A Pyongyang pizzeria visited by tourist Andrew Cheng. Image: Andrew Cheng

Sunchon, South Pyongan Province, has seen the introduction of a new pizzeria, known to be the first eatery serving  Western cuisine in any area of North Korea outside the capital.

Tourist Andrew Cheng, who visited North Korea during celebrations for the anniversary of Kim Jong Il��s birth on February 16, recorded in his travel journal that there were two pizza restaurants in Pyongyang, using ingredients purportedly imported from Italy. The ingredients at this establishment, however, are all imported from China, though it boasts a professional chef hailing from Pyongyang��s Jang Cheol Ku University, named for the region where Kim Il Sung ate during the Anti-Japanese Resistance, and famous for its cooking and hospitality major.

A source in South Pyongan Province reported to Daily NK on August 27th, ��The Neungra 88 Trade Company Restaurant began at the end of last year, and is very popular among the affluent population,�� adding, ��One pizza pie costs approximately 30,000 KPW [$3.50 USD].�� He went on to explain that the variety topped with ground pork is the most popular, as the authorities do not allow the consumption of beef and dole out harsh punishments to anyone who kills one without permission; oxen are considered a productive resource and the sole property of the state.

Knowledge of the term ��pizza�� does not exist among most, leading some residents in the area refer to the restaurant��s staple item as ��mixed buchimgae [pan-fried vegetable pancake].�� North Korean authorities actively resist foreign influences, particularly from the English Language. While South Korea borrows words from English, North Korea creates indigenous substitutes.

Others refer to the varieties of pies available as ��okonomiyaki [a Japanese savory pancake] mixed buchimgae.�� Okonomiyaki, the only version of a foreign fried pancake North Korean residents have been exposed to until now, brought in when tens of thousands of Koreans left Japan for North Korea, encouraged to repatriate by the pro-North Korean Chongryon [General Association of Korean Residents in Japan].

The source interpreted the restaurant��s establishment as a sign that ��foreign currency-targeted operations have started to show interest in North Korean money as well.�� The restaurant operates under the ��Neungra 88 Trade Company,�� an arm of the Chosun Workers�� Party Finance and Accounting Department charged with procuring foreign currency. The company usually sells coal and iron-ore, which fetch the most money in China, but also medication, alcohol, or anything else that may yield financial gains on the black market. Profits are usually funneled directly back to the Finance and Accounting Department, or used to purchase lavish holiday gifts for Party cadres, who often distribute trading licenses, at a hefty fee, to other foreign-currency earning organizations to procure more money.

Increasing foreign food availability is the latest method employed by these foreign-currency organizations to encourage resident spending, encouraged by the increased demand. The popularity of Chinese-style lamb kebabs spread more rapidly in the North than its Southern counterpart.

Mooncakes, a traditional Chinese dessert, have even made their way to family memorial service tables set up during Chuseok [the traditional Korean harvest festival]. These foreign-currency earning operations are in fierce competition to bring in culinary traditions from China, justified as measures to improve the quality of life for North Korean residents.

The restaurant sits inside the Yeonpo District of Sunchon City, an emerging business area. An expressway stretching to the edge of the Taedong River has been constructed to transport Anthracite [smokeless coal] produced in the coal mines into the city. Cargo handling for the smokeless coal has shifted from the West Sea port of Nampo, to the inner city area near the Taedong River, galvanizing business activity in the Yeonpo District.

Over 100 Chinese-manufactured trucks loaded with anthracite coal pass through the area daily, giving rise to an expanding transient population working in the commercial hub, which the source said continues to fill up with buildings constructed by agencies of various levels eager to do business there.

Operating from the first floor of a three-story building owned by the Neungra 88 Trade Company in the Chiisagata District of the city, the pizzeria incorporates elements of Western interior design and features an expansive terrace complete with patio chairs to take in sweeping views of the Taedong River.

��In front of the restaurant there is an expansive parking lot for its main patrons, the donju [new affluent middle class], to park their vehicles,�� he added,�� You can seem them every weekend, sporting sunglasses and coming to enjoy the mixed buchimgae.�� He added that the restaurant offers take out service but that home delivery is not yet available.

For foreign currency-earning enterprises to extend their activities domestically is indicative of the increasing purchasing power of the middle-class. ��Those without will continue to be without, but those with money can use the power and capital they possess to get richer and richer," he concluded.