Ryugyong Hotel

{{Short description|Unfinished skyscraper in Pyongyang, North Korea}}

{{Infobox building

| building_type = Mixed use: Hotel, Retail, Restaurants

| name = Ryugyong Hotel

| native_name = {{lang|ko|류경호텔}}

| status = On-hold (unfinished)

| image = File:Prázdné slnice a rozestavěný hotel Ryugyong - panoramio.jpg

| image_size = 300px

| caption = The Ryugyong Hotel in 2012

| location = Ryugyong-dong, Potonggang-guyok, Pyongyang, North Korea

| coordinates = {{coord|39|02|12|N|125|43|51|E|region:KP-01_type:landmark|display=inline,title}}

| start_date = 28 August 1987

| architect = Baikdoosan Architects & Engineers

| architectural_style = Neo-futurism

| floor_area = {{convert|360000|m2|sqft|abbr=on}}

| top_floor =

| floor_count = Above ground 105, underground 3

| antenna_spire =

| roof = {{Convert|330.02|m|ft}}

| topped_out_date = 1992

| est_completion = Unknown
(exterior construction completed: 14 July 2011)

| developer = Orascom Group

| public_transit = File:Logo of the Pyongyang Metro.svg {{color box|green}} Hyŏksin: Kŏnsŏl

}}

{{Infobox Korean name|context=north|

hangul=류경호텔|

hanja=柳京호텔|

rr=Ryugyeong Hotel|

mr=Ryugyŏng Hot'el|

}}

The Ryugyong Hotel ({{Korean|hangul=류경호텔|context=north}}; sometimes spelled as Ryu-Gyong Hotel), or Yu-Kyung Hotel,{{cite web |url=https://www.orientalarchitecture.com/sid/552/korea-north/pyongyang/105-building |title=105 Building, Pyongyang, Korea, North |publisher=Asian Historical Architecture |access-date=11 February 2010}} is a {{Convert|330|m|ft|abbr=on}} tall unfinished pyramid-shaped skyscraper in Pyongyang, North Korea. Its name ({{lit}} "capital of willows") is also one of the historical names for Pyongyang.{{cite book |last=Funabashi |first=Yoichi |url=https://archive.org/details/peninsulaquestio0000funa |title=The Peninsula Question: A Chronicle of the Second Northern Korean Nuclear Crisis |publisher=Brookings Institution Press |year=2007 |isbn=978-0-8157-3010-1 |location=Washington, DC |page=50 |chapter=Koizumi Again Visits Pyongyang |url-access=registration}} The building has been planned as a mixed-use development, which would include a hotel.

Construction began in 1987 but was halted in 1992 as North Korea entered a period of economic crisis after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. After 1992, the building stood topped out, but without any windows or interior fittings. In 2008, construction resumed, and the exterior was completed in 2011. The hotel was planned to open in 2012, the centenary of founding leader Kim Il Sung's birth. A partial opening was announced for 2013, but this was cancelled.{{cite news |last=Berg |first=Nate |date=16 February 2016 |title=North Korea's Best Building Is Empty: The Mystery of the Ryugyong Hotel |url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/north-koreas-best-building-is-empty-the-mystery-of-the-ryugyong-hotel/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160214202302/http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/02/14/north-korea-s-best-building-is-empty-the-mystery-of-the-ryugyong-hotel.html |archive-date=14 February 2016 |work=The Daily Beast}} In 2018, an LED display was fitted to one side, which is used to show propaganda animations and film scenes.{{cite news |last=Talmadge |first=Eric |title=Ryugyong, the world's tallest empty hotel, dazzles North Korean capital skyline with propaganda light shows |publisher=Associated Press |date=30 December 2018 |url=https://apnews.com/article/8e6a3919627844a58aa5cfa095515956}}

