Erick Tseng is a former Google executive, where, as the Lead Product Manager, he helped launch and grow Android. He’s now a bigwig at Facebook; he was hired to be the company’s Head of Mobile Products in 2010 and is currently involved in their AR/VR product management team.
In 2015, Erik had the opportunity to stay at the Koryo Hotel, located in Pyongyang, the capital and largest city in North Korea. According to Wikipedia, the Koryo is the second largest operating hotel in the North Korea and one of the few hotels the country where foreigners can stay. Built in 1985, it was intended to “showcase the glory and strength of the DPRK (Democratic People’s Republic of Korea).”
North Korea rates the hotel as a 5 star facility but it rates only 3.5 stars on tripadvisor. I suggest reading the reviews, BTW – they’re…interesting 😉
Anyway, back to Erik and his tour of the hotel, including the lobby and his room…
The fire that Erik spoke about in the video was indeed very hush-hush. There’s very little reference to it on the internet, although I did find this post (with photo) on Reddit.
Erik also explored the rest of the hotel a little and discovered the multiple floors that are empty and pitch black…
He and his team got to visit other areas of North Korea during their visit, which also meant staying at other hotels. This is video of his stay at the Jangsusan Hotel in Pyongsong, a city that’s about 20 miles northeast of Pyongyang:
Erik has a few dozen videos, most between 1 and 5 minutes long, of his adventures in North Korea. They vary from the propaganda he encountered to a tour of the USS Pueblo warship, which the North Koreans captured during the Korean War and is now part of the Victorius Fatherland Liberation War Museum. Very interesting stuff, if you want to get a taste of North Korea. Click here to take a look. Enjoy!
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This post first appeared on Your Mileage May Vary
