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
A pyramid (from el, πυραμίς ') is a structure whose outer surfaces are triangular and converge to a single step at the top, making the shape roughly a pyramid in the geometric sense. The base of a pyramid can be trilateral, quadrilat ...
-shaped skyscraper in
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 ...
,
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 ...
. Its name ("capital of
willow
Willows, also called sallows and osiers, from the genus ''Salix'', comprise around 400 speciesMabberley, D.J. 1997. The Plant Book, Cambridge University Press #2: Cambridge. of typically deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist s ...
s") is also one of the historical names for Pyongyang. The building is also known as the 105 Building, a reference to its number of floors.
[ The building has been planned as a ]mixed-use development
Mixed-use is a kind of urban development, urban design, urban planning and/or a zoning type that blends multiple uses, such as residential, commercial, cultural, institutional, or entertainment, into one space, where those functions are to some ...
, which would include a hotel. If construction were to be completed as of 2022, it would replace the Burj Al Arab as the 4th tallest hotel in the world.
Construction began in 1987 but was halted in 1992 as North Korea entered a period of economic crisis
An economy is an area of the production, distribution and trade, as well as consumption of goods and services. In general, it is defined as a social domain that emphasize the practices, discourses, and material expressions associated with the p ...
after the dissolution of the Soviet Union
The dissolution of the Soviet Union, also negatively connoted as rus, Разва́л Сове́тского Сою́за, r=Razvál Sovétskogo Soyúza, ''Ruining of the Soviet Union''. was the process of internal disintegration within the Sov ...
. 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
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 ...
's birth. A partial opening was announced for 2013, but this was cancelled. In 2018, an LED display
A LED display is a flat panel display that uses an array of light-emitting diodes as pixels for a video display. Their brightness allows them to be used outdoors where they are visible in the sun for store signs and billboards. In recent y ...
was fitted to one side, which is used to show propaganda animations and film scenes.
Architecture
The Ryugyong Hotel is tall, making it the most prominent feature of Pyongyang's skyline
A skyline is the outline or shape viewed near the horizon. It can be created by a city’s overall structure, or by human intervention in a rural setting, or in nature that is formed where the sky meets buildings or the land.
City skylines ...
and by far the tallest structure in North Korea. 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
The general secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea (Korean: 조선로동당 총비서) is the head of the Workers' Party of Korea, the ruling party in North Korea, and considered as the supreme leader of North Korea. The general secretary i ...
and President 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 ...
in 1992; if this had been achieved, it would have held the title of world's tallest hotel. Before Goldin Finance 117
Goldin Finance 117, also known as China 117 Tower (Chinese: 中国117大厦), is an unfinished skyscraper in Xiqing District, Tianjin, China. The tower was topped out in 2015 at a height of 597 m (1,959 ft). It has 128 storeys above ground, with ...
, it was considered the tallest unoccupied building in the world.
The building consists of three wings, each measuring long, wide, lightly stepped once but otherwise sloping at 75‑degrees to the floor, which converge at a common point to form a pinnacle. The building is topped by a truncated cone
A cone is a three-dimensional geometric shape that tapers smoothly from a flat base (frequently, though not necessarily, circular) to a point called the apex or vertex.
A cone is formed by a set of line segments, half-lines, or lines con ...
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 restaurant
A revolving restaurant or rotating restaurant is usually a tower restaurant eating space designed to rest atop a broad circular revolving platform that operates as a large turntable. The building remains stationary and the diners are carried on ...
s, and either 3,000 or 7,665 guest rooms, according to different sources. According to Orascom's Khaled Bichara
Khaled Bichara ( ar, خالد بشارة, ) (July 27, 1971 – January 31, 2020) was an Egyptian businessman and entrepreneur who served as the chairman of link.net and chief executive officer of Accelero Capital. Prior to joining Accelero Capit ...
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".
Construction
Beginning
The plan for a large hotel was reportedly a Cold War
The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...
response to the completion of the world's tallest hotel, the Westin Stamford Hotel in Singapore, in 1986 by the South Korean company SsangYong Group
SsangYong Group is a South Korean-based Enterprise Group or conglomerate founded in 1987. ''SsangYong'', literally translated, means "Double Dragon". It was largely broken up by the Asian financial crisis in 1997.
The chaebol was forced to se ...
. North Korean leadership envisioned the project as a channel for Western investors to step into the marketplace. A firm, the Ryugyong Hotel Investment and Management, was established to attract a hoped-for $230 million in foreign investment. A representative for the North Korean government promised relaxed oversight, allowing "foreign investors ooperate casino
A casino is a facility for certain types of gambling. Casinos are often built near or combined with hotels, resorts, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships, and other tourist attractions. Some casinos are also known for hosting live entertai ...
s, nightclub
A nightclub (music club, discothèque, disco club, or simply club) is an entertainment venue during nighttime comprising a dance floor, lightshow, and a stage for live music or a disc jockey (DJ) who plays recorded music.
Nightclubs gener ...
s or Japanese lounges". North Korean construction firm Baikdoosan Architects & Engineers (also known as Baekdu Mountain Architects and Engineers) began construction on a pyramid‑shaped hotel in 1987.
The hotel was scheduled to open in 1992 for the 80th birthday of Kim, but problems with building methods and materials delayed completion. If it had opened on schedule, it would have surpassed the Westin Stamford to become the world's tallest hotel, and would have been the seventh-tallest building in the world.[
]
Halt
In 1992, after the building had reached its full architectural height, work was halted due to the economic crisis
An economy is an area of the production, distribution and trade, as well as consumption of goods and services. In general, it is defined as a social domain that emphasize the practices, discourses, and material expressions associated with the p ...
in North Korea following the collapse of the Soviet Union
The dissolution of the Soviet Union, also negatively connoted as rus, Разва́л Сове́тского Сою́за, r=Razvál Sovétskogo Soyúza, ''Ruining of the Soviet Union''. was the process of internal disintegration within the Sov ...
. Japanese newspapers
Japanese newspapers ( , or older spelling ), similar to their worldwide counterparts, run the gamut from general news-oriented papers to special-interest newspapers devoted to economics, sports, literature, industry, and trade. Newspapers are ci ...
estimated the cost of construction was $750 million, consuming 2 percent of North Korea's GDP. For over a decade, the unfinished building sat vacant and without windows, fixtures, or fittings, appearing as a massive concrete shell.[ A rusting construction crane remained at the top, which the ]BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
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...
state's thwarted ambition".