wow, they [i]might[/i] actually finish it........

[philoldsmobile]

The Ryugyong hotel, in north Korea. Rumour has it its due to open in 2012 - a mere 23 years late....



http://www.gizmag.com/ryugyong-hotel-pyongyang/19389/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://www.gizmag.com/ryugyong-hotel-pyongyang/19389/

Personally I really like it, although rumours of an irrepairable structure, crumbling concrete and 'crooked' lift shafts leave me wondering how long it will stand for, plus NK isn't exactly experienced in such buildings...

Cool though....

[Fieldy]

Quoting: Gizmag

A 3,000 suite hotel with five revolving restaurants makes no sense in a country where no national could afford to stay and there is no tourist industry. But then again many things make no sense in North Korea.

I love this paragraph.... Sums it up greatly. I like it too, but it looks so out of place next to the sorry looking buildings surrounding it.

[philoldsmobile]

Same country has an 11 lane motorway, yet very few cars.......

[Roadkill]

I like it.

Would suit Vegas, though.  Ironic, really.

[philoldsmobile]

very ironic.. probably one of the most anti american states in the world building a vegas hotel!

[Incursus]

Its clearly a space ship, they are preparing for world domination!

[FUBAR]

Quoting: Incursus

Its clearly a space ship, they are preparing for world dominationPYONGYANG EVACUATION!!

(Probably a good thing)

This is probably under the instruction of the likely soon-to-be leader of N. Korea Kim Jong-un.

[philoldsmobile]

Had to chuckle when i found out N Korea is the only country in the world with a dead president... there is a flaw in making someone eternal president....

[F Body]

Quoting: philoldsmobile

Had to chuckle when i found out N Korea is the only country in the world with a dead president...

14 Interesting Facts about North Korea

1. You can't turn off the government radio installed in your home, only reduce the volume.

2. Idolatry in North Korea is such that it is second-nature for ordinary citizens to "rescue" portraits of Kim Il Sung before all else in the case of a house fire (there are even special bunkers for statues in case of war)

3. Many people don't even know that man has walked on the moon.

4. There is no Internet, cell-phones have been banned.

5. A main cause for all problems are Americans. Mothers teach their children to sing songs about bad Americans, there are many postage stamps showing the death of "U.S imperialists"

6. A six-day work week, and another day of enforced "volunteer" work, ensures that the average citizen has virtually no free time.

7. The very first thing you do when you visit North Korea's capital Pyongyang is visit and give a flower to a big statue of "Dear Leader".

8. About 0.85% of the population are held in prison or detention camps.

9. Most traffic control is performed by female traffic directors (reportedly handpicked by Kim Jong-Il for their beauty), as the lights are switched off to save electricity.

10. Dogs are banned in Pyongyang to keep it clean.

11. Avarage wage in 2005 was 6$ (source: http://www.gluckman.com/NKFEER.html)\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">www.gluckman.com/NKFEER.html)

12. Visitors of North Korea are given special guides and can't go anywhere without them.

13. North Koreans are used to often disappearing electricity and have many candles prepared.

14. North Korea has the fourth-largest military in the world, at an estimated 1.21 million armed personnel

[philoldsmobile]

no 4 is not true, well, not any more. the Egyptian company that finished the hotel also has a  deal with the North Korean government to build and maintain a mobile phone network, and take up among NK's 'wealthier' citizens has apparently been good.

I'd read the average wage was a bit more than that, too.. even though, its still a very strange place, and if you are a foreign visitor, you are not allowed to point at a NK resident, or engage them in political discussions.

Hyundai offer their employees trips to NK, there is an account of one somewhere online (read it at lunch time), it makes very interesting reading