In 1987, North Korea started building the Ryugyong Hotel, a massive 105-story concrete pyramid in the heart of Pyongyang. Designed to rival South Korean architecture and symbolize the regime's ambitions, the hotel was originally planned to have 3,600 rooms, casinos, and nightclubs, with an estimated cost of $230 million. By 1992, the structure reached its full height of 330 meters, but construction halted due to financial difficulties. The collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 triggered an economic crisis in North Korea, which left the hotel as a skeletal concrete frame for over a decade. Some Japanese newspapers later estimated the total cost of the project to be closer to $750 million, about 2% of the country’s GDP at the time. In 2008, construction resumed under the Egyptian company Orascom, which added a glass exterior and communication antennas to the structure. The hotel was initially set to open in 2012 to mark the 100th anniversary of the birth of North Korea’s founder, Kim Il-sung, but it remained closed. A partial opening was announced for 2013, but it was later canceled. In 2018, North Korea began using the hotel as a giant billboard by installing over 100,000 LED lights on its facade, displaying propaganda messages at night. Today, the Ryugyong Hotel holds the Guinness World Record for the tallest unoccupied building in the world. Despite these upgrades, the interior of the hotel remains unfinished, with no beds, furnishings, or operational facilities. In 2024, a resident of Pyongyang suggested that the government might consider selling the rights to operate a casino inside the hotel, but only if a foreign company completes the interior construction. The building continues to be used as a backdrop for military parades and political events, reinforcing its role as a symbol of the regime's determination to maintain the structure despite its failure to become a functional hotel. The Ryugyong Hotel has become an iconic, albeit unfinished, landmark in Pyongyang. Its towering silhouette is often seen in state media, representing both the ambitions and the challenges of North Korea’s economic and political landscape. While it was once meant to be a beacon of prosperity and modernity, it now stands as a reminder of unfulfilled promises and the complexities of the country’s development.