/trade-company.php?6+933 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050213003034/http://www.kcckp.net/en/trade/trade-company.php?6%20933 |url-status=dead }}</ref> 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 and 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]].<ref name="k">{{cite book | last = Kirkwood | first = Meghan L. E. | title = A companion to modern African Art | publisher = Wiley Blackwell | location = Chichester, West Sussex | year = 2013 | isbn = 9781444338379 | chapter = Postindependence Architecture through North Korean Modes: Namibian Commissions of the Mansudae Overseas Project}}</ref><ref name="millions">{{cite web |last=Winn |first=Patrick |title=North Korea propaganda unit builds monuments abroad |url=http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/asia-pacific/south-korea/110802/north-korea-cambodia-propaganda-angkor-wat |publisher=Global Post |accessdate=11 October 2012 |date=August 3, 2011 |archive-date=16 October 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121016211348/http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/asia-pacific/south-korea/110802/north-korea-cambodia-propaganda-angkor-wat |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="b">{{cite journal |title=Hollow Monuments |journal=Art Asia Pacific |date=2011 |last=Baecker |first=Angie |issue=72 |url=http://artasiapacific.com/Magazine/72/HollowMonuments |accessdate=2016-02-05 |archive-date=2015-12-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151208122054/http://artasiapacific.com/Magazine/72/HollowMonuments |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="c">{{cite journal |title=All Official Portraiture of North Korea's Reigning Kim Family Is Made By Mansudae Art Studio |journal=Colors |year=2013 |issue=87 |url=http://www.colorsmagazine.com/stories/magazine/87/story/all-official-portraiture-of-north-koreas-reigning-kim-family-is-made-by-man |accessdate=2016-09-18 |archive-date=2015-12-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151210192352/http://www.colorsmagazine.com/stories/magazine/87/story/all-official-portraiture-of-north-koreas-reigning-kim-family-is-made-by-man |url-status=live }}</ref>

==Notable works==
[[File:Monument de la Renaissance africaine (cropped).JPG|thumb|The [[African Renaissance Monument]] in Dakar, Senegal]]
Mansudae Overseas Projects is responsible for various monuments across Africa. They constructed the President Agostinho Neto Cultural Centre in [[Luanda]], [[Angola]],<ref name="Angolan 2012">{{cite web |title=Agostinho Neto Mausoleum |url=http://www.angolamarket.com/index.php?page=view/article/83/Agostinho-Neto-Mausoleum |publisher=The Angolan Market |accessdate=11 October 2012 |date=May 28, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140407081806/http://www.angolamarket.com/index.php?page=view%2Farticle%2F83%2FAgostinho-Neto-Mausoleum |archive-date=7 April 2014 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="Construction">{{cite web |title=Kim Yong Nam Visits Angolan Cultural Center under Construction |url=http://www.kcna.co.jp/item/2008/200803/news03/27.htm |publisher=[[Korean Central News Agency]] |accessdate=11 October 2012 |date=March 25, 2008 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110817135206/http://www.kcna.co.jp/item/2008/200803/news03/27.htm |archivedate=17 August 2011 }}</ref><ref name="CBS" /> a statue of [[Béhanzin]] in [[Benin]],<ref name="amy">{{cite web |last=Niang |first=Amy |title=African Renaissance, reloaded: the old man, the behemoth and the impossible legacy |url=https://wits.academia.edu/AmyNiang/Papers/159370/African_Renaissance_reloaded_the_old_man_the_behemoth_and_the_impossible_legacy |accessdate=23 December 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120426070421/http://wits.academia.edu/AmyNiang/Papers/159370/African_Renaissance_reloaded_the_old_man_the_behemoth_and_the_impossible_legacy |archive-date=26 April 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="CBS" /> the [[Three Dikgosi Monument]] in [[Botswana]],<ref name="amy" /><ref name="CBS" /> a statue of [[Laurent-Désiré Kabila]] in the [[Democratic Republic of the Congo]],<ref name="amy" /><ref name="CBS" /> the [[Tiglachin Monument]] in [[Addis Ababa]], [[Ethiopia]],<ref name="CBS" /><ref>{{cite news |last=Pearson |first=James |date=2016-12-01 |title=U.N. decapitates North Korea's statue export business |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-northkorea-nuclear-un-statues-idUSKBN13Q4Z8 |access-date=2021-05-13 |work=[[Reuters]] |location= |archive-date=2023-01-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230113192333/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-northkorea-nuclear-un-statues-idUSKBN13Q4Z8 |url-status=live }}</ref> the [[Samora Machel Statue]] in [[Maputo]], [[Mozambique]],<ref name="CBS" /><ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.colorsmagazine.com/stories/magazine/87/story/all-official-portraiture-of-north-koreas-reigning-kim-family-is-made-by-man | title = All Official Portraiture of North Korea's Reigning Kim Family Is Made by Mansudae Art Studio | year = 2015 | publisher = COLORS Magazine | location = Catena di Villorba (TV), Italy | accessdate = 2 February 2016 | archive-date = 10 December 2015 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20151210192352/http://www.colorsmagazine.com/stories/magazine/87/story/all-official-portraiture-of-north-koreas-reigning-kim-family-is-made-by-man | url-status = live }}</ref> and four public works in [[Namibia]]: the ''[[Heroes' Acre (Namibia)|Heroes' Acre]]'' (inaugurated August 2002), the [[Okahandja Military Museum]] (inaugurated 2004), the [[State House of Namibia]] (inaugurated 2008), and the [[Independence Memorial Museum (Namibia)|Independence Memorial Museum]] (inaugurated 2014).<ref name="k" /> 

