Atrocities Museum, Sinchon
- darkometer rating: 7 -
A museum in the south-western village of Sinchon, North Korea, whose purpose in life it is to document and illustrate the alleged war crimes committed by the "US imperialists" in the Korean War. Hence its full name in English: Sinchon Museum of American War Atrocities.
It's sometimes included in pre-organized itineraries (see North Korea) – when I went in August 2005, there was talk of it being an option, but then it never materialized, unfortunately. But you may have more luck. (I'd be interested in hearing any reports about it – please contact me).
The museum is said to have "an array of gruesome exhibits" which are not for the squeamish – sounds like a dark tourism destination to me! And photos I have meanwhile seen certainly confirm this … maybe the darkometer rating should go up a notch or two …
The stop at Sinchon is usually (if at all) worked into excursions west of Pyongyang, whose "highlight" is supposed to be the West Sea Barrage – a massive dam controlling the tidal Taedong river estuary. An engineering feat, no doubt, but it's hard to get the same sense of glamour out of the West Sea Barrage as the North Koreans seem to derive from it and thus expect of foreigners too. But it sure makes for yet another bizarre experience in this weird country …
Location of the West Sea Barrage: on the west coast of North Korea, as the name implies, more precisely at the mouth of the Taedong river estuary.
Google maps locator: [38.681,125.176]