Ryugyong Hotel

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The Ryugyong Hotel (Template:Korean; sometimes spelled as Ryu-Gyong Hotel), or Yu-Kyung Hotel,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> is a Template:Convert tall unfinished pyramid-shaped skyscraper in Pyongyang, North Korea. Its name (Template:Lit "capital of willows") is also one of the historical names for Pyongyang.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The building has been planned as a mixed-use development, which would include a hotel.

Construction began in 1987 but was halted in 1992 as North Korea entered a period of economic crisis after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. After 1992, the building stood topped out, but without any windows or interior fittings. In 2008, construction resumed, and the exterior was completed in 2011. The hotel was planned to open in 2012, the centenary of founding leader Kim Il Sung's birth. A partial opening was announced for 2013, but this was cancelled.<ref name="Berg2016">Template:Cite news</ref> In 2018, an LED display was fitted to one side, which is used to show propaganda animations and film scenes.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

ArchitectureEdit

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The Ryugyong Hotel is Template:Convert tall,<ref>Template:Cite news Template:Cbignore</ref> making it the most prominent feature of Pyongyang's skyline and the tallest building in North Korea.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Construction of the Ryugyong Hotel was intended to be completed in time for the 80th birthday of General Secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea and President Kim Il Sung in 1992;<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> if this had been achieved, it would have held the title of world's tallest hotel.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Before Goldin Finance 117 in China, it was considered the tallest unoccupied building in the world.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="Tallest building unoccupied">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

The building consists of three wings, each measuring Template:Convert long and Template:Convert wide, lightly stepped once but otherwise sloping at 75 degrees to the ground,<ref name="Esquire"/> which converge at a common point to form a pinnacle. The building is topped by a truncated cone Template:Convert wide, consisting of eight floors that are intended to rotate, topped by a further six static floors. The structure was originally intended to house five revolving restaurants, and either 3,000 or 7,665 guest rooms, according to different sources.<ref name="revolving">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="Quinones2003">Template:Cite book</ref> According to Orascom's Khaled Bichara in 2009, the Ryugyong will not be just a hotel, but rather a mixed-use development, including "revolving restaurant" facilities along with a "mixture of hotel accommodation, apartments and business facilities".<ref name="doom"/>

Construction historyEdit

BeginningEdit

The plan for a large hotel was reportedly a Cold War response to the completion of the world's then-tallest hotel, the Westin Stamford Hotel in Singapore, in 1986 by the South Korean company SsangYong Group.<ref name="oversight"/> North Korean leadership envisioned the project as a channel for Western investors to step into the marketplace.<ref name="oversight"/> A firm, The Ryugyong Hotel Investment and Management, was established to attract a hoped-for $230 million in foreign investment.<ref name="oversight"/> A representative for the North Korean government promised relaxed oversight, allowing "foreign investors [to] operate casinos, nightclubs or Japanese lounges".<ref name="oversight">Template:Cite journal</ref> North Korean construction firm Baikdoosan Architects & Engineers (also known as Baekdu Mountain Architects and Engineers) began construction on a pyramid‑shaped hotel in 1987.<ref name=IFES>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="almanac">Template:Cite book</ref>

The hotel was originally scheduled to be opened to the public in 1992 for the 80th birthday of Kim, but problems with building methods and materials delayed completion.<ref>Template:Cite news Template:Cbignore</ref> Had it opened on schedule, it would have surpassed the Westin Stamford to become the world's tallest hotel,<ref name="ABC">Template:Cite news</ref> and would have been the seventh-tallest building in the world. Instead it became the world's tallest abandoned building.<ref name=Emporis/>