Architecture

The Ryugyong Hotel is {{Convert|330|m|ft|abbr=on}} tall,{{cite news |title=North Korea's 'Hotel of Doom' to open 24 years after construction: by numbers |work=The Daily Telegraph |date=10 October 2011 |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/northkorea/8817892/North-Koreas-Hotel-of-Doom-to-open-24-years-after-construction-by-numbers.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/northkorea/8817892/North-Koreas-Hotel-of-Doom-to-open-24-years-after-construction-by-numbers.html |archive-date=12 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live}}{{cbignore}} making it the most prominent feature of Pyongyang's skyline and the tallest building in North Korea.{{Cite web|last=Lakritz|first=Talia|title=North Korea's tallest building is an abandoned hotel that has never hosted a single guest – take a closer look at the 'Hotel of Doom'|url=https://www.insider.com/abandoned-hotel-north-korea-ryugyong-photos-2019-11|access-date=2020-10-23|website=Insider|archive-date=14 March 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220314120143/https://www.insider.com/abandoned-hotel-north-korea-ryugyong-photos-2019-11|url-status=live}} Construction of the Ryugyong Hotel was intended to be completed in time for the 80th birthday of General Secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea and President Kim Il Sung in 1992;{{cite book|last=Hwang|first=Kyung Moon|title=A History of Korea|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ITy7DQAAQBAJ&pg=PT316|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220314114409/https://books.google.com/books?id=ITy7DQAAQBAJ&pg=PT316|url-status=dead|archive-date=14 March 2022|edition=2nd|year=2016|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|location=Basingstoke|isbn=978-1-137-57358-2|page=316}} if this had been achieved, it would have held the title of world's tallest hotel.{{Cite web|author=Jacopo Prisco|title=Ryugyong Hotel: The story of North Korea's 'Hotel of Doom'|url=https://www.cnn.com/style/article/ryugyong-hotel-architecture-origins/index.html|access-date=2020-10-23|website=CNN|date=10 August 2019|language=en|archive-date=4 March 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220304001805/https://www.cnn.com/style/article/ryugyong-hotel-architecture-origins/index.html|url-status=live}} Before Goldin Finance 117 in China, it was considered the tallest unoccupied building in the world.{{cite web |first=Jacopo |last=Prisco |title=Ryugyong Hotel: The story of North Korea's 'Hotel of Doom' |url=https://edition.cnn.com/style/article/ryugyong-hotel-architecture-origins/index.html |publisher=CNN |date=10 August 2019 |access-date=10 January 2022 |quote=Still closed to this day, the Ryugyong Hotel is the world's tallest unoccupied building. |archive-date=6 February 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220206082221/https://edition.cnn.com/style/article/ryugyong-hotel-architecture-origins/index.html |url-status=live }}{{cite web |author1=Guinness World Records |author-link1=Guinness World Records |title=Tallest building unoccupied |url=http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/tallest-building-unoccupied |website=Guinness World Records |date=September 2015 |access-date=10 January 2022 |quote=Tallest building unoccupied |archive-date=7 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220107233342/https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/tallest-building-unoccupied |url-status=live }}

The building consists of three wings, each measuring {{Convert|100|m|abbr=on}} long and {{Convert|18|m|abbr=on}} wide, lightly stepped once but otherwise sloping at 75 degrees to the ground, which converge at a common point to form a pinnacle. The building is topped by a truncated cone {{Convert|40|m|abbr=on}} wide, consisting of eight floors that are intended to rotate, topped by a further six static floors. The structure was originally intended to house five revolving restaurants, and either 3,000 or 7,665 guest rooms, according to different sources.{{cite book |last=Randl |first=Chad |title=Revolving Architecture: A History of Buildings That Rotate, Swivel, and Pivot |publisher=Princeton Architectural Press |location=New York |year=2008 |page=[https://archive.org/details/revolvingarchite00rand/page/133 133] |isbn=978-1-56898-681-4 |url=https://archive.org/details/revolvingarchite00rand/page/133 }}{{cite book |last1=Quinones |first1=C. Kenneth |first2=Joseph |last2=Taggert |title=The Complete Idiot's Guide to Understanding North Korea |publisher=Alpha Books |location=Indianapolis |year=2003 |series=Complete Idiot's Guides |page=183 |chapter=The Economy: Supporting the Military |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uWOSvlp9jwMC&pg=PA183 |isbn=978-1-59257-169-7 |lccn=2003113809 |oclc=54510387 |ol=8867625M}} According to Orascom's Khaled Bichara in 2009, the Ryugyong will not be just a hotel, but rather a mixed-use development, including "revolving restaurant" facilities along with a "mixture of hotel accommodation, apartments and business facilities".

