Following the start of US-South Korean military drills in early March, North Korean restaurants in Dandong, Liaoning Province, have been refusing entry to South Korean customers, according to a Daily NK reporting partner in China, speaking on condition of anonymity due to security concerns.
If a restaurant identifies a customer as South Korean, the North Korean restaurant worker at the entrance who seats guests stops them from entering.
North Korean authorities appear to have ordered all North Korean restaurants in China to refuse service to South Koreans sometime in early to mid-March.
However, given that restaurant workers are not checking passports or IDs, they are not stopping South Koreans if they speak Chinese or are visiting restaurants with Chinese guests.
In fact, when South Koreans have visited North Korean restaurants with Chinese people, the North Korean restaurant staff has been unaware of them and provided the same service as usual. Moreover, even if groups of South Koreans visit, the restaurants fail to distinguish their nationality if they use Chinese instead of Korean.
Although North Korean authorities appear to have ordered North Korean restaurants to refuse South Korean customers, it seems they provided no precise standards or means to determine if guests are, in fact, South Koreans.
When asked why South Korean customers were being refused service, one North Korean cadre who manages female restaurant workers said, “Because of political tensions.”
Considering this, North Korea appears to have ordered North Korean restaurants to turn away South Korean guests on the pretext of political tensions stemming from joint US-South Korean military drills.
Daily NK reported last month that North Korea restricted inter-regional travel inside North Korea during the period of the military drills.
Along these lines, North Korea appears focused on bolstering ideological control of not only people living in North Korea, but also North Korean workers overseas, while intensifying hostility toward South Korea and the US – all under the pretext of “international political tensions.”
However, Daily NK was unable to confirm whether North Korean restaurants in Southeast Asia and other regions have similarly been ordered to refuse South Korean guests.
South Korea’s Dong-a Ilbo and Hankook Ilbo reported in mid-March that North Korean restaurants in the Beijing area were turning away South Korean customers.
Translated by David Black. Edited by Robert Lauler.
Daily NK works with a network of reporting partners who live inside North Korea. Their identities remain anonymous due to security concerns. More information about Daily NK’s reporting partner network and information gathering activities can be found on our FAQ page here.
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