Last week, NK News analysis of satellite imagery revealed that North Korea had demolished the Monument to the Three Charters for National Reunification in Pyongyang, a large arch symbolizing hope for unification with South Korea. 

The destruction viscerally demonstrated leader Kim Jong Un’s resolve to abandon the goal of peaceful unification, following up on his order to remove the “eye-sore” monument and eliminate “such concepts as ‘reunification,’ ‘reconciliation’ and ‘fellow countrymen’ from the national history of our Republic.”

But the arch was more than just a unification symbol — it was a towering memorial to the dreams and achievements of