Fast food on Pyongyang's plate

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(China Daily)
Updated: 2009-07-27 09:17

SEOUL: You still can't get a hamburger in Pyongyang, but the suspiciously similar "minced beef and bread" is for sale in the capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea's (DPRK) first fast-food restaurant, a news report said on Saturday.

The Samtaesong restaurant opened in the country last month in cooperation with a Singaporean company, according to the Tokyo-based Choson Sinbo. The Singaporean company, which the newspaper did not name, provided training to restaurant staff and supplied equipment.

The restaurant's interior appears to be styled after fast-food joints the world over, but the menu is careful not to call its signature fare a hamburger.

This is not the government's first foray into foreign food. In March, the Choson Sinbo reported that leader Kim Jong-Il, a noted gourmand, had ordered the opening of the country's first Italian restaurant. The chefs there were trained in Italy and food made with imported ingredients was served.

The restaurants are unlikely to be frequented by ordinary people in the DPRK, which is one of the world's poorest countries.

The minced beef and bread at the new fast-food restaurant costs $1.70, the newspaper said, but that would eat up more than half of the average citizen's daily income. The Republic of Korea's (ROK) central bank put last year's average per capita income at $1,065.

The restaurant also offers kimchi -- Korean pickled cabbage -- as well as waffles and draft beer. It plans to add croissants and hot dogs to its menu in the coming months but with Korean names, and will open another branch in the capital soon, according to the newspaper.

'Deadly blows' for US, ROK

DPRK's defense chief vowed yesterday to deal "unimaginably deadly blows" to the United States and ROK if they attack the nation amid a tense standoff over Pyongyang's nuclear ambitions.

Defense Minister Kim Yong Chun issued the warning during a national meeting held on the eve of the anniversary of the armistice that ended the 1950-53 Korean War, the official Korean Central News Agency said.

"We will mercilessly and resolutely counter the enemy's sanctions with retaliation, its all-out war with all-out war," Kim told the meeting. "We will deal unimaginably deadly blows at the US imperialists and the South Korean (ROK) puppets if they ignite a war, obsessed with a foolish ambition."

Pyongyang's latest warning came as tension runs high following its nuclear and missile tests and UN sanctions. DPRK says it will never return to six-nation talks aimed at ending its nuclear programs.