Construction history

=Beginning=

The plan for a large hotel was reportedly a Cold War response to the completion of the world's then-tallest hotel, the Westin Stamford Hotel in Singapore, in 1986 by the South Korean company SsangYong Group. North Korean leadership envisioned the project as a channel for Western investors to step into the marketplace. A firm, The Ryugyong Hotel Investment and Management, was established to attract a hoped-for $230 million in foreign investment. A representative for the North Korean government promised relaxed oversight, allowing "foreign investors [to] operate casinos, nightclubs or Japanese lounges".{{cite journal |last=Ngor |first=Oh Kwee |date=9 June 1990 |title=Western decadence hits N. Korea |journal=Japan Economic Journal |page=12}} North Korean construction firm Baikdoosan Architects & Engineers (also known as Baekdu Mountain Architects and Engineers) began construction on a pyramid‑shaped hotel in 1987.{{cite web |url=http://ifes.kyungnam.ac.kr/eng/m05/s10/content.asp?nkbriefNO=207&GoP=1 |title=Orascom and DPRK to Complete Ryugyong Hotel Construction |publisher=The Institute for Far Eastern Studies |date=20 May 2008 |access-date=9 February 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090703133311/http://ifes.kyungnam.ac.kr/eng/m05/s10/content.asp?nkbriefNO=207&GoP=1 |archive-date=3 July 2009 }}{{cite book |title=Almanac of Architecture & Design |editor1=Cramer, James P. |editor2=Jennifer Evans Yankopolus |publisher=Greenway Publications |location=Atlanta |year=2006 |edition=7th |page=368 |isbn=0-9755654-2-7}}

The hotel was originally scheduled to be opened to the public in 1992 for the 80th birthday of Kim, but problems with building methods and materials delayed completion.{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/northkorea/6337040/North-Korean-hotel-dubbed-the-worst-building-in-the-world-may-finally-be-finished.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/northkorea/6337040/North-Korean-hotel-dubbed-the-worst-building-in-the-world-may-finally-be-finished.html |archive-date=12 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=North Korean hotel dubbed the 'worst building in the world' may finally be finished |work=The Daily Telegraph |location=London |date=16 October 2009 |access-date=25 August 2010}}{{cbignore}} Had it opened on schedule, it would have surpassed the Westin Stamford to become the world's tallest hotel in the world, {{cite news |first=Dan |last=Beckmann |title=Pyongyang: Home to the Tallest Hotel in the World That Could, but Will Never Be |url=https://abcnews.go.com/print?id=2590901 |publisher=ABC News |date=23 October 2006 |access-date=5 July 2009 |archive-date=19 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210319110841/https://abcnews.go.com/print?id=2590901 |url-status=live }} and would have been the seventh-tallest building in the world. Instead it became the world's tallest abandoned building.

=Halt=

Image:Ryugyong Hotel - May 2005.JPG

In 1992, after the building had reached its full architectural height,{{cite web |url=http://www.emporis.com/buildings/130967/ryugyong-hotel-pyongyang-north-korea |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150512153724/http://www.emporis.com/buildings/130967/ryugyong-hotel-pyongyang-north-korea |url-status=usurped |archive-date=12 May 2015 |title=Ryugyong Hotel |access-date=9 February 2010 |work=Emporis}} work was halted due to the economic crisis in North Korea following the collapse of the Soviet Union. Japanese newspapers estimated the cost of construction was $750 million,{{cite journal |title=North Korea builds record-height hotel |date=15 November 1990 |journal=Engineering News-Record |page=41}} consuming 2 percent of North Korea's GDP. For over a decade, the unfinished building sat vacant and without windows, fixtures, or fittings, appearing as a massive concrete shell. A rusting construction crane remained at the top, which the BBC called "a reminder of the totalitarian state's thwarted ambition".{{cite news |last=Kirk |first=Donald |publication-date=17 October 2008 |title=Grand Illusion |periodical=Forbes |url=https://www.forbes.com/global/2008/1027/059.html |access-date=5 July 2009 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151225112051/http://www.forbes.com/global/2008/1027/059.html |archive-date=25 December 2015 }} According to Marcus Noland, in the late 1990s, the European Chamber of Commerce in Korea inspected the building and concluded that the structure was irreparable.{{cite book |last=Noland |first=Marcus |title=Avoiding the Apocalypse: The Future of the Two Koreas |publisher=Institute for International Economics |location=Washington, DC |year=2000 |page=[https://archive.org/details/avoidingapocalyp00nola_0/page/82 82] |isbn=0-88132-278-4 |url=https://archive.org/details/avoidingapocalyp00nola_0/page/82 }} Questions were raised regarding the quality of the building's concrete and the alignment of its elevator shafts, which some sources said were "crooked".

