North Korea's "Hotel of Doom" wakes from its coma

[WriteDown]

Source: Reuters

SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea's phantom hotel is stirring back to life. Once dubbed by Esquire magazine as "the worst building in the history of mankind," the 105-storey Ryugyong Hotel is back under construction after a 16-year lull in the capital of one of the world's most reclusive and destitute countries.

According to foreign residents in Pyongyang, Egypt's Orascom group has recently begun refurbishing the top floors of the three-sided pyramid-shaped hotel whose 330-metre (1,083 ft) frame dominates the Pyongyang skyline.

The firm has put glass panels into the concrete shell, installed telecommunications antennas -- even though the North forbids its citizens to own mobile phones -- and put up an artist's impression of what it will look like.

An official with the group said its Orascom Telecom subsidiary was involved in the project but gave no details....



Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080717/lf_nm_life/korea_north_hotel_dc

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This may be a nightmare.

[DS1]

1. It would be more expensive, I suspect, to tear it down

It's a billion* tons of concrete.

*my estimate

[mainegreen]

2. Hasn't that thing collapsed yet?

Well, I'm sure whatever they're doing will just make it less safe.

[WriteDown]

3. I can almost envision....

The oxes and carts pulling up right now hauling new material to this monstrosity.

[Submariner]

4. I would not be adverse to seeing Kim Jung assassinated

That little pudknocker represses his people into starvation and ignorance, while he enjoys the high life with satellite TV, internet, and the best foods and drink.

It would probably be a simple training exercise for a SEAL Team to get around their archaic security, and take the little fucker out with a head shot.

The few documentaries I've seen have been very very depressing. Those North Koreans do not appear to have a chance in hell of over throwing the pissant little runt, or even knowing how to go about it.

[mainegreen]

6. There are a few like him that I'm suprised haven't been taken out.

Unlike a country like Iran, where taking out one or two people will not collapse the government, countries like North Korea and Zimbabwe would implode without their Dictators. And very few countries of significance would really disapprove of these leaders being disposed of. Even China I think would be inwardly be relieved if someone dealt with the North Korea problem.

[Posteritatis]

33. There was a coup attempt a few years ago

He was out of the country, or at least the capital, and there were stories of some weirdness in Pyongyang, suddenly all his iconography was pulled down, etc. A few days later, he was back, most of those were back, and a few generals had died.

[Nevernose]

7. Several Points:

1. Normally I'm opposed to murder or government-sponsored murder. But, much like Jeffrey Dahmer being shanked in prison or Saddam Hussein being hanged/decapitated, I wouldn't sahre any tears.

2. Did you hear about Kim Jung Il's mattresses? He apparently has very specific sleeping requirements. Every bed in every palace must be precisely 500 meters above sea level, and every mattress must be filled with the softest down imaginable, which in Kim's case is the feathers from the chin of a sparrow. It takes roughly a million sparrows to fill one mattress. This, while people starve to death.

3. It's not that they don't know how to go about it or are unable to, most of them -- even the starving ones -- apparently don't want to. They've been told over and over again since they were children that he's a living god. It's the world's largest cult.

[BreweryYardRat]

36. Sounds good to me.

His cronies too, if possible.

[LeftinOH]

5. Sure its in the worst country in the world, and probably shoddily made,

but I think the building has a cool Buck Rogers quality about it:

[Sentath]

8. "Buck Rogers" ?

Because it looks like somewhere that Ming the Merciless would go for a relaxing weekend making his new 'pancreas of prisoner' skin toner?

[razors edge]

11. If you lived in a city

that had the dubious distinction of averaging one-five hundred pound bomb per square meter, the most bombed city on earth, then that monstrosity might look and feel a little different to you.

We ridicule them for having bad taste in their rebuilding of what we destroyed, and we still wonder why they hate us.

[sudopod]

13. That's a reasonable argument for a government building

But it's a hotel. XD

[razors edge]

15. In a communist state.

[sudopod]

16. I see what you did there

So they're all government buildings. :p

LOL

[razors edge]

30. What else would they be?

Have you read anything at all about life in the country you are referring to?

[sudopod]

32. Yes, I know about the conditions in North Korea

Have you ever read anything at all about a thing called "a sense of humor?" :p

[razors edge]

34. kind of hard to afford these days,

but I'll try to scape some change together, please forgive.

[wvbygod]

18. rebuilding of what we destroyed

Bad, BAD America. Shame on us for making NK the shithole that it is today.

I refuse to sleep until America rebuilds NK to Mr. Ill's liking.

