Why North Korea Is Hiding This Hotel
Transcript
00:00The Ryong Hotel is the tallest building in North Korea at 330 meters.
00:07It is located in the heart of Pyongyang.
00:10The metropolis is full of pretentious showy monuments and buildings.
00:16This pyramid overshadows it all, literally.
00:19You can still see the building from several kilometers away.
00:23It was meant to become the tallest hotel in the world and a flagship of the country.
00:28Construction started over 30 years ago.
00:30Just a few years later, a rough framework was in place.
00:33Nevertheless, the hotel has not hosted a single guest to this day.
00:37The entire building has been empty for decades.
00:41Why?
00:42What does it look like from the inside and will anyone ever be able to stay there?
00:47We will take you to the so-called Hotel of Doom.
00:56North Korea has a strictly controlled media environment, making it hard to get reliable
01:00information.
01:01For example, when a U.S. soldier crossed into North Korea three months ago, everyone was
01:05in the dark.
01:06North Korea claimed the soldier was seeking refuge from mistreatment in the U.S.
01:09But is that really what happened?
01:11A perfect case for today's sponsor.
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01:33Left-leaning sources focus on how North Korea might use this for diplomatic gains.
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02:00North Korea is one of the most isolated countries in the world.
02:03The totalitarian regime hardly ever allows real glimpses into life in the dictatorship.
02:08But how North Korea appears to the outside world is extremely important to the country.
02:13The government built numerous prestigious monuments in the capital Pyongyang.
02:17Magnificent skyscrapers and impressive statues are meant to prove how modern, rich, and stable
02:22the country is.
02:26In order to understand the Ryugyong Hotel, we need to take a brief look at the history
02:29of the country.
02:31Until 1945, Korea is a Japanese colony.
02:35This changes with the capitulation of Japan in the Second World War.
02:38Korea is divided between the victorious powers into two occupation zones.
02:42The South is occupied by the USA, the North by the Soviet Union.
02:46As a result, South Korea ultimately develops into a democracy and opens up to the world.
02:50North Korea becomes a totalitarian state under the flag of communism.
02:55The two countries become enemies.
02:57The conflict culminates in the Korean War in 1950.
03:00It lasts for three years and claims over 4 million lives.
03:04This war cements the division of Korea.
03:06Since then, this line at the 38th parallel has separated the citizens of the peninsula.
03:11There may have been a ceasefire since the end of the war, but there are still violent
03:14incidents from time to time.
03:16The relationship remains frosty.
03:20Let's jump ahead a few decades.
03:23South and North Korea are still archenemies.
03:25In 1986, a South Korean company builds a hotel in Singapore.
03:29It is the tallest hotel in the world at the time.
03:32Two years later, South Korea hosts the Olympics, insane prestige for a country.
03:36The North Korean dictator at the time, Kim Il-sung, the leader from 1949 to 1994, doesn't
03:41like these developments at all.
03:43So the regime strikes back.
03:45In 1989, North Korea hosts the World Festival of Youth and Students.
03:50More than 10,000 people from 177 countries visit the capital.
03:54In the run-up, the country is spending $4 billion to glam up Pyongyang for its visitors.
03:58The money is used to build new roads and stadiums.
04:01And there are also plans for a new hotel.
04:04It is intended to surpass that of the South Koreans by 104 meters.
04:08The highest hotel in the world would from now on be in North Korea.
04:12For comparison, it would be a decent bit higher than the Eiffel Tower.
04:19The plans for the Ryugyong Hotel are unique.
04:22The building is designed to have three wings, each inclined at an angle of 75 degrees, converging
04:26towards a cone at the top.
04:28The shape is reminiscent of a pyramid, a mountain, or perhaps even a rocket.
04:33Around 3,000 rooms are spread over 105 floors.
04:37In total, the hotel has 360,000 square meters of usable space.
04:41It will also house a bowling alley and a nightclub.
04:45At the pinnacle of the hotel, at the very top of the cone, there is space for five restaurants.
04:50To really enjoy the 360-degree panorama, this part will even be able to rotate.
04:56So in 1987, North Korea begins to build the hotel.
05:01Two years later, just in time for the World Festival, it is to be ceremoniously opened.
05:07Floor after floor of the 105 stories are built.
05:10The building shell climbs higher and higher, but it soon becomes clear that an opening
05:13just two years after the start of the construction was a bit too ambitious.
05:17The international guests are put in other hotels instead.
05:21The date for the opening is postponed to 1992.
05:26But in 1991, the Soviet Union collapses.
05:29The Cold War is over.
05:31With the end of the USSR, North Korea loses its most important backer and supporter.
05:36A year later, the hotel has reached its 330-meter height.
05:39It now towers over everything in its vicinity.
05:42But it is far from finished.
05:44The ceremonial opening never takes place.
05:48At that time, construction has already cost 750 million U.S. dollars.
05:53North Korea lacks the money to continue.
05:55In 1993, work is stopped completely.
05:58And for a long, long time.
06:02The once prestigious project has become the nation's eyesore.
06:06The hotel doesn't even have windows.
06:08Only the grey shell remains.
06:10A gloomy concrete colossus.
06:12On the roof, an abandoned crane rusts away for years.
06:17Meanwhile, the North Korean population suffers from dire poverty.
06:22At the same time, the country is also plunging into a severe economic crisis.
06:26A massive famine breaks out.
06:28Supply shortages, power outages, no healthcare.
06:31Kim Jong-il is now the country's new dictator.
06:33He doesn't want to show any weakness to the outside world.
06:36In many cases, he refuses urgently needed humanitarian aid for political reasons.
06:42Around the same time, the Ryugyong Hotel suddenly disappears from official photographs.
06:46The regime has pictures of Pyongyang partially edited before they are published.
06:50The miserable condition of the site, emblematic of the country's decline, is erased.
06:58Almost 15 years after construction was halted, things are suddenly moving forward.
07:02The Egyptian telecommunications group, Erascom, is tasked to finally complete the hotel's
07:06window and facade construction as part of a larger deal.
07:10In 2011, Kim Jong-il dies.
07:12His son, Kim Jong-un, comes to power.
07:15And the same year, work on the hotel is completed.
07:18The German luxury hotel group, Kempinski, announces that it will create 150 hotel rooms
07:23in the upper part of the building.
07:26The long-awaited opening of the prestigious building is finally within reach.
07:31But it's in vain.
07:33In 2013, Kempinski cancels the project due to heightened political tensions between North
07:38Korea and the West.
07:43To this day, the hotel has never been opened.
07:46No one is allowed to enter the building.
07:47Not a single guest has ever stayed in one of the countless planned rooms.
07:52It now carries the nickname, Hotel of Doom.
07:56Even the most beautiful facade cannot distract from the fact the walls inside are beginning
08:00to crumble.
08:01Experts suggest the hotel's construction isn't really solid.
08:05The huge mass of concrete lacks a supporting steel structure.
08:09In 2014, a similar concrete-only skyscraper collapsed in Pyongyang.
08:17Instead of good hotels, North Korea remains known for nuclear weapons testing, its action
08:22movies, and oppressed people in poverty.
08:24Since 2018, the building is being used for propaganda.
08:28Thousands of LEDs are installed on the facade.
08:30On the screens, four-minute videos run in a loop.
08:33They show the history of North Korea and contain political slogans.
08:36At the top, a giant North Korean flag glows over the metropolis.
08:43Over time, a landmark of supposed strength, prosperity, and power has become a signal
08:48of North Korea's megalomania and the failure of its totalitarian dictatorship.
08:53If you look behind this facade, you see the bitter reality.