Why North Korea Is Hiding This Hotel

mov boss official

Watch Why North Korea Is Hiding This Hotel - mov boss official on Dailymotion

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.

01:13Ground News is a website and app that gathers news sources from around the world in one

01:17place so you can compare coverage.

01:20278 sources reported on this.

01:22Scrolling down, we can read any article on this topic.

01:25Each headline comes with a tag showing the political bias, reliability, and ownership

01:29of the outlet.

01:30The comparison tool quickly shows the differences in reporting.

01:33Left-leaning sources focus on how North Korea might use this for diplomatic gains.

01:37Right coverage highlights the soldier's issues with the U.S. Army and legal troubles in South

01:41Korea.

01:42And centrist coverage emphasizes the allegations are coming from state-run media and have not

01:45been verified.

01:46Ground News is a great way to stay on top of current events, and we can't recommend

01:50it enough.

01:51That's why we're offering all our viewers 30% off their unlimited access plan.

01:55Click the link in the description and go to ground.news.fern and give it a try.

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.

Category

Transcript

Recommended