[TheWatcher]

27. Yes, we are SO Awesome!

And think how much sleep you'll get to lose if we decide to level the rest of the Middle East!

You'll never have to dream again!

[razors edge]

29. Did something

the DPRK do to your family give you this attitude of indifference, or possible hostility?

That war f-ed up my father's head, killed one uncle, and left one uncle with half his left leg. That is every male my paternal side had,

My four in the corps gave me a month on the DMZ. Shelter halves and C-rats, it wasn't the hardest time I did in the suck, but it rates right up there.

Have you lost someone to the North Koreans that makes you this indifferent to these helpless people?

Am I missing something here?

[harmonicon]

9. I agree

It's totally awesome.

[hogwyld]

10. If I didn't know any better

The city picture makes Pyongyang look like a nice, clean city. I guess that's what happens when you make the common people live out in the country, and reserve the capitol for party hacks.

[razors edge]

31. Kind of like our capitol.

without the black underclass cleaning up behind the privileged white upper class.

Things do tend to get messy without someone to sweep the floors.


Edit:
:sarcasm:

For those who don't know my typical pissed off attitude.

[Hannah Bell]

20. I think it's cool.

I wonder why the folks going on about the dear leader's sleeping requirements, etc., are so certain they have the "truth" when they're just parroting what their corporate media tells them - which might possibly be as close to "truth" as bush 1's murdered incubator babies, saddam's wmd, etc.

there's something odd about nk, but it's not simply that the dear leader is an evil dictator enslaving his people. That's the cover story for the masses...the rulers of the world have no problem with evil dictators, they fund plenty of them.

where does dear leader get the concrete, for starters, when supposedly the country doesn't produce enough food for its people? what sort of economic activity is going on in that very modern-looking city?

what's backing it? what's the dear leader's business? what's he selling to the world, that keeps him in power?

money laundering? drugs? weapons? human subjects research? hmmmmm......

[WriteDown]

21. Check out the secret report...

they did where they snuck cameras into NK. I think it was done by the Asian girl who used to be on The View, but I could be wrong. It focused on cataract surgery. Truly scary stuff and unfiltered. I think it aired on National Geographic, but I could be wrong about that too.

[WriteDown]

22. Here it is

http://www.amazon.com/National-Geographic-Inside-North-Korea/dp/B000M2E34K

[Hannah Bell]

23. thanks for the link, but nat geo has its own history as spy/disinformation

agency.

as one of the commenters says, ling keeps talking about the terrible consequences of dissent - while putting koreans at risk if what she says is true.

i don't quite buy the "inside secret nk" thing.

someone's funding the concrete & it's in someone's interest for nk to be publically a "secret enclave". the satellite photos of pyongyang show an extensive, mostly modern city. what's it used for & what paid for it, when the nkoreans are supposedly starving to death?

[WriteDown]

25. So no sources can be trusted....

I have yet to see National Geographics EVIL motives. Maybe Bushler secretly runs the organization? I guess all of those Korean war vets like my grandfather were fooled too. I suppose you'll have to get some first hand knowledge if no sources can be trusted. Please post after your visit. I would love some photos too.

[harmonicon]

26. I've read some questionable things in National Geographic

On a whole I think it's a great publication that also funds good research, but it seems like they've increased some sort of editorializing in their reporting. The worst was a report on the revolutionary war in Nepal. The author clearly had a right wing political agenda and was insulting to the people fighting for their civil rights and freedom from a totalitarian state.

[WriteDown]

35. I'd say on balance

NG is a blue publication, but I have yet to see an overt agenda. I would love to konw what the right wing agenda NG was spouting about in Nepal. Were they for the monarchy?

[Indenturedebtor]

12. What that building needs is the eye of Sauron on top n/t

[Princess Turandot]

14. Here's a satellite view of it from Google Maps

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Pyongyang,+korea&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=29.550175,60.512695&ie=UTF8&ll=39.03717,125.732861&spn=0.007058,0.014774&t=h&z=17

Ready to blast off.

(If you click the box which says 'More' on the top, there's an option to turn on photos taken by users in Pyongyang, which are interesting.)

P. Turandot

[Starry Messenger]

17. Wow! Cool link.

The shadow that thing casts is incredible.

MPK

[pinniped]

19. Encase it in white limestone.

.

[skoalyman]

28. your right it would look good encased in lime stone

then have some kind of big gold covered ornament at the top

[BigDaddy44]

24. I hope they accept reservations using Marriott Points