North Korea offers a rare chance to invest in its tallest structure, the Ryugyong Hotel in Pyongyang. The government will give a casino operation license to any company that finishes the hotel’s long-delayed inside construction. 

From ‘Hotel of Doom’ to Casino Boom

The Ryugyong Hotel, a 105-floor skyscraper, has been under construction since 1987. People expected it to open in 1992, but the Soviet Union’s fall stopped the project cutting off key financial help. The economic crisis and famine that followed pushed back its completion even more. While workers finished the building’s outside in 2011, the inside is still unfinished leaving the structure empty for decades.

Not long ago, Kim Jong Un told his people to look into how much money a casino in the Ryugyong Hotel could make, as reported by Radio Free Asia. He got this idea from how well the casino for foreigners at Pyongyang’s Yanggakdo Hotel was doing.

The government’s plan includes granting the rights to determine the casino’s location and operate it to a foreign entrepreneur willing to fund the interior construction. This plan aims to bring in money and know-how from other countries. The government thinks this is key to giving new life to tourism in North Korea.

The Ryugyong Hotel nicknamed the “Hotel of Doom” because of its long and troubled past, represents North Korea’s dreams and failures. The building’s LED front put up in 2018 now acts as a huge propaganda screen lighting up Pyongyang’s skyline with political messages and pictures. Still, the government anticipates that eventually, the hotel will work as a full-on luxury resort, with rooms, places to eat, a pool, and a place to play billiards.

Despite Past Failures, North Korea Revives Effort to Turn Ryugyong Hotel into Tourist Hub

This new casino plan comes after earlier attempts to get foreign companies involved in North Korea’s hotel business. In 2012, the German hotel group Kempinski said they would run the Ryugyong Hotel but backed out after North Korea’s nuclear tests and growing world tensions. Even with these problems, North Korea’s government still wants to turn the Ryugyong Hotel into a big tourist spot.

Currently, North Korea has two operational casinos. One is located at the Yanggakdo International Hotel in Pyongyang and another at the Bipa Hotel in the Rason Special Economic Zone, near the borders with China and Russia. These casinos cater exclusively to foreign visitors, generating significant revenue from international tourists.

The Chinese government is hosting a trade show in Dandong China where North Korea plans to showcase its Ryugyong Hotel casino project. This effort aims to draw potential investors from nearby nations.

This push highlights North Korea’s pressing need to attract money from abroad to boost its tourism sector and overall economy. In other news, South Korea’s National Intelligence Service (NIS) alleges that North Korea developed illegal gambling websites for a South Korean criminal organization, generating billions in profits and stealing personal data.

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