Already known as The Hotel of Doom, the majestic pyramid-shaped Ryugyong Hotel is again facing problems. In construction since 1987, the building has had its exterior completed last year, but the official opening has been postponed several times already.
In 2012 German hotel operator Kempinski was still excited about the prospect of being part of the mid-2013 opening of the North Korean hotel. More recently, however, the enthusiasm has dropped significantly, for reasons that are not at all difficult to guess.
No longer seeing this as an opportunity to own a “money-printing machine if North Korea opens up”, Kempinski backtracked, saying that “no agreement has been signed since market entry is not currently possible.” Well, no one can blame the successful German business – the current political situation in the country is just too unpredictable and dangerous for any international business to expand in this direction just now.
