North Korea’s ‘white tiger’ art studio constructing panoramas and statues abroad | NK News
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North Korea’s ‘white tiger’ art studio constructing panoramas and statues abroad

While Mansudae is more famous, the little-known Paekho studio can raise funds for the regime while avoiding detection
Benjamin R. Young October 29, 2021
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North Korea’s ‘white tiger’ art studio constructing panoramas and statues abroad
Wuxi Cultural Expo FreeWeChat page | Portrait of a woman created by Paekho Art Studio's Ri Chol Jin in 2013

For years, North Korea’s Mansudae Art Studio has grabbed world news headlines for its statue-building enterprises around the world: from the 160-feet-tall African Renaissance Monument in Senegal and the Heroes’ Acre war memorial in Namibia to the bronze statues of Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il that tower over Pyongyang.

Yet Mansudae is far from North Korea’s only art studio. Originally established by the North Korean military, the little-known Paekho Art Studio in Pyongyang has had a long and ongoing global outreach. 

Artists from the Korea Paekho Trading Corporation, which operates the studio, built panoramas in the

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About the Author

Benjamin R. Young

Benjamin R. Young

Benjamin R. Young, Ph.D. has taught at Virginia Commonwealth University, Dakota State University and the U.S. Naval War College. He was a 2024-25 Stanton Foundation Nuclear Security Fellow at the RAND Corporation. He is now an Assistant Professor of Intelligence Studies at Fayetteville State University. He is the author of the book "Guns, Guerillas, and the Great Leader: North Korea and the Third World" (Stanford University Press, 2021).

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