The Olympic torch made its first-ever visit to Pyongyang, the capital of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) on Monday, with hundreds of thousands people in traditional Korean dresses dancing and beating drums, and little girls waving flowers along the 20-kilometer route.
The relay began from the Juche Tower, which commemorates* the national ideology* of “self-reliance” created by the country’s late founding leader Kim Il-sung.
At the start of the run, Kim Yong-nam, president of the Supreme People’s Assembly, the top legislature* of the DPRK, handed the torch to the first runner, Park Tu-ik.
Park, 72, scored the winner in the DPRK’s 1-0 win over Italy to send his team to the World Cup soccer quarter-finals in 1966. He said he had been running every morning to prepare for the special moment.
The five-hour relay was completed in the afternoon with the last torchbearer, Chong Song-ok, lighting the Olympic flame in the Kim Il-sung Stadium.
Chong, crowned at the 1999 world athletics championships and hailed as a “Marathon Queen” by DPRK media, said as a former marathoner, the Olympic torch relay has a special meaning for her.
(SD-Agencies)
Geography — DPRK
Location: Eastern Asia, northern half of the Korean Peninsula bordering the Korea Bay and the Sea of Japan, between China and South Korea
Area: 120,540 sq km
Land boundaries: 1,673 km
Border countries: China 1,416 km, South Korea 238 km, Russia 19 km
Coastline: 2,495 km
Climate: temperate with rainfall concentrated in summer
Terrain: mostly hills and mountains separated by deep, narrow valleys; coastal plains wide in west, discontinuous in east
Natural resources: coal, lead, tungsten, zinc, graphite, magnesite, iron ore, copper, gold, pyrites, salt, fluorspar, hydropower
Natural hazards: late spring droughts often followed by severe flooding; occasional typhoons during the early fall
Help
commemorate v. 纪念
ideology n. 意识形态
legislature n. 立法机构
Questions for Research
1. Which is the capital and largest city in DPRK?
A. Sariwon B. Wonsan
C. Pyongyang D. Kanggye
2. Which flag is the national flag of DPRK?
3. Which country borders DPRK to the north ?
A. Japan B. China
C. Mongolia D. Russia
4. Which leader led DPRK from its foundation in 1948 up to 1994 ?
A. Yi Tong-hwi B. Kim II-sung
C. Kim Jong-il D. Choi Yong-kun
5. Who has been the head of DPRK since 1994?
A. Yi Tong-hwi B. Kim II-sung
C. Kim Jong-il D. Choi Yong-kun
6. As well as the Yalu River which other river forms a border with DPRK and China ?
A. Tumen River B. Imjin River
C. Ryesong River D. Taedong River