In a 2006 article, ABC News questioned whether North Korea had sufficient raw materials or energy for such a massive project. A North Korean government official told the Los Angeles Times in 2008 that construction was not completed "because [North Korea] ran out of money".{{cite news |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2008-sep-27-fg-boom27-story.html |title=North Korea in the midst of mysterious building boom |date=27 September 2008 |work=Los Angeles Times |access-date=14 December 2008 |first=Barbara |last=Demick}}

Though mocked-up images of the completed hotel had appeared on North Korean stamps during the initial construction period, the North Korean government ignored the building's existence during the construction hiatus even though it dominated the Pyongyang skyline. The government manipulated official photographs in order to remove the unfinished structure from the skyline, and excluded it from printed maps of Pyongyang.

The halt in construction, the rumours of problems and the mystery about its future led foreign media sources to dub it "the worst building in the world",{{cite web |publication-date=28 January 2008 |title=The Worst Building in the History of Mankind |periodical=Esquire |url=http://www.esquire.com/news-politics/a4184/hotel-of-doom-012808/ |access-date=5 July 2009 |first=Eva |last=Hagberg |date=28 January 2008 |archive-date=14 July 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210714141049/https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/a4184/hotel-of-doom-012808/ |url-status=live }}{{cite news |last=Herskovitz |first=Jon |publication-date=18 July 2008 |title=North Koreans revamp 'world's worst building' |work=The Independent |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/north-koreans-revamp-worlds-worst-building-870858.html |access-date=5 July 2009 |location=London |archive-date=3 February 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120203021113/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/north-koreans-revamp-worlds-worst-building-870858.html |url-status=live }} "Hotel of Doom" and "Phantom Hotel".{{cite news |title=Will 'Hotel of Doom' ever be finished? |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8306697.stm |publisher=BBC News |date=15 October 2009 |access-date=13 October 2009 |archive-date=15 October 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091015024340/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8306697.stm |url-status=live }}

=Resumption=

File:2008 - Top of the Ryugyong Hotel, Pyongyang (filter enhanced).jpg

In April 2008, after 16 years of inactivity, work on the building was restarted by the Egyptian construction firm Orascom Group.{{cite news |url=http://www.mysinchew.com/node/11909 |title=Korea: N Korea Resumes Construction of Luxury Hotel |date=25 May 2008 |publisher=MySinchew |access-date=5 July 2009 |archive-date=9 August 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110809140809/http://www.mysinchew.com/node/11909 |url-status=live }} The firm, which had entered into a US$400 million deal with the North Korean government to build and run a cellular network, said that their telecommunications deal was not directly related to the Ryugyong Hotel work. In 2008, North Korean officials stated that the hotel would be completed by 2012, coinciding with the 100th anniversary of the birth of Kim. In 2009, Orascom's chief operating officer Bichara noted that they "had not had too many problems" resolving the reported structural issues of the building, and that a revolving restaurant would be located at the top of the building.

In July 2011, it was reported that the exterior work was complete.{{cite web |title=Photos: 'Hotel of Doom' Exterior Completed |work=The Huffington Post |date=14 July 2011 |url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/07/14/north-koreas-ryugyong-hot_n_892540.html |access-date=25 December 2015 |archive-date=5 September 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160905073948/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/07/14/north-koreas-ryugyong-hot_n_892540.html |url-status=live }} Features that Orascom had installed include exterior glass panels and telecommunications antennas.{{cite news |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-korea-north-hotel-idUSSEO9654020080717 |title=Lifestyle: North Korea's 'Hotel of Doom' wakes from its coma |work=Reuters |last=Herskovitz |first=Jon |date=17 July 2008 |access-date=5 July 2009 |archive-date=25 December 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211225215202/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-korea-north-hotel-idUSSEO9654020080717 |url-status=live }} In September 2012, photographs taken by Koryo Tours were released, showing the interior for the first time. The photographs showed no wiring, cabling, or pipes in the structure, which was bare and unfurnished.{{cite web |title=North Korea's Ryugyong 'Hotel of Doom' pictures released |publisher=BBC News |date=27 September 2012 |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-19741830 |access-date=21 June 2018 |archive-date=9 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210409144133/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-19741830 |url-status=live }}{{cite web |url=http://koryogroup.com/blog/?p=1156 |title=Ryugyong Hotel Special Report! |website=Koryo Tours |archive-date=10 November 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141110072645/http://koryogroup.com/blog/?p=1156 |url-status=dead }}

