North Korea’s capital Pyongyang has a new landmark beer bar in one of its new districts.
A propaganda-style video issued by the government shows a massive, Western-style restaurant in Hwasong, a suburb east of Pyongyang built in the past two years in a renewed attempt to launch giant construction projects expanding the capital.
Visitors can buy the country’s trademark beer from its main state-owned brewing company Taedonggang, named after the river that runs through the centre of Pyongyang.
A luxury reserved for the elite
The history of Taedonggang dates back to 2000, when Ushers brewery in the English town of Trowbridge had been made redundant. After 175 years of production, the brewery went up for auction. The successful bidder — North Korea’s late Supreme Leader Kim Jong-il.
The entire brewery including all its components was shipped to North Korea and reassembled there with the help of German experts, in a time when there were some limited relations with the West.
In 2002, the Taedonggang Brewing Company became operational and even began exporting its product to China in 2016.
But while North Korea advertises a rich beer culture to the outside world, the reality for most of its population is quite different.
The majority of North Koreans live in the countryside, and struggle daily with poverty and food insecurity. To buy beer, they must spend food vouchers, a luxury most can’t afford.
Luxury beer bars like the Hwasong Taedonggang Beer Restaurant are also not available outside Pyongyang. People mostly drink low quality home brews from local micro-breweries. Around 95% of North Korea’s alcohol consumption comes from liquors like the popular Korean Soju. The remaining 5% comes from beer.
In Pyongyang, exclusively men are given a small amount of special beer vouchers to spend, adding up to about one or two monthly litres.
Because of these limitations, high-end beer houses like this one will likely only be frequented by Pyongyang’s elite and a small number of international tourists.
