North Korea’s Greatest Folly
- Categories: International, News
- Date: Sep 15, 2009 10:58 JST
- Tags: Architecture, Bizarre, Buildings, North Korea, Tourism
Work has resumed on North Korea’s immense Ryugyong Hotel, intended as the world’s tallest hotel, but experts are predicting that it could cost 10% of the nation’s GDP to finish safely, with some even predicting a spectacular collapse if the work is not done.
The hotel was set to be the world’s largest, at 330m tall with 105 storeys, 3000 rooms and a 7 storey rotating restaurant to give panoramic views of the desolate capital of Pyongyang. However, it has already been superseded by a Dubai hotel.
The initial construction costs were estimated to be $750,000,000, which is approximately 3-4% of North Korea’s presumed GDP.
Construction began in 1982, but with the collapse of communism and a series of problems with ground subsidence and an inability to fit elevators work was cancelled in 1992; after this the hulking derelict was dubbed “the world’s tallest ruin” by bemused Chinese sources.
Construction quietly resumed in 2008 with the involvement of an Egyptian firm, and now much of the building is at least glazed, though what remains of the presumably weather ravaged interior is not clear.
“Completion,” or at least its ceremonial opening, is scheduled for the 100th anniversary of Kim Il Sung in 2012.
However, sources familiar with the edifice are saying that it could cost $2,000,000,000 to complete the structure safely due to various inadequacies in construction. This would amount to some 10% of the North Korean GDP, a crippling sum and one the leadership would surely rather spend on missiles with which to threaten its neighbours.
Should the structure not be properly finished, some are predicting its collapse, though should the funds be somehow scraped together it seems possible the nation itself might collapse.
Were it to be completed and used as a hotel North Korea’s problems might only exacerbate, as the running costs of a gigantic but empty hotel would be an even further drain.
In any case, it seems this grand spire might truly be North Korea’s greatest folly.
Via Heaven.
















|
Suisei no Gargantia Pachislot Unveiled
Rin Hoshizora Nekomimi Seifuku Figure
Top 20 Ecchiest Shonen Jump Manga
Hatsune Mike Ero-MMD Stealthily Sexy
Star Ocean 5 English Battles Boisterously
Dragon Ball Super Quite A Hit
Gainax Selling Tomatoes: “Why?”
Black Desert Online Has Much Class
Shojo Tsubaki Trailer Brilliantly Bizarre
Gargantuan Saeko Sasaki Bikini Ero-Figure
Top 20 Hunkiest Pokemon
Wagamama High Spec Hot Indeed
Mayoiga Full of Mystery
Boku Academia: Battle for All Truly Heroic
The Empire of Corpses Gorily Grim
One Piece: Burning Blood Total Bikini Madness
Bakuon!! Wild & Rough
Milky Mimi Ero-Figure Deliciously Creamy
Dead or Alive Ero-SFM Doubly Dirty
Flying Witch “Cute But Boring…”
Kaine Cosplay by Yuricha Flawless
Kasumigaoka Utaha Cosplay Pretty Pure
Goddess of 2ch “Another Bathing Beauty!”
Tantalizing Hestia Cosplay Busts Out
Kashiwazaki Sena Cosplay Pure & Innocent
Minami Kotori Casino Girl Cosplay Takes No Chances
Shimakaze Cosplay by Ema Sakura
Harley Quinn Cosplay by Miyuko Colorfully Crazy
Sonico Ero-Cosplay by Yuka Hoshikage Super Sexy
Kasugano Sora Bunny Girl Cosplay Absolutely Admirable
I liked it better when they photoshoped this out of the city skyline
This is really, really sad. Madness in a Hitler-esque mean of the word. That ruin actually looks like the mad projects of the "Third Reich".
At least the Third Reich took nearly all of mainland Europe that one time. North Korea only managed to take part of South Korea and that's only because China was helping them!
^Hah!! XD
HAH!!
Soviet Union also helped.
I can't wait for the collapse of the country or the building!
In the first place... A hotel in a country that forbids entry and exit is stupid.
Indeed, anon. Indeed...
Or rather...would tourists even take their vocation there with the risks of breaking some ridiculous local laws unknowingly and get excuted, with their friends and families back home not even know what the hell happened to them...
Oh it's quite easy to visit and leave North Korea. Commie regimes are always in need of good foreign currency. And it's a very good ocasion for propaganda. To show foreigners how beautiful is the the country of uncle Kim and how happy are it's people.And I think if you don't do something really stupid you are perfectly safe. Although you might cause troubles to natives if you for example try to speak about politics with some strangers. Your "guarding angel" from secret police will break your conversation and suggest some other actiivites you may enjoy, but the Korean guy you tried to speak can find himself in the police station for the interrogation.