HaltEdit

In 1992, after the building had reached its full architectural height,<ref name=Emporis>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> work was halted due to the economic crisis in North Korea following the collapse of the Soviet Union.<ref name="doom"/> Japanese newspapers estimated the cost of construction was $750 million,<ref name="cost">Template:Cite journal</ref> consuming 2 percent of North Korea's GDP.<ref name="Esquire"/> For over a decade, the unfinished building sat vacant and without windows, fixtures, or fittings, appearing as a massive concrete shell.<ref name=Emporis/> A rusting construction crane remained at the top, which the BBC called "a reminder of the totalitarian state's thwarted ambition".<ref name=doom/><ref name="Kirk2008">Template:Cite news</ref> According to Marcus Noland, in the late 1990s, the European Chamber of Commerce in Korea inspected the building and concluded that the structure was irreparable.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Questions were raised regarding the quality of the building's concrete and the alignment of its elevator shafts, which some sources said were "crooked".<ref name=doom/><ref name="Quinones2003"/>

In a 2006 article, ABC News questioned whether North Korea had sufficient raw materials or energy for such a massive project.<ref name="ABC"/> A North Korean government official told the Los Angeles Times in 2008 that construction was not completed "because [North Korea] ran out of money".<ref name="boom">Template:Cite news</ref>

Though mocked-up images of the completed hotel had appeared on North Korean stamps during the initial construction period, the North Korean government ignored the building's existence during the construction hiatus even though it dominated the Pyongyang skyline. The government manipulated official photographs in order to remove the unfinished structure from the skyline, and excluded it from printed maps of Pyongyang.<ref name="ABC"/><ref name=boom/><ref name=doom/>

The halt in construction, the rumours of problems and the mystery about its future led foreign media sources to dub it "the worst building in the world",<ref name="Esquire">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="Independent">Template:Cite news</ref> "Hotel of Doom" and "Phantom Hotel".<ref name="doom">Template:Cite news</ref>

ResumptionEdit

File:2008 - Top of the Ryugyong Hotel, Pyongyang (filter enhanced).jpg

View of the top in September 2008, some time after construction resumed

In April 2008, after 16 years of inactivity, work on the building was restarted by the Egyptian construction firm Orascom Group.<ref name="doom"/><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The firm, which had entered into a US$400 million deal with the North Korean government to build and run a cellular network, said that their telecommunications deal was not directly related to the Ryugyong Hotel work.<ref name=doom/> In 2008, North Korean officials stated that the hotel would be completed by 2012, coinciding with the 100th anniversary of the birth of Kim.<ref name="Kirk2008"/> In 2009, Orascom's chief operating officer Bichara noted that they "had not had too many problems" resolving the reported structural issues of the building, and that a revolving restaurant would be located at the top of the building.<ref name=doom/>

In July 2011, it was reported that the exterior work was complete.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Features that Orascom had installed include exterior glass panels and telecommunications antennas.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In September 2012, photographs taken by Koryo Tours were released, showing the interior for the first time. The photographs showed no wiring, cabling, or pipes in the structure, which was bare and unfurnished.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="Koryo">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Opening announced, then cancelledEdit

In November 2012, international hotel operator Kempinski announced it would be running the hotel, which was expected to partially open in mid‑2013.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name=bloom>Template:Cite news</ref> In March 2013, plans to open the hotel were suspended.<ref name="Yonhap2013">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Kempinski clarified its earlier statements, saying that only "initial discussions" had ever occurred,<ref name="Strochlic2014">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> but that no agreement had been signed because "market entry is not currently possible".<ref name="O'Carroll2013">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Kempinski did not elaborate on its reasons, but commentators suggested that international tensions related to the 2013 North Korean nuclear test, economic risks, and delays in construction probably played a part.<ref name="Yonhap2013"/><ref name="O'Carroll2013"/><ref name="CNN2013">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

RenewalEdit

Activity resumed in late 2016 and a representative of Orascom visited North Korea.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In 2017 and early 2018, there were signs of work at the site, with access roads being constructed.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

In April 2018, a large LED display featuring the North Korean flag had been added to the top of the building.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> By May, an LED display had been added to one entire side of the structure,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and there were reports that the building was being readied for occupation.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> By July, the LED display was showing animations and movie scenes.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In June 2019, there was new signage bearing the hotel's name (in Korean and English) and its logo over the main entrance.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

In 2024, the North Korean government reportedly started to look for a casino operator willing to complete the building in exchange for profits made by the casino.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

File:Ryugyŏng-Hotel LED Show.jpg

Pictures of the LED-Nightshow in 2019