Calling investors: Casino in North Korea up for grabs, with a catch

North Korea may have a deal for adventurous investors. Whoever finishes an unfinished skyscraper in the capital of Pyongyang gets the right to run a casino there.

At 105 storeys (330 metres), the steel-and-glass Ryugyong Hotel is North Korea’s tallest building. It also may be the country’s longest-stalled building project.

The hotel broke ground in 1987, with a plan to open 3,000 rooms in 1992. Thirty-seven years later, the massive rocket-shaped structure remains unfinished and unoccupied. And the Ryugyong has picked up the unfortunate moniker “Hotel of Doom”.

So, what happened, and what’s next?

End of Soviet support, followed by famine

In 1991, the Soviet Union collapsed, ending longstanding subsidies from Moscow to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. Without Russian funds and fuel, the economy in North Korea faltered. Then widespread flooding destroyed 15% of the country’s farmland, kicking off a years-long famine that affected millions of people. The empty hotel facade was forgotten.

But in recent years, work at the site has resumed. In 2011, exterior glazing was completed. In 2012, luxury hotelier Kempinski announced it would host accommodations at the pinnacle, then quickly withdrew. A massive LED light wall was erected on the building’s façade in 2018. Periodically, it displays political propaganda, images of North Korean history and the country’s flag.

The latest plan

Now, a source is telling Radio Free Asia that the government is weighing “a plan to install a casino at the Ryugyong Hotel”.

The anonymous source said the plan is meant to attract foreign investment to the so-called “hermit kingdom”.

“The authority to determine the location of the casino to be installed at the hotel and the right to operate the casino will be granted to a foreign entrepreneur who invests in the cost of internal construction,” the source added.

North Korea presently has two casinos, both serving foreigners only. One is located at the luxury Yanggakdo Hotel, also in Pyongyang. The second is in the Bipa Hotel in the Rason Special Economic Zone, near the border with China and Russia.

By one account, under Kim Jong Un, North Korea is much more open to foreign travel. And clearly, new foreign investment is also welcome.

“When the casino is built… and the hotel’s accommodations, restaurants, swimming pool and billiards room are finally completed… tourism in Pyongyang is expected to be revitalised,” the source told RFA. “This is why overseas investment is desperately needed.”