North Korea’s Red Cross is proposing to South Korea that more families separated by the Korean War of the 50s be reunited. This is another act of “good faith” from the North who has been antagonizing tensions on the peninsula lately. Severe flooding, food shortages and increased economic sanctions have put great pressure on the DPRK. Many people and families were displaced during the “Fatherland Liberation War” of 1950-1953, and have not been able to communicate with one another as mail, telephone calls, and internet access is forbidden between the two countries.
The Mainichi Daily News courtesy of Yonhap is reporting that Kim Jong-Un was indeed present with his father’s delegation to China a few weeks back, when former US president Jimmy Carter was in Pyongyang to free Aijalon Gomes and meet with the Dear Leader. As Jong-Un was travelling as “a member of Kim Jong-Il’s family”, he was not on the official list of attendees. This further supports the speculation that the trip was largely themed around asking China for aid as well as introducing and garnering support for the succession of Kim Jong-Il’s youngest son.
Popularly dubbed as the “Hotel of Doom” or “The Worst Building in the World” this famous eyesore is the most distinguishing feature of the Pyongyang skyline. This building is the Ryugyong Hotel, or “105 Building”. Standing at 330 metres in height, the hotel was anticipated to be the largest in the world (for it’s time) and construction was supposed to be completed in June 1989 for the World Festival of Youth and Students. Construction halted in 1992 due to equipment shortages and North Korea’s worst famine that prevailed through much of the 1990s.
The Westin Stamford in Singapore had been completed in 1986 by South Korean contractors, crowning it the world’s largest hotel. As is typical of North Korean one-upmanship, the DPRK decided if the South could accomplish this, then the North could do it better. The design was 3 pyramids, two smaller ones on the left converging into an enormous triangle. The architecture, like other buildings in the DPRK, is soviet-style poured concrete with rectangular, equally sized and spaced windows throughout, resembling the holes of a harmonica.
The top of the hotel is an upside down cone consisting of 14 levels (8 of which were meant to rotate for a 360 degree view of Pyongyang). It houses over 360 000 square feet of space. Revolving restaurants, casinos and night clubs were meant to be fixtures in the hotel operated by foreign firms. When construction was cancelled, the large concrete husk loomed on the skyline, construction crane still on top, for nearly 15 years. It has been long speculated that due to poor materials, a sunken foundation and crooked elevator shafts have rendered the building useless.
In 2008, Egyptian company Orascom had a contract to construct a 3G mobile network in Pyongyang. However, that work seems to have extended to refurbishing the derelict hotel. Work is well underway adding glass surfaces to the exterior of the building, and telecommunication antennas. Interior renovations are said to follow. The banner to this website features the Pyongyang skyline in February 2009, and you can note the “purple” looking glass panels and green scaffolding around the cone. Here is a picture of a picture of a render of the building upon its completion (rumoured to be around 2012): The video below shows a unique close-up view of the shoddy construction.
What’s next for this debacle of soviet-style engineering? Will it ever be completed, or will it remain empty and unused, only appearing fancy on the outside? In North Korea, you can only expect the unexpected…
Permanent link to this article: http://www.openingupnorthkorea.com/archives/644
The heir apparent son of Kim Jong-Il is shrouded in mystery. To date, no pictures of him as an adult have been confirmed to exist. I have gathered several images from various sources.
11 years old.
Class photo from 1998.
This is a popular one in news media.
Here’s a sketch, either drawn by or described by Kim Jong-Il’s former personal sushi chef, who defected to South Korea and has shared much information about KJU and his father’s lifestyle.
Probably the most recent image currently available, also from his high school days.
Not sure of the source or authenticity on this one. If anyone knows, I’d appreciate a heads up.
Often used in Western media. Reported in a Japanese newspaper, but probably not Kim Jong-Un. Most likely a misidentification of Kim Kwang-Nam, an engineer at the ironworks KJI is touring (as reported by The Chosun Ilbo).
And that is all the images of the Youth Captain we have right now. There are many other images circulating that identify Kim Jong-Un, however they are often confused with KJI’s other two sons, Kim Jong-Nam and Kim Jong-Chul. I will be interested in seeing the alleged portrait that can be expected to be hung up in homes and establishments, alongside father and grandfather.
The mysterious and highly anticipated Worker’s Party gathering in Pyongyang is set to kick off any day now (possibly delayed due to flooding and travel restrictions), probably to coincide with this national holiday. After World War II, when Japanese occupation of the Korean peninsula ended, Soviet and American forces could not come to agreement about how Korea should be governed. The United Nations wanted to hold elections to determine a government for Korea. On September 9th, believing he could win free elections in the North for leadership of the entire peninsula, Kim Il-Sung (with Soviet backing) forbid the United Nations to enter past the 38th parallel. The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, the antithesis to the newly founded Republic of Korea in the south, was founded with premier Kim Il-Sung at the helm. Kim Il-Sung was eventually tagged as leader and technically remains that way today, 17 years after his death.
Permanent link to this article: http://www.openingupnorthkorea.com/archives/350
Amid thawing tensions on the peninsula, North Korea’s Red Cross has requested rice, cement and construction equipment from the South’s equivalent Red Cross. In what could be regarded as a gesture of “good will”, the North has released the South Korean fishing vessel “Daeseung 55” after a month of captivity. NK state media stated referred to the release as “A decision made based on fraternal love and from a humanitarian perspective.” This seems to indicate that the North is hopeful for aid from the South to cope with extensive and ongoing flooding near the Chinese border.
The wildly speculated upon meeting of the ruling party of North Korea, the Worker’s Party of Korea, is beginning its rare meeting to reshuffle high ranking officers and possibly set the stage for leadership succession by Kim Jong-Il’s son, Kim Jong-Un. This is the first of such meetings since 1980, when the Dear Leader himself was put into a high ranking post by father-leader Kim Il-Sung. News outlets, the blogosphere and the twitterverse are abuzz with rumours and interpretations as this long anticipated meeting begins.
Permanent link to this article: http://www.openingupnorthkorea.com/archives/342
I’ve been busy with vacations and work lately, unfortunately not able to update as much as I’d like. Things should be normal now. Here’s what was missed:
Kim Jong-Il returns from his sudden trip to China — a snub to former US President Jimmy Carter, who arrived in Pyongyang to secure the release of prisoner Aijalon Gomes at the same time Kim left North Korea. 11 high ranking officials travelled with Kim, including Jang Sung-thaek, the “shadow” 2nd in command, brother-in-law to Kim Jong-Il, and Kim Jong-Un’s appointed caretaker.
It was not officially announced that Kim Jong-Un was with the delegation, but speculators believe he was there to be introduced to the Chinese leadership. This would make sense as his caretaker was there, along with many other high level officials — the meeting could possibly have been to establish trust and elminate Chinese concern in the North Korea leadership succession. If this is the case, it seems likely that China approved of the transition.
Bad news from Japan – their single satellite used for gathering intelligence information on North Korea has failed and is unlikely to be repairable. A replacement is not expected to launch until late 2011. This severely hampers Japan’s ability to monitor North Korea military movement during a period where tensions in the area are at an all time high.
