The most recent Koryo Tours newsletter contains the first photos of the Ryugyong Hotel (inside and from the top)!
See the newsletter here. It contains some useful information on the project:
On Sept 23rd Koryo Tours’ staff were taken to the top of the enigmatic and oddly iconic 105 storey Ryugyong Hotel in Pyongyang – we were the first foreigners allowed to take pictures there and are able to print a handful of shots of the ground floor and the open air viewing platform more than 300 metres up.
The view was incredible and breathtaking indeed! The inside of the building still has substantial work to be done but the structure of the lobby and dining area and conference room (all on the ground floor) were visible, sources at the site suggest 2 or 3 more years until projected completion at which time hotel rooms, office space, and long term rentals will be available.
Amazing photos!
Koryo Tours also just finished a film in the DPRK: Comrade Kim Goes Flying.
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It takes a lot of hubris to build such a tower!
On a side note, I do not particularly like that Koryo Tours uses communist kitsch as a selling point for their tourist agency. I never have. They seem to be encouraging tourists to take joy at the misfortunes of an entire people. Very distasteful.
Agree with John that Koryo Tours are a bit contradictory and I don’t appreciate their kitsch approach either. The DPRK is slowly getting their act together. For a tourist agency to be making a big issue out of politics is not constructive. Just show people the culture and sights without trying to be quirky.
Has anyone heard what the plans for the building are? I doubt Pyongyang needs that many hotel rooms at the moment – but perhaps the building could be put to public use… Hard to think of anything sensible that can be done with such a building. Should never have been built, and I am sure everyone in Pyongyang agrees. It’s not even pretty.
Pyongyang is not a good place to enjoy a real kitsch or the misfortune of someone. For this purpose you should visit Seoul, New York, Afghanistan, Libya, Palestine or almost any other place in the “free world.”