The Hotel of Doom: The Story of the Ryugyong Hotel in North Korea

The building reached its intended height in 1992, but remained standing and hollow for another 16 years. A gigantic concrete frame roared bleakly over the city. During that time, the building, which far surpassed the entire environment, was also nicknamed “Hotel of Doom.”

Subsequently, the hotel still has windows, even LED lights were installed, which make it a colorful night projection. Construction work began and ended many times, constantly fueling speculation as to whether the hotel would eventually open its doors to guests.

Still closed, Ryugyong is now the tallest unused building in the world.

The outcome of the Cold War

Ryugyong was the result of the Cold War and competition between the United States-backed South Korea and its Soviet friend North Korea. The South Korean firm in Singapore was building the Westin Stamford Hotel, then the tallest hotel in the world. Seoul, the capital of South Korea, was gearing up for the 1988 Summer Olympics, and the country gradually became a capitalist democracy.

In response to the progress of its southern neighbor, Pyongyang organized the 1989 World Festival of Youth and Students, somewhat akin to the Socialist Olympics. The country also planned to build a hotel for the event, thus wresting the supreme title from South Korea. However, due to engineering problems, the building was not completed on time.

Pyongyang had already invested billions of dollars in the festival, built a new stadium, expanded the airport and paved new roads. This overwhelmed the fragile economy of a closed country, and the collapse of the Soviet Union left it without vital support and investment.

North Korea could not escape the economic crisis. Although the external structures were completed, construction of the hotel was completed in 1992. It was stopped, and a lone crane was left on the roof of the building.

Concrete structure

The building consists of three wings, each with a slope of 75 degrees. They all converge at the top of the hotel, where restaurants and observation decks would be installed.

The shape of the pyramid was chosen not only for aesthetic reasons. Ryugyong, unlike most skyscrapers, was built with reinforced concrete instead of steel.

“It was built that way because the upper floors had to be lighter,” explained Singaporean architect Calvin Chua, who studies Pyongyang urban planning. – They did not have advanced materials for construction, so they built everything from concrete. When you work this way, you can’t build a smooth tower, you need a massive bottom with a tapered top. “

“If you look at the history of North Korean construction since the end of the Korean War, most of the buildings were made of concrete. “It is a material that they know well, and technological exchanges between Soviet or Communist countries still revolve around concrete,” said the architect.

According to C. Chhua, who has worked in North Korea with local architects, the Ryugyong may have been designed to resemble a mountain rather than a pyramid, as mountains play an important role in the symbolism of the country. Kim Jong Il’s official biography states that was born in a secret military camp on Mount Pektusan, the highest on the peninsula.

It is also represented in the national emblem of North Korea. It is true that many historians believe that Kim Jong Il was born in Russia after all.

C. Chua also drew attention to the location of the hotel: it rises like an obelisk, like a beacon over the city.

Second start

In 2008, after 18 years of silence at a construction site, work unexpectedly resumed. This was due to an agreement with the Egyptian conglomerate Orascom, which was tasked with developing a 3G network in North Korea.

An old rusty crane that had been lying in the building for two decades was finally removed. Engineers hired by the Egyptians installed glass and metal panels that cost 180 million. AMERICAN DOLLAR. The ghost building began to look like a building. 2011 the project was completed and speeches were heard about the opening of the hotel.

2012 At the end of 2013, the German luxury hotel group Kempinski announced that Ryugyong would be partly owned by them and would open its doors in mid-2013. But a few months later, it withdrew its plans and withdrew from the project, arguing that entering the market there was impossible.

Long-standing rumors that the building was structurally unstable due to poor construction techniques and materials escalated further in 2014. The 23-story building in Pyongyang collapsed because it was not constructed properly.

“From the outside, the building appears structurally sound, although there would be a separate language for the interior,” Chua told CNN. – I think the biggest problem would be its installation, because everything was made of concrete, and it would take a long time to put everything in order to install adequate ventilation and other systems that were developed according to the specifications of the eighties. This would be much easier to do with a steel frame. “

2012 photos of the building revealed that very little was done inside. They were made by Simon Cockerell, CEO of Koryo Group. His Beijing-based company specialized in trips to North Korea, and he was one of the few foreigners who stayed at the Ryugyong Hotel.

Cockerell told CNN that the visit was organized by acquaintances in North Korea on the occasion of his birthday. He said he remembers a heavily concrete lobby, the only elevator in operation.

So even though the Ryugyong changed from the outside, the hotel was still not open.

A brighter future?

The Ryugyong was renovated again in 2018 with LED lights on its facade. The building is becoming the largest light show in Pyongyang and is of course used for propaganda purposes. It features a 4-minute program on the history of North Korea, political slogans, and a large flag at the top.

“It’s really impressive when you first saw it, especially after so many years when the building sank into darkness,” admitted CNN correspondent Will Ripley, who has visited Pyongyang several times. – I know the show is activated every time there are big events in the city, but not always. I think they save electricity ”. Before Christmas, the LED lights turn the hotel into a “fir tree”.

Much work has been done around the hotel in recent years, allowing people to access it. Anyone can walk to the door of a building but not enter through it. A few years ago, The Ryugyong Hotel was written in English and Korean.

The question remains: will the hotel ever open its doors? “It’s very difficult to tell, because when the building was covered with glass, you couldn’t see anything inside,” Cockerell said. – I have no doubt that something is happening. This is a very large building. Maybe part of her would open up before everything else. If it was my building, I would have concentrated all the way up and down. “

Ryugyong is no longer the tallest building on the Korean peninsula. 2017 The 556-meter high Lotte World Tower was completed in Seoul. Still, the hotel is still the tallest building in North Korea, although tall apartment buildings are being built in Pyongyang, but they are several tens of meters down the Ryugyong.

For years, avoiding embarrassment, North Korea even erased the building from Pyongyang’s official photos. But after the LED bulbs were installed, the government likely has plans for the building.

“I think the North Korean government would really like to do something with that,” Ripley said. – For many years it was an embarrassing pain, especially before the installation of glass panels. I imagine if it was finished, Kim Jong Un would inspect it and the photos would be published in the state media, it would be recognized as a proud part of the city. “

“Personally I think it would be very interesting to see what they do inside and reach the top,” said the correspondent. “I’m sure the images are exceptional.”