The North Korean "hotel of doom", was set to open this year, but will be further delayed due to political tensions between Pyongyang and Geneva-based Kempinski Hotels.
Travelers bold enough to visit North Korea could stay in the105-story property that currently stands as the tallest unoccupied building in the world: a foreboding, pyramid-shaped, glass-plated hotel where folks could see what Pyonyang dreamed up for the interior of the tourist attraction.
Kempinsky Hotels group CEO Reto Wittwer predicted that the hotel would become "a money printing machine," at a business forum in Seoul, Korea in 2012, according to CNN.
However, the Ryugyong Hotel, which has been under construction for more than two decades, will not be producing any cash, as its doors will remain closed for the foreseeable future.
Due to recent tensions with North Korea, Geneva-based Kempinski Hotels said they have decided to go a different direction.
"Kempinski confirms that KEY International, its joint venture partner in China with Beijing Tourism Group, had initial discussions to operate a hotel in Pyongyang, North Korea," their statement read. "However, no agreement has been signed since market entry is not currently possible."
As far as the future goes, a Kempinski spokesperson told CNN, "you just never know what might happen in the future."
The North Koreans began work on the Ryugyong Hotel in 1987, and expected to open the property two years later. After a delayed completion, allegedly due to material issues, the hotel experienced further delay, when funds did not come through. In 1993, the entire project stopped. Some say even a 2013 expected opening was premature-North Korea has had dramatic dealings with other countries, and even their own, as war with South Korea still remains a threat coming from Pyongyang.
The entire building has cost about $750 million so far.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