I wonder if they will use the rooms to entomb their leaders, weeee, pyramid building anew.
I've seen stupider national investments.....
Like China painting an entire mountain side green
Bailouts.
Lesboswede porn.
Hey! Lesboswede porn is awesome! :3
no fan of dubai or any big construction projects for no good reason
The buildings in dubai are built by slaves, too. Workers from poor countries who are tricked into coming with promises of huge pay packets, but then offered only a few dollars a day and the debt of the plane ticket hanging over their head. They all live in shanty towns hidden away from the tourists, it's totally fucked.
tldr;; lol ragheads and kimchis make stupid buildings
what a racist fuck... go fuck yourself
Does anyone even visit North Korea?
No, No they dont.
Indeed. While I enjoyed the hell out of blowing it up on the PS2, I've gotta wonder at the expected clientele.
All embargoes aside, who chooses to take a vacation in NORTH KOREA?
North Koreans?
I lol'd :D
Hmm got logged out >.>
can anyone even visit North Korea?
I don't really think it's in the visa waiver program!
It is possible, Japanese and South Koreans visit North Korea to see abducted relatives (NK has even build a hotel for that purpose [not this one obviously]). They had a limited tourist program for South Koreans, for which they build a beach resort at their east coast, but the program has been canceled after a South Korean woman taking a morning walk at the beach was shot dead by patrolling soldiers...
i was thinking about problems like that, guess you answered my problem before i even mentioned it, i think they only let ppl into their country just to abduct them and ask for a ransom from their family, thats how NK make their money
Actually it is possible to visit North Korea, but the visa is notoriously difficult to get(I believe it is only offered to those countries that NK has diplomatic relations with). And you can't just go anywhere you want, you have to follow the tourist route provided by the state. Because they don't want use to see the starving North Koreans. Other than that, the state actually invested a lot of money in construction projects, which is pretty cool.
yeah really cool they are investing money into buildings and not feeding their people. Communism ftw
Chinese people can get in fairly easily, a co-worker told me her father (from Nanjing) crossed the border a few times. It's a lot harder for whiteys though.
Her father might have gotten lucky a few times, but NK just need to be lucky one time and it would be game over for him...
this is why communism fails
It's a dictatorship.
A communist dictatorship, like most of the other communist nations have been.
Nothing communist about NK, it's simply a dictatorship, It's impossible to be a dictator in a communist country, the 2 of them together would make no sense.
Dictatorship.
It's communism in name only.
Every leader of the Soviet Union except Mikhail Gorbachev would like to disagree with your statement 17:07 Anon.
North Korea is a socialist dictatorship.
There never have been communism dude, communism has no state at all and no chance there will be a human exploring another human.
But then, communism is just an utopia.
communism is a good idea, its just that it hasn't been properly implemented. it always gets corrupted and turned into a shitstorm before it is completed. read up on history some time.
this is also why communism fails.
communism sucks, ALWAYS.
yeah like democracy has lead to smart thinking and war-free nations.
Communism and democracy are completely different things. One is an economic system and the other is a political\government system. Apples and oranges.
People just tend to associate communism with dictatorships, for obvious reasons.
This is why government should never be in place. People can't govern people because people in power always get corrupted by it. It's the absolute truth that not one single being on this planet wouldn't be corrupted if they were in power.
And if there was absolutely no government in power, it would be easy to take power for oneself and rule as a warlord. Replacing a big corrupt government with a smaller government that's equally corrupt and much more likely to personally put a bullet in peoples' brains.
Like, you know, what happens in actual anarchies.
No in anarchistic voids, in pure anarchy there would be no rule to take. Learn the difference between reality and theory.
More than this, we managed to live with it for millions of years, I'm sure we could again, we just need to go through several steps to get there safely; and these steps unfortunately are invisible to me, I'm not that good a sociologist.
lol "proper" anarchy. It doesn't exist(in reality) for a good reason. I'm sure we all would like to live in a world without advanced medical care, stable food production, go about our business without technologies like computers & cellphones and go back to banging rocks together. Stick your ideals up your ass and grow up, kid.
Communism is the best form of government! .... But only sentient ants and hive mind aliens can make Communism work. Everyone else is too greedy to so few in control of so much for the "common good"
if the common good demands we make you an underground plumber who cleans shit drains, would you call it simply 'greedy'? And all the while, your friend gets a job as a lamborgini valet parker.