=Opening announced, then cancelled=

In November 2012, international hotel operator Kempinski announced it would be running the hotel, which was expected to partially open in mid‑2013.{{cite web |url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/01/north-koreas-ryugyong-hotel-will-probably-open_n_2056346.html |work=The Huffington Post |title=North Korea's Ryugyong Hotel Will 'Probably' Open Next Year, Be Managed By Kempinski |date=1 November 2012 |agency=Associated Press |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121103174135/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/01/north-koreas-ryugyong-hotel-will-probably-open_n_2056346.html |archive-date=3 November 2012 }}{{cite news |last=Yoon |first=Sangwon |title=Kempinski to Operate World's Tallest Hotel in North Korea |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2012-11-01/north-korea-gets-world-s-tallest-hotel-as-kempinski-opens-tower |publisher=Bloomberg |date=1 November 2012 |access-date=11 March 2017 |archive-date=17 February 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220217120844/https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2012-11-01/north-korea-gets-world-s-tallest-hotel-as-kempinski-opens-tower |url-status=live }} In March 2013, plans to open the hotel were suspended.{{cite web |url=http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/northkorea/2013/03/29/28/0401000000AEN20130329005600315F.HTML |title=Plan to open high-rise hotel in Pyongyang suspended due to 'market conditions' |date=29 March 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130604073030/http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/northkorea/2013/03/29/28/0401000000AEN20130329005600315F.HTML |archive-date=4 June 2013 |url-status=live |publisher=Yonhap News Agency }} Kempinski clarified its earlier statements, saying that only "initial discussions" had ever occurred,{{cite web |url=http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/05/22/nobody-s-home-at-the-hermit-kingdom-s-ghost-hotel.html |title=Nobody's Home at the Hermit Kingdom's Ghost Hotel |work=The Daily Beast |date=22 May 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151112011112/http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/05/22/nobody-s-home-at-the-hermit-kingdom-s-ghost-hotel.html |archive-date=12 November 2015 |url-status=live |first=Nina |last=Strochlic |location=New York }} but that no agreement had been signed because "market entry is not currently possible".{{cite web |last=O’Carroll |first=Chad |title=Kempinski Freezes 'Hotel of Doom' Plans in North Korea |work=NK News |date=28 March 2013 |url=https://www.nknews.org/2013/03/kempinski-freezes-hotel-of-doom-plans-in-north-korea/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150928023653/http://www.nknews.org/2013/03/kempinski-freezes-hotel-of-doom-plans-in-north-korea/ |archive-date=28 September 2015 |url-status=live }}

Kempinski did not elaborate on its reasons, but commentators suggested that international tensions related to the 2013 North Korean nuclear test, economic risks, and delays in construction probably played a part.{{cite web |title=Travel: North Korea's vast Ryugyong Hotel not opening yet after all |url=http://travel.cnn.com/north-korea-ryugyong-hotel-kempinski-pyongrang-open-341481 |publisher=CNN |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150905225729/http://travel.cnn.com/north-korea-ryugyong-hotel-kempinski-pyongrang-open-341481 |archive-date=5 September 2015 |url-status=live |date=25 April 2013 |quote=Despite its flashy exterior, the hotel's interior showed no sign of being close to completion in December {{bracket|2012}}. }}

