A health supplement revolution is quietly taking hold among North Korea’s elite. Disillusioned with counterfeit “medicines from Ponghwa” that people mockingly call “rabbit dung,” wealthy officials and the newly rich are abandoning domestic products for foreign-made dietary supplements they can actually trust.
According to a Daily NK source in South Pyongan province recently, the term “medicines from Ponghwa” originates from the Ponghwa Clinic and Hospital, a medical facility in Pyongyang that serves the country’s elite. These medicines are consumed by top officials in the North Korean capital.
Since ordinary citizens believe them to be unattainable wonder drugs, rumors have wildly inflated their effectiveness. But now that “medicines from Ponghwa” are widely available in markets across major cities throughout the country, their scarcity and perceived value have plummeted.
These market-sold “medicines from Ponghwa” are authentic in name only—they’re barely effective fakes. As a result, people call them “rabbit dung” and say they’d rather have “foreign-made medicines than ineffective rabbit dung.”
Turn toward foreign supplements
Public attention has naturally shifted toward foreign-made dietary supplements. Officials from powerful agencies and the nation’s newly wealthy donju—two particularly health-conscious groups—have long been familiar with foreign nutritional supplements, to the point where consuming them has become routine.
“In the past, people used to say you’d stay healthy all year even if just a drop of dog meat soup fell on your feet, but nowadays that kind of saying only applies to common folk,” the source explained. “In wealthy or powerful families, wives buy their husbands foreign-made dietary supplements with proven effectiveness, carefully checking the brands and countries of origin.”
Various foreign-made dietary supplements are currently distributed throughout North Korea. Preferred products differ mainly by country of origin. Popular Chinese items include cordyceps militaris capsules and powder, valued for immunity-boosting and anti-cancer properties; highly concentrated ginseng extract; fur seal penis and testicle extract, said to enhance male vitality; and traditional herbal medicines that improve liver function and treat high blood pressure and diabetes.
Russian deer antler capsules are known as energizers and male enhancement aids, while musk serves as an excellent tonic. People also favor propolis extract—which boosts immunity—as a summer health supplement.
North Korean officials and donju also prefer German company Doppelherz’s magnesium, lutein, collagen, and milk thistle products, along with purified chlorella spirulina and DHC multivitamins and Ohta’s Isan digestive medications from Japan.
Even digestive supplements from the United States—North Korea’s biggest enemy—are secretly sold. Popular American products include multivitamins, omega-3, and glucosamine from GNC, plus melatonin sleep aids.
Most of these foreign-made dietary supplements are smuggled into the country or brought in by trade officials and diplomats, according to the source.
“To buy truly effective medications, you need both money and connections,” the source said. “People now carefully select supplements based on their proven effectiveness rather than just their reputation.”
