Mansudae Overseas Projects


Mansudae Overseas Projects is a construction company based in Jongphyong-dong, Phyongchon District, Pyongyang, North Korea. 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.

Angola

Mansudae Overseas Projects constructed the President Dr. Agostinho Neto Cultural Center in Luanda, Angola.

Benin

In Benin, the company has built a statue of Béhanzin.

Botswana

In Botswana, it constructed the Three Dikgosi Monument, also called the Three Chiefs monument.

Cambodia

was built next to the Angkor temples. The museum is operated jointly by APSARA and Mansudae. About half of 40 staff members are from North Korea. Unlike the earlier Mansudae's projects abroad, this time North Korea is attempting to make money by complementary sales of tickets and art. the museum is projected to be completely handed over to Cambodians in twenty years, unless North Korean profits stay low, and the time needs to be extended. The number of visitors to the museum have been meager so far. However, Cambodian deputy director of the museum stated in an interview that in the present day it is very hard to make money with museums, and he remarked that marketing of the museum has not yet started.

Democratic Republic of the Congo

In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, it has built a statue of Laurent-Désiré Kabila.

Ethiopia

The Tiglachin Monument, also known as the Derg Monument, is a tall pillar erected in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in 1984. The monument has fallen into neglect.

Germany

Reconstruction of Frankfurt’s so-called Fairy Tale Fountain, an art nouveau relic from 1910 that had been melted down for its metal during World War II.

Mozambique

In Mozambique, Mansudae Overseas Projects constructed the Samora Machel Statue in Independence Square, Maputo in 2011.

Namibia

is the only country to have commissioned four public works by Mansudae Overseas Projects.
In Senegal, the company built the African Renaissance Monument.

Zimbabwe

a burial ground and national monument in near Harare, Zimbabwe. Work began on the site in 1981 and used by Zimbabwean and North Korean workers. It closely mirrors the design of the Revolutionary Martyrs' Cemetery in Taesong-guyŏk, just outside Pyongyang, North Korea.
The Joshua Nkomo Statue was constructed in 2010 in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. The statue had to be removed immediately due to public outcry; thousands of supporters of Joshua Nkomo were killed by troops trained by North Korea advisors.