The Koryo Hotel is the second largest operating hotel in

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu River, Y ...

, the largest being the Yanggakdo Hotel. The

Ryugyong Hotel The Ryugyong Hotel (; sometimes spelled as Ryu-Gyong Hotel), or Yu-Kyung Hotel, more commonly known outside of North Korea as the "Hotel of Doom", is an unfinished 105-story, pyramid-shaped skyscraper in Pyongyang, North Korea. Its name ("cap ...

is larger than both, but is not yet operating. The twin-towered Koryo Hotel building is 143 metres (469 ft) tall and contains 43 stories. Erected in 1985 under

Kim Il-sung Kim Il-sung (; , ; born Kim Song-ju, ; 15 April 1912 – 8 July 1994) was a North Korean politician and the founder of North Korea, which he ruled from the country's establishment in 1948 until his death in 1994. He held the posts of ...

, it was intended to "showcase the glory and strength of the

DPRK North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu (Amnok) and T ...

." The hotel is rated five stars by North Korea. A section of the hotel reportedly caught fire on 11 June 2015 due to undisclosed circumstances, leaving the bridge between the two buildings being badly damaged.

Name

"Koryo" is the name of an early kingdom which is the source of the English name "Korea". It is also used in the name of the North Korean airline,

Air Koryo Air Koryo () is the state-owned national airline of North Korea, headquartered in Sunan-guyŏk, Pyongyang. Based at Pyongyang International Airport (IATA: FNJ), it operates international scheduled and charter services to points in Asia. Histo ...

. The Koryo Hotel replaced an older hotel of the same name, but in a different location. For a time after 1946, the leader of North Korea's Democratic Party

Cho Man-sik Cho Man-sik ( ko, 조만식; pen-name Kodang; 1 February 1883 – 15 or 18 October 1950) was a nationalist activist in Korea's independence movement. He became involved in the power struggle that enveloped North Korea in the months following t ...

was kept under house arrest in the older Koryo Hotel.

Location

The hotel is situated close to Pyongyang Station in

Chung-guyok Chung-guyŏk (Central Ward) is one of the 18 '' guyok'' which constitute the city of Pyongyang, North Korea. The district is located in the center of the city, between the Pothonggang Canal and Taedong River, and is bordered to the north by Moranb ...

, central

Pyongyang Pyongyang (, , ) is the capital and largest city of North Korea, where it is known as the "Capital of the Revolution". Pyongyang is located on the Taedong River about upstream from its mouth on the Yellow Sea. According to the 2008 populatio ...

Features

The hotel's extravagance is exemplified by its entryway, which consists of a 9-metre (30 ft) wide

jade Jade is a mineral used as jewellery or for ornaments. It is typically green, although may be yellow or white. Jade can refer to either of two different silicate minerals: nephrite (a silicate of calcium and magnesium in the amphibole group of ...

dragon A dragon is a reptilian legendary creature that appears in the folklore of many cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but dragons in western cultures since the High Middle Ages have often been depicted as ...

's mouth that leads into an expansive lobby dominated by a mosaic of North Korean cultural symbols. The

mosaic A mosaic is a pattern or image made of small regular or irregular pieces of colored stone, glass or ceramic, held in place by plaster/mortar, and covering a surface. Mosaics are often used as floor and wall decoration, and were particularly pop ...

tiles make use of a wide variety of

precious metal Precious metals are rare, naturally occurring metallic chemical elements of high economic value. Chemically, the precious metals tend to be less reactive than most elements (see noble metal). They are usually ductile and have a high lustre. ...

s and

gemstone A gemstone (also called a fine gem, jewel, precious stone, or semiprecious stone) is a piece of mineral crystal which, in cut and polished form, is used to make jewelry or other adornments. However, certain rocks (such as lapis lazuli, opal, ...

s underneath low-dispersion glass panes, which are replaced biannually to preserve the mosaic's luster. The hotel has 500 rooms. Rooms are equipped with a

mini-bar A minibar is a small refrigerator, typically an absorption refrigerator, in a hotel room or cruise ship stateroom. The hotel staff fill it with drinks and snacks for the guest to purchase during their stay. It is stocked with a precise invento ...

and TV. Guests have reported power outages within the hotel grounds. Koryo Hotel - Gift Shop (11416592026)

Amenities include a hard currency gift shop, gym, a swimming pool, a revolving restaurant on the 45th floor, a circular bar on the 44th floor and two cinemas; one with 200 seats and one with 70 seats. There is a coffee shop on the ground floor. The hotel also features a billiards room on the second floor and a casino in the basement. The casino offers

blackjack Blackjack (formerly Black Jack and Vingt-Un) is a casino banking game. The most widely played casino banking game in the world, it uses decks of 52 cards and descends from a global family of casino banking games known as Twenty-One. This fami ...

roulette Roulette is a casino game named after the French word meaning ''little wheel'' which was likely developed from the Italian game Biribi''.'' In the game, a player may choose to place a bet on a single number, various groupings of numbers, the ...

, and slot machines. The casino is staffed by Chinese workers. Amenities do not include the use of the Internet. Plenty of floors in the Hotel appear to not be not in use

Restaurants

Each tower is topped by a revolving restaurant, however only one is open. The revolving restaurant apparently had a 9 pm closing time but in recent years the closing time has been extended or relaxed based on the quality of the guests' tipping. Aside from the single open revolving restaurant, the hotel has four other restaurants including a Japanese restaurant and a Korean BBQ restaurant. The restaurants are operated by Japanese expatriates and are run as private businesses, but they must pay a fee to the state.

Guest liberty

By some reports, guests are prevented by guards from leaving the hotel. However, others report the ability to wander off the hotel grounds. The hotel is a few blocks from the city's restaurant district and the Pyongyang Railroad Station.

References

External links

''Pyongyang Koryo Hotel'' picture album
at

Naenara Naenara () is the official web portal of the North Korean government. It was the first website in North Korea, and was created in 1996. The portal's categories include politics, tourism, music, foreign trade, arts, press, information technology ...

{{coord, 39, 0, 31.47, N, 125, 44, 9.92, E, display=title Hotels in Pyongyang Twin towers Skyscrapers in North Korea Skyscraper hotels Buildings and structures with revolving restaurants Hotel buildings completed in 1985 Hotels established in 1985 1985 establishments in North Korea