Enlighten us Fatty Fat Fat McFat pants, how could it possibly be 'properly' implemented...
Why so angry? Do you even know anything about the ideals of communism? Just because it hasn't been done yet doesn't mean it can't be done. People who only question others and insult them are such retards.
Yes, I do know about the ideals of communism. I asked a legitimate question. Good job questioning and insulting me, retard. Welcome to the internet, don't forget your sense of humor.
Communism has never been completely achieved. The theory allows for a transition, which is basically a dictatorship until everything is in place to make it work properly. Corrupt administrators never allow for it to leave it's transitional state.
Get out of here you dirty reds.
LOL, nice one!
Ignorance at its best, Communism is a great idea, Americans are only afraid of it because they fail to understand it. THERE IS NO TRUE DEMOCRACY OR COMMUNIST COUNTRY they're either morphed into socialism or a dictatorship.
Communism cannot work because People = Shit.
I have food, shelter, clothing and a certain amount of luxory in the form of consumer electronics - just like all of you. I like the way things are right now. Fuck your Communism, I don't need it.
The same can really be said of any form of government. Ideally, the perfect government would be a dictatorship ruled by enlightened, benevolent king, one that cuts out all bureaucracy and indecision, but isn't bogged down by an entrenched ruling family more interested in self preservation than the people. Of course, that's never going to happen, and neither will the ideal forms of any other social system, economic or political.
How did the saying go? DEMOCRACY SUCKS, but it's the best kind of government we have so farm. (emphasis mine.)
That kind of government has happened a few times in the past but always ends when the leader dies and the fall is a very hard one.
Actually, Democracy does suck. In fact, all democracies fail rather spectacularly. America is oft misidentified as a democracy, but it is actually a republic. Republics are indeed the best form of government conceived as of yet. It's a shame that no matter how successful a republic becomes, it will always become a dictatorship eventually. A charismatic leader will always come about and use promises of reappropriating wealth from one group to another to manipulate the less fortunate into voting them into power. Then they nationalize as much of the private sector as possible, and once the needs of the people are solely held in the hands of the government, they declare absolute rule.
I, of course, am talking about Julius Caesar, though you may draw a corollary to a similar leader we have today...
You're saying that Ronald McDonald is going to overthrow the American government? It does make a strange sort of sense...
communism will always fail because its idealistic and ask citizens to be altruistic, which unfortunately, human kind fail too much to be able to do that
if actualized.. a communistic nation would have no central governing body and everyone would act according to their own belief in goodness and will work towards a better tomorrow without asking things in return and that is, needless to say, impossible.
There is a way to have something similar except in an opposite way and with current technology it could be done. That is where everyone is the government and everyone takes time to help run the government. Everyone has an equal duty and equal say in how it is run. This could be done through computers and the internet and people will either volunteer or be randomly assigned duties. All voting would be done by everyone instead of a select body. If the country has a state or province system they could have state and national systems.
A way to prevent hacking of the system is using a randomly distributed encrypted data system. All information would be encrypted and randomly distributed over all computers connected to the system.
Also to make sure everyone is doing their governmental duties one of the duties is to make sure people are doing their duties and to report it to the system. Depending on how often it happens and how many infractions voting on restrictions being placed on the person could be from local all the way to the national level.
The software running the government would be made in a similar way to that of open source software like WINE where it is developed by anyone and everyone can look at the code. A document of all features would be provided on completion for voting. (same with patches)
Also everyone has the choice on whether to vote or not but there needs to be a minimum amount of people to vote on each issue. Also it will be easy to vote and all issues will come up on starting the program and logging in.
Everyone with substandard literacy would complain about their vote bieng 'stolen'. Every Lobbyist, Journalist and Politician would oppose it for the simple reason it'd cost them influence. And every foreign power would try to find a way to hack the system.
I agree that It could be done. It could even be done competently in less than a decade. But unless a wave of scandals clears 50% of the house, it's a doomed concept.
I view this project as a good sign..
Maybe the two Koreas will rejoin faster than I thought..
unftly, since humans beings are born different(IQ and etc) that cant be achieved
Communism is failed Socialism. Having said that, I think we should goad N. Korea to continue with this construction, maybe this will be the tipping point to their economic demise.
Socialism is failed communism you retard, pick a book up one of these days.
Wrong jackass! Socialism came first before Communism. Communism is Socialist ideals applied to it. Before telling people to pick up a book, learn how to read and comprehend what's inside one. You look like a damn fool, palsy.
More like communism is a good idea, but we're too human for it to work.