That Popular Hostel in Berlin? It’s North Korean, and It’s Closing<br />By ALISON SMALEMAY 10, 2017<br />BERLIN — The City Hostel Berlin operates out of a large, anonymous building in what was Communist East Berlin,<br />but it’s a short walk from Checkpoint Charlie and other attractions and has become a popular place to stay, with good ratings on TripAdvisor and Yelp.<br />Philipp Lengsfeld, a Berlin deputy for the center-right Christian Democrats in Parliament, said the North Korean connection "was an open<br />secret — every cabdriver knew that." The unusual rental arrangement began in the 2000s, according to various German news outlets.<br />Martin Schäfer, a spokesman for Germany’s Foreign Ministry, said the hostel would be closed in compliance with stiffer sanctions passed in November by the United Nations<br />that specifically ban any commercial dealings with North Korean embassies or on their property.<br />The only tip-off that this hostel differs from others in a city long a magnet for the world’s youth is the dreary embassy next door, where North Korea’s flag flaps from a pole near a poorly tended garden and<br />that country’s ruling family, the Kims, is enshrined in a photo display on a gray metal fence.<br />The German government confirmed Wednesday that it was acting "as swiftly as possible" to cut off the currency flow after German news outlets reported<br />that North Korea was charging an unnamed German businessman €38,000 a month (about $41,000) to operate the hostel.<br />The hostel, a former diplomatic quarters, has been earning the Kim government tens of thousands of euros a month over the past decade,<br />but it will soon be closed to comply with the latest United Nations sanctions imposed over North Korea’s nuclear tests.
