North Korean Economy Watch » Hoteling

UPDATE 1 (2016-5-11): When this blog post was published, I had assumed that the BBC journalists were in the DPRK to cover the seventh party congress, but they were not. These BBC reporters were c...

https://www.nkeconwatch.com/2016/05/02/journalists-staying-in-beverly-hills-of-pyongyang/

Institute for Far Eastern Studies (IFES) 2013-10-16 The first chairman of the National Defence Commission of North Korea, Kim Jong Un, took office two years ago. Since then, construction of sport...

https://www.nkeconwatch.com/2013/10/16/evaluation-of-kim-jong-uns-first-two-years-the-rise-in-construction-of-sports-and-entertainment-facilities-and-exports-to-china/

UPDATE 1 (2013-3-28): NK News reports that Kempinski has officially pulled out of the deal: “Kempinski Hotels confirms that KEY International, its joint venture partner in China with Beijing To...

https://www.nkeconwatch.com/2013/03/28/kempinski-claims-to-be-taking-over-management-of-ryugyong-hotel/

Pyongyang has a mosque: Top: A reader allowed me to post this image (thank you) of a mosque in Pyongyang. Bottom: The Google Earth image of the mosque. The mosque is located inside the Iranian em...

https://www.nkeconwatch.com/2013/01/20/google-earth-and-north-korea-pyongyang-mosque-kobansan-and-new-hospital/

The Rev. Sun Myung Moon was born between what is now Wonbong-ri and Osong-ri in Jongju City (정주시).   Pictured above (R) is a satellite image of the exact building the DPRK and the Unificat...

https://www.nkeconwatch.com/2012/09/10/the-unification-church-in-the-dprk/

Via Geoffrey See at Choson Exchange: On my last trip to Pyongyang, I had the opportunity to catch up with some Egyptian expatriates from Orascom Telecom Holding over popcorn and whiskey. They we...

https://www.nkeconwatch.com/2011/10/19/orascom-plans-to-offer-mobile-internet-service-in-dprk/

Tania Branigan visited Pyongyang for The Guardian and wrote a long article on North Korean culture.  Most of the information is familiar to long-time DPRK watchers, though there were a few nu...

https://www.nkeconwatch.com/2010/10/15/north-koreas-cultural-life/

I stumbled on a set of photos taken by a Myanmar military delegation which visited the DPRK to shop for military accessories.  The visit was from Nov 21-28, 2008, but there are no KCNA stories w...

https://www.nkeconwatch.com/2010/07/28/myanmar-military-delegations-visit-to-dprk-in-2008/

According to the Donga Ilbo: Ilyeon Investment Chairman Ahn Gyo-shik is nervous over Pyongyang’s latest moves. “I feel helpless since our company is rattled by external conditions, not our ma...

https://www.nkeconwatch.com/2010/03/23/kumgang-investors-on-the-outs/

UPDATE 8:   According to the BBC, Orascom claims the final plans for the hotel have yet to be approved: Dozens of Egyptian engineers and some 2,000 local workers are working on the Ryugyong pro...

https://www.nkeconwatch.com/2009/10/15/orascom-completes-3g-test-call-in-north-korea/