=Renewal=

Activity resumed in late 2016 and a representative of Orascom visited North Korea.{{cite news|url=https://www.nknews.org/2016/12/lights-on-at-north-koreas-ryugyong-hotel-of-doom/|title=Lights on at North Korea's Ryugyong 'hotel of doom'|first=Chad|last=O'Carroll|publisher=NK News|date=2 December 2016|access-date=4 April 2018|archive-date=1 October 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211001193736/https://www.nknews.org/2016/12/lights-on-at-north-koreas-ryugyong-hotel-of-doom/|url-status=live}} In 2017 and early 2018, there were signs of work at the site, with access roads being constructed.{{Cite news|url=https://www.thetimes.com/edition/world/hotel-of-doom-takes-kims-illusion-building-sky-high-0txmm66fh|title='Hotel of Doom' takes Kim's illusion-building sky high|last=Sherwell|first=Philip|date=2017-08-06|work=The Times|access-date=2017-08-06|language=en|url-access=subscription|archive-date=7 May 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200507030515/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/world/hotel-of-doom-takes-kims-illusion-building-sky-high-0txmm66fh|url-status=live}}{{cite news|url=https://www.nknews.org/2018/02/new-roads-connected-to-pyongyangs-unfinished-ryugyong-hotel/|title=New roads connected to Pyongyang's unfinished Ryugyong Hotel|first=Chad|last=O'Carroll|publisher=NK News|date=26 February 2018|access-date=26 February 2018|archive-date=6 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220206223918/https://www.nknews.org/2018/02/new-roads-connected-to-pyongyangs-unfinished-ryugyong-hotel/|url-status=live}}

In April 2018, a large LED display featuring the North Korean flag had been added to the top of the building.{{cite news|url=https://www.nknews.org/2018/04/huge-led-display-added-to-top-of-pyongyangs-iconic-ryugyong-hotel-photos|title=Huge LED display added to top of Pyongyang's iconic Ryugyong Hotel: photo|first=Chad|last=O'Carroll|publisher=NK News|date=2 April 2018|access-date=3 April 2018|archive-date=25 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210125235534/https://www.nknews.org/2018/04/huge-led-display-added-to-top-of-pyongyangs-iconic-ryugyong-hotel-photos/|url-status=live}} By May, an LED display had been added to one entire side of the structure,{{cite news|last=Talmadge|first=Eric|date=30 December 2018|title=World's tallest empty hotel lit up with N. Korean propaganda|url=https://apnews.com/8e6a3919627844a58aa5cfa095515956|access-date=31 October 2019|archive-date=18 December 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211218000906/https://apnews.com/8e6a3919627844a58aa5cfa095515956|url-status=live}} and there were reports that the building was being readied for occupation.{{cite news |url= https://www.nknews.org/2018/05/enormous-led-light-wall-added-to-side-of-pyongyangs-ryugyong-hotel |title= Enormous LED light wall added to side of Pyongyang's Ryugyong Hotel |first= Chad |last= O'Carroll |publisher= NK News |date= 21 May 2018 |access-date= 21 May 2018 |archive-date= 9 May 2020 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20200509171054/https://www.nknews.org/2018/05/enormous-led-light-wall-added-to-side-of-pyongyangs-ryugyong-hotel/ |url-status= live }} By July, the LED display was showing animations and movie scenes.{{cite news|url= https://www.nknews.org/2018/07/despite-sanctions-multiple-new-construction-projects-emerging-in-pyongyang|title= Despite sanctions, multiple new construction projects emerging in Pyongyang|first= Colin|last= Zwirko|publisher= NK News|date= 20 July 2018|access-date= 20 July 2018|archive-date= 9 November 2020|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20201109041226/https://www.nknews.org/2018/07/despite-sanctions-multiple-new-construction-projects-emerging-in-pyongyang/|url-status= live}} In June 2019, there was new signage bearing the hotel's name (in Korean and English) and its logo over the main entrance.{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/jun/27/australian-student-alek-sigley-reportedly-arrested-in-north-korea|title=Australian student reportedly arrested in North Korea out of contact since Tuesday, family say|first=Michael|last=McGowan|work=The Guardian|date=27 June 2019|access-date=2 July 2019|archive-date=1 October 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211001195732/https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/jun/27/australian-student-alek-sigley-reportedly-arrested-in-north-korea|url-status=live}}

In 2024, the North Korean government reportedly started to look for a casino operator willing to complete the building in exchange for profits made by the casino.{{cite news |author= Son Hye Min |date= July 26, 2024 |title= North Korea to sell gambling rights at vacant 105-floor Ryugyong Hotel in Pyongyang |work= rfa.org |url= https://www.rfa.org/english/news/korea/ryugyong-hotel-pyongyang-casino-gambling-north-korea-construction-07262024180700.html |access-date= October 7, 2024 }}

File:Ryugyŏng-Hotel LED Show.jpg