This massive spaceship-like North Korean hotel is the largest abandoned building in the world

Jen Morgan/Flickr

On a foggy day in Pyongyang, North Korea, a futuristic peak pokes out from the haze.

It's the Ryugyong Hotel, a deserted structure that has been collecting dust since its construction was abandoned in 1992. 

While it may look like the top of a spaceship ready for launch, the 1,083-foot-tall structure, which some have called "The Hotel of Doom," is going nowhere. According to Guinness World Records, it is the largest abandoned building in the world.

Jen Morgan/FlickrLocated in the heart of North Korea's capital, the hotel was originally conceived as the tallest hotel in the world — a tribute to the country's love of architectural feats. (North Korea is also, for example, home to the largest sports arena in the world).

By 1989, the structure was already behind schedule. It was supposed to open that year, but only the frame had been assembled.

As funding from the Soviet Union, a wealthy former ally, dried up in 1992, construction stopped altogether. But the Ryugyong Hotel never came crumbling down. It still stands as a shell of its imagined self, with no plumbing, electricity, or furniture to speak of.

Jen Morgan/FlickrWhat started as Kim Il-Sung's master plan to boost North Korean tourism ultimately became more evidence of the regime's deluded obsession with power.

As tour guide Nick Bonner recently told Tech Insider, one of the country's highest priorities is demonstrating its might.

You can see this in North Korea's enormous concrete architecture, its nuclear war threats, and its large-scale demonstrations. The Ryugyong Hotel was supposed to be a part of that image. 

By some estimates, the hotel would need an additional $2 billion to jump start construction. That's roughly equal to 7% of North Korea's GDP.

On the one hand, that's a huge sum of money. But on the other, Kim Jong-Un and his ilk could see it as a wise and necessary investment in the country's global domination.

Ultimately, it's a catch-22. Either the hotel stays unfinished, or it finally reaches completion and loses its world-record distinction.

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