PHOTOS From colonial rule to war: summit venue encapsulates Vietnam's painful history
Vietnamese police on duty outside the French colonial-era Sofitel Legend Metropole Hotel in Hanoi before the North Korea-U.S. summit. Reuters
By Park Si-soo
The Sofitel Legend Metropole Hanoi ― the main venue for the make-or-break summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un ― is a silent but sturdy witness of Vietnam's painful, conflict-prone modern history.
Opened in 1901 in the heart of Hanoi, the hotel looked down on Vietnamese people struggling with grief and pain under France's decades-long colonial rule. Following Vietnamese independence in 1945, it was renamed the Thong Nhat Hotel (Reunification Hotel) by the Communist government.
It survived numerous U.S. Air Force raids during the 1955-75 Vietnam War. Having a bomb shelter ― built in the 1960s ― in its compound corroborates the hard times Vietnam faced during the war.
A stairway leads to the Vietnam War bomb shelter entrance at the French colonial-era Sofitel Legend Metropole Hotel in Hanoi. Reuters
The Vietnam War-era bomb shelter at Hanoi's Sofitel Legend Metropole Hotel. Reuters
The derelict bomb shelter at the Sofitel Legend Metropole Hotel. Reuters
In the post-war era, the hotel served as a location for high-stakes talks aimed at healing past pain and troubles. In June 1997, ranking diplomats and military officials from the U.S. and Vietnam had a four-day meeting there to discuss a “world without war.”
International figures who have checked in to the hotel include British actor/filmmaker Charles Chaplin, American actress Jane Fonda, former U.S. President George H. W. Bush and former French presidents
and
.
Now the history-rich hotel is set to add a new line to its resume.
A Vietnamese policeman stands guard near the Sofitel Legend Metropole Hotel in Hanoi on Wednesday before the second U.S.-North Korea summit in the city. AFP