[1] The sites were designated by Kim Jong Il when he began working at the Propaganda and Agitation Department of the Workers' Party of Korea in 1966.
[2][3] He would send troops all over the country to unearth sites that "were supposedly once forgotten and undiscovered".
[4] By converting North Korea into a "huge open museum",[5] Kim's goal in designating the sites was to solidify the North Korean cult of personality centered around him and his father Kim Il Sung.
Rather than a single building or a point of interest, the sites spawn large areas.
[10] South Koreans have criticized the sites for "wip[ing] out traditional culture".