Prominent features on the emblem are a red star, a hydroelectric plant (the Sup'ung Dam) and Mount Paektu.

[1][2] The national emblem of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea bears the design of a grand hydroelectric power station under Mt.

It is supported with ears of rice, bound with a red ribbon bearing the inscription "The Democratic People's Republic of Korea" in Chosŏn'gŭl characters.

In spite of the uncomfortable reference to colonial infrastructure as well as foreign territory, the choice of the image is not incidental and carries positive connotations.

[5][7] The dam symbolises self-sufficiency in electricity; in the spring of 1948, shortly before the hydroelectric plant was added to the emblem, North Korea cut off its power network from the South.

[5] North Korean sources state that Mount Paektu represents the inheritance of the "revolutionary tradition" that started during the anti-Japanese struggle.

[13] A draft emblem featuring a furnace with Mount Paektu and Heaven Lake in the background appeared in the provisional constitution in February 1948.

[18][19] However, according to Fyodor Tertitskiy, the change was likely ordered by the Soviets as the hydroelectric plant was one of the main industrial structures captured by the Red Army; it's unlikely that Kim Il Sung would have chosen to honor the Sup'ung Dam, built during the Japanese occupation of Korea, on a national symbol.