# North Korean Cultural Center Planned for Angkor Wat **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 5, 2011, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-korean-cultural-center-planned-for-angkor-wat/605085 "2011-12-05T02:21:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2011, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-korean-cultural-center-planned-for-angkor-wat/605085/1 "2011-12-05T02:21:58Z")
Story [here](http://www.voanews.com/khmer-english/news/North-Korea-Plans-Huge-Center-Outside-Temples-134677243.html). North Korea has signed an agreement with Cambodia to build a North Korean cultural center near the entrance to Angkor Wat. Or maybe they have. Or maybe it’s still a suggestion under review. You never can tell in Cambodia. I love Angkor Wat. This might justify a return trip all by itself just to take a gander. It sounds like it would be outside the complex area if realized, not smack dab in the middle of the grounds. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2011, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-korean-cultural-center-planned-for-angkor-wat/605085/2 "2011-12-05T02:52:53Z")
Are cultural centers common to that area or something? Why build one there? ---
**Author:** ![andygirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a9adbd/32.png) [@andygirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andygirl)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2011, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-korean-cultural-center-planned-for-angkor-wat/605085/3 "2011-12-05T03:21:31Z")
I was at Angkor Wat in September and there were no signs of it then. Here’s hoping it’s not built in a really distracting place. Angkor Wat is so spectacular, a site like that would only take away from the beauty. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2011, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-korean-cultural-center-planned-for-angkor-wat/605085/4 "2011-12-05T14:29:28Z")
Cultural centers do seem to be big over here. Japan has one just about everywhere. Off the top of my head for Bangkok, I know we have a Japanese, a German, a French and a Portuguese cultural center on top of a Thai cultural center. Siem Reap – the town right by Angkor Wat – has a French cultural center. As for North Korea, I found [another report here](http://khmerization.blogspot.com/2011/11/north-korea-to-build-124-metre-high.html) that indicates it will be inside the town. 124 meters high. That’s 407 feet or about … what? 40 stories? WTF? Is this a “cultural center” or an obelisk? “Part of government efforts to attract more tourists,” the story says. Hmmm. “Well, honey, I didn’t want to go see that boring old Angkor Wat, but hey, there’s a giant new North Korean cultural center there. Let’s go!” Well, I did say it might be worth a return visit to see it, but Angkor Wat would still be my primary purpose. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2011, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-korean-cultural-center-planned-for-angkor-wat/605085/5 "2011-12-05T14:43:50Z")
Okay, so the first story also said 124 meters. I didn’t pick up on the height at first. Hope for their sake they have more than those three guys in the photo in the second link working on it.