Five hotels in the Samjiyon Tourist Resort that were personally visited by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Dec. 20–21 appear complete on the outside, but are not actually ready for business, a source said. These fine-looking but nonfunctional hotels are thought to epitomize how North Korea is focused on flashy achievements in the runup to the Ninth Party Congress.
“Management briefly powered up the facilities and equipment for the opening ceremony, but the hotels are woefully unprepared for round-the-clock operation. That’s why people on the ground say the opening ceremony was only held for show,” a source in North Korea told Daily NK recently.
The source offered the following explanation for why the hotels are not ready for business yet.
“Samjiyon is just too cold at the moment—the temperature goes as low as -30 degrees Celsius (-22 degrees Fahrenheit). If they heated the hotels with the electric boiler, the power consumption would be off the charts. So normal operations aren’t feasible for now,” the source explained.
“They rushed to complete the hotel façades and furnishings by the opening deadline before the party congress. But the hotels have a long way to go before they can support standard business operations. People on the ground think a soft opening won’t be possible until spring,” the source said.
“It’s also rumored that the Kim Jong Un lost his temper about this,” the source added.
Kim’s satisfaction vs. reality on the ground
State-run newspaper the Rodong Sinmun reported that Kim expressed his satisfaction during the opening ceremony. “All elements—practicality, diversity, design, and artistry—were achieved at a high level that maximizes their respective charms,” the North Korean leader was quoted as saying.
But in reality, the source said, these hotels did not reach the “innovative level of civilization that can represent our tourist culture,” as Kim claimed.
This episode is thought to exemplify North Koreans’ focus on getting high-profile results before the Ninth Party Congress.
In fact, large numbers of workers have been mobilized to complete work on high-priority construction sites before the party congress under the slogan of “welcoming the congress with effort-driven results.” The construction sites are veritable battlefields, with work continuing day and night.
“Workers on major construction projects are pulling night shifts because failing to finish before the congress is not an option. People are terrified about the political consequences of falling behind schedule. Simply put, there’s blood in the air these days,” the source said.
“Seeing facilities like the Samjiyon hotels that remain nonfunctional even after the opening ceremony makes you wonder what’s the point of getting results before the congress. All that does is stress out and exhaust the workers and officials on the ground,” the source continued.
North Koreans who are knowledgeable about these developments are apparently not very hopeful that the situation will improve after the congress.
“People don’t even say that things will be OK once the party congress is over. They’re just taking things one day at a time to keep themselves and their families fed,” the source said.
February 02, 2026 at 07:29PM
by DailyNK(North Korean Media)