Swiss Kempinski ditches N.Korea "Hotel of Doom" project
瑞士凱賓斯基集團放棄北韓「厄運飯店」計畫
2013-04-16◎陳維真
The Swiss luxury hotel chain Kempinski said on Tuesday 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.
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」週二表示，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。
"Kempinski Hotels confirms that KEY International, its joint venture partner in China with Beijing Tourism Group （BTG）, had initial discussions to operate a hotel in Pyongyang, North Korea," Brigitte Hohl Taylor, a spokeswoman told AFP in an email.
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（BTG）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。」
"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.
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。
In November, 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.
總部設在日內瓦的凱賓斯基酒店集團去年11月曾表示，希望這棟105層樓的「柳京飯店」能在今年7月或8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。
But on Sunday, 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.
不過，「南華早報」週日報導，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。
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）
據稱北韓前領導人金正日在1987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2008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）
新聞辭典：
drop：動詞，丟棄、中斷、停止。例句：The charges against him were dropped last year.（對他的指控去年已經撤銷。）
bellicose：形容詞，好鬥的、好戰的。例句：Some people in the neighbourhood were bothered by two bellicose dogs next door.（有些鄰居受到隔壁兩隻好鬥的狗干擾。）
capital：名詞，資金、本錢。例句：The fast-food chain has enough capital to build another restaurant.（該速食連鎖業者有足夠的資金再開一家餐廳。）
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