The Swiss luxury hotel chain Kempinski said on April 9 that it was dropping plans to open a huge pyramid-shaped hotel that has stood half-built for decades in North Korea amid escalating tensions on the Korean peninsula.
“Kempinski Hotels 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,” Brigitte Hohl Taylor, a spokeswoman told AFP in an e-mail.
“However, no agreement has been signed since market entry is not currently possible,” she said, adding in a phone conversation that the discussions had been halted.
Photo: AFP / Koryo Tours
照片：法新社／Koryo Tours
In November last year, the Geneva-based luxury hotel chain said it hoped to open Pyongyang’s 105-storey Ryugyong Hotel — a monolithic concrete shell dubbed the “Hotel of Doom” by international media that has been repeatedly delayed — in July or August this year.
On April 7, however, the South China Morning Post reported that the Swiss company had decided to ditch the project amid the increasingly bellicose rhetoric from the North Korean regime.
Former North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il reportedly ordered construction of the Ryugyong Hotel in 1987, initially with skills and capital from a French company. In 2008 the project was named the “Worst Building in the History of Mankind” by US men’s lifestyle magazine Esquire.
(AFP)
朝鮮半島緊張情勢急遽升高之際，瑞士豪華連鎖飯店「凱賓斯基酒店集團」四月九日表示，將放棄在北韓經營金字塔造型的大型飯店。這棟半完工的飯店已在北韓屹立數十年。
凱賓斯基女發言人泰勒透過電子郵件告訴法新社：「凱賓斯基酒店證實，酒店和北京首旅集團在中國合資的夥伴KEY International，曾初步討論過在北韓首都平壤經營飯店。」
她表示：「不過，由於目前不可能進入市場，所以一直未簽訂協議。」泰勒在電話中表示，討論已停止。
總部設在日內瓦的凱賓斯基酒店集團去年十一月曾表示，希望這棟一百零五層樓的柳京飯店，能在今年七月或八月開幕。這棟以水泥為外殼的巨大建築物，被國際媒體取名為「厄運飯店」，開幕日期一延再延。
不過，《南華早報》四月七日報導，由於北韓政權頻頻發表好戰言論，這家瑞士企業已決定放棄經營柳京飯店的計畫。
據稱北韓前領導人金正日在一九八七年下令興建柳京飯店，最初借重一家法國公司的技術和資金。這項計畫在二○○八年被美國男性雜誌《君子雜誌》評為「人類史上最糟糕的建築」。
(法新社／翻譯：陳維真）
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對話 Dialogue 清清：我連假回老家掃墓，帶了一些草仔粿回來，你要不要吃吃看? Qīngqīng: Wǒ liánjià huí lǎojiā sǎomù, dài le yìxiē “tsháu-á-kué” huílái, nǐ yào bú yào chī chī kàn? 華華：哇！看起來就很好吃。這是你們家自己做的嗎？ Huáhua: Wa! Kàn qǐlái jiù hěn hǎochī. Zhè shì nǐmen jiā zìjǐ zuò de ma? 清清：對啊，是我阿姨親手做的。每年清明節她都會做。 Qīngqīng: Duì a, shì wǒ āyí qīnshǒu zuò de. Měinián Qīngmíng jié tā dōu huì zuò. 華華：你阿姨手藝真好！看起來好像外面賣的。 Huáhua: Nǐ āyí shǒuyì zhēn hǎo! Kàn qǐlái hǎoxiàng wàimiàn mài de. 清清：口味有鹹的，也有甜的。 Qīngqīng: Kǒuwèi yǒu xián de, yě yǒu tián de. 華華：聞起來好香！裡面包什麼？ Huáhua: Wén qǐlái hǎo xiāng! Lǐmiàn bāo shénme? 清清：鹹的是蘿蔔絲的，甜的有紅豆口味和綠豆口味的。你想要哪種？ Qīngqīng: Xián de shì luóbo sī de, tián de yǒu hóngdòu kǒuwèi hàn lǜdòu kǒuwèi de. Nǐ xiǎng yào nǎ zhǒng? 華華：我不挑食，哪種都可以，你幫我選吧。謝謝你跟我分享！ Huáhua: Wǒ bù tiāoshí, nǎ
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