A single nation before it was annexed by Japan in 1910, the Korean peninsula's last century or so has been extremely turbulent. At the end of the Second World War, Korea – which was formerly occupied by the Japanese – was divided into two parts: South Korea and North Korea.

The former is a capitalist country with US support, which became a democracy in 1987 and is now a tech hub and one of the world's foremost economies. Meanwhile, North Korea is a totalitarian communist state run by the Kim dynasty. It was supported by the Soviet Union until its demise in 1991.

The Cold War rivalry between the two countries and their different systems was a big part of the motivation behind the Ryugyong Hotel project.

The bizarre story of North Korea’s infamous ‘Hotel of Doom’