[2][3] Made of concrete, the arch straddled the multi-laned Reunification Highway leading from Pyongyang to the Korean Demilitarized Zone.

[6] North Korea ultimately vowed to launch three new spy satellites, build military drones and boost its nuclear arsenal by 2024.

[7] In a speech at the Supreme People's Assembly on 15 January of that year, Kim called the monument an "eyesore" and, according to official media, ordered the constitution be amended to say the South was a "primary foe and invariable principal enemy".

[10] The arch consisted of two Korean women in traditional dress (chosŏn-ot), symbolizing the North and the South,[2] leaning forward to jointly uphold a sphere bearing a map of a reunified Korea.

The arch was completed at the height of the so-called Sunshine Policy, a South Korean government effort to reduce the risk of conflict between the two states and reconcile with the North.