Ryugyong Hotel: North Korea's Doomed Skyscraper

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Ryugyong Hotel: North Korea's Doomed Skyscraper

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Rising 1,080 feet above Pyongyang, the Ryugyong Hotel was meant to be North Korea's triumph — a futuristic pyramid with 3,000 rooms and five rotating restaurants. Construction began in 1987 with Soviet backing, but when the USSR collapsed, the project froze for 16 years, earning the nickname 'Hotel of Doom.' This episode follows its strange story: the race with a Seoul hotel to claim the world's tallest, the 46 billion won already spent, the Egyptian-led revival in 2008, the solar panels on its unfinished roof, and the lingering mystery of whether anyone has ever stayed inside. We also explore what the building reveals about Kim Il-sung's late-era ambitions and North Korea's relationship with foreign capital. Through eyewitness accounts, diplomatic cables, and satellite imagery, Lucas and Luna piece together the true story of a building that was never meant to open — and may never fully close. #RyugyongHotel #NorthKorea #Pyongyang #KimIlSung #SovietUnion #Skyscraper #HotelOfDoom #Egypt #Orascom #NaguibSawiris #Juche #Architecture #ColdWar #1990s #Propaganda #History #FexingoHistory #EastAsia Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo

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