With the defection of a North Korean restaurant manager from Nepal to India, The Chosun Ilbo has a nice article about the profitability of North Korea managing restaurants abroad. These restaurants are known as Okryugwan, originating in Pyongyang and spreading to nearby countries. North Korean specialty foods such as cold noodles and steamed crab are popular in South Korea and other Asian countries. As a result, North Korea sends some of its most educated people abroad to run and wait restaurants serving their native cuisine. Such restaurants are typically run following the ideological values of North Korea, sending most of their profits to their home country, often 100 000-300 000 won per year. However, since exposure to the outside capitalist world inevitably sets in, most North Koreans working abroad do so for a maximum of 3 years before they are returned home. In the case of the North Korean restaurant owner in Nepal, he is believed to have “taken the money and run” to India, on the run as a defector from the North Korean iron fist.
Source: The Chosun Ilbo / AFP