In [[Senegal]], the company built the [[African Renaissance Monument]].<ref name="amy" /><ref name="CBS" /> Mansudae Overseas Project also constructed the [[National Heroes' Acre (Zimbabwe)|National Heroes' Acre]] in [[Zimbabwe]],<ref name="CBS" /> which closely mirrors the design of the [[Revolutionary Martyrs' Cemetery]] in [[Taesong-guyŏk]].<ref name="k" /> Also in ZImbabwe, the [[statue of Joshua Nkomo]] was constructed by the company.<ref name="CBS">{{Cite web |date=2018-11-16 |title=North Korea builds monuments around the world |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/pictures/north-korea-mansudae-art-studio-monuments-around-the-world/ |access-date=2025-06-28 |website=[[CBS News]] |language=en-US |archive-date=2025-06-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250625101856/https://www.cbsnews.com/pictures/north-korea-mansudae-art-studio-monuments-around-the-world/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

In [[Cambodia]], the [[Angkor Panorama Museum]] was built next to the temples of [[Angkor]]. The museum was operated jointly by [[APSARA]] and Mansudae, with about half of 40 staff members being from North Korea.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://yle.fi/uutiset/pohjois-korean_tuorein_tulonlahde__taidekauppaa_angkorin_raunioilla/8710536|title=Pohjois-Korean tuorein tulonlähde – taidekauppaa Angkorin raunioilla|last=Mäkeläinen|first=Mika|website=[[YLE]]|language=Finnish|date=2 April 2016|access-date=2 April 2016|archive-date=6 April 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160406014832/http://yle.fi/uutiset/pohjois-korean_tuorein_tulonlahde__taidekauppaa_angkorin_raunioilla/8710536|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2020, the museum was closed indefinitely due to international sanctions.<ref>{{Cite web|first=Sung-mi|last=Ahn|date=2020-01-05|title=NK museum in Cambodia closes as workers repatriated|url=http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20200105000197|access-date=2021-10-20|website=[[The Korea Herald]]|language=en|archive-date=2021-10-20|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211020042030/http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20200105000197|url-status=live}}</ref>

Mansudae also worked on the reconstruction of the {{ill|Fairy Tale Fountain, Frankfurt|de|Frankfurter Märchenbrunnen|lt=Fairy Tale Fountain}} in [[Frankfurt]], Germany, an art nouveau relic from 1910 that had been melted down for its metal during World War II. Germany is the only western nation to have a North Korean-built structure.<ref>{{Cite news|url = https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2013-06-06/mansudae-art-studio-north-koreas-colossal-monument-factory|title = Mansudae Art Studio, North Korea's Colossal Monument Factory|last = Winter|first = Caroline|newspaper = Bloomberg|date = 6 June 2013|access-date = 2016-03-18|archive-date = 2019-04-13|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190413234410/https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2013-06-06/mansudae-art-studio-north-koreas-colossal-monument-factory|url-status = live}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

== Further reading ==
* {{cite book|title=Mansudae Overseas Project Group of Companies|year=2013|publisher=Foreign Languages Publishing House|location=Pyongyang|oclc=913431031}}

==External links==
{{portal|North Korea}}
{{Commons category}}
* [https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2013-06-06/mansudae-art-studio-north-koreas-colossal-monument-factory Mansudae Art Studio, North Korea's Colossal Monument Factory]
* [[hdl:1887/75067|Tycho van der Hoog: ''Monuments of power: the North Korean origin of nationalist heritage in Namibia and Zimbabwe''. - Leiden : African Studies Centre, 2019]]
* [http://hdl.handle.net/1887/52194 Tycho van der Hoog: ''North Korean monuments in southern Africa: Legitimizing party rule through the National Heroes’ Acres in Zimbabwe and Namibia''. Leiden, 2017]

[[Category:Mansudae Overseas Projects| ]]
[[Category:Architecture in Namibia]]
[[Category:Construction and civil engineering companies of North Korea]]
[[Category:Architecture in North Korea]]
[[Category:Socialist realism]]