Wikipedia

Pizza in North Korea

North Korea has several restaurants serving pizza.[note 1] Most people in the country cannot afford pizza, and it is mostly available for the elite. Pyongyang has five restaurants that serve pizza, including Pizza Restaurant on Kwangbok Street [ko] and Italy Pizza on Mirae Scientists Street. Kim Jong Il hired Italian chefs to train North Koreans in pizza making and introduced it to the country.

A dimly lit room with a pizza oven and a table where three employees stand with pizza ingredients.
A restaurant in Pyongyang preparing pizza in 2013

History

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Pyolmuri Café was the first restaurant in Pyongyang to serve pizza.[2] It is a European-style café that opened with funding from the Adventist Development and Relief Agency.[3]

Kim Jong Il became interested in pizza in the 1990s. Choson Sinbo, a North Korea-aligned newspaper published in Japan, wrote that introducing pizza to North Korea involved "repeated trial and error". In 1999, Kim brought a group of Italian pizza chefs to Pyongyang to train army officers.[4] Ermanno Furlanis, a chef from near Milan, wrote about this experience.[5] According to Furlanis, the chefs underwent medical scans before being sequestered on an anchored ship, where the trainees asked questions such as how far apart to space olives. He believed they were once observed by Kim. In 2008, Kim sent chefs to train in Naples and Rome. He authorized the opening of the country's first pizzeria in December 2008. Its manager, Kim Sang-Soon, said, "General Kim Jong-il said that the people should also be allowed access to the world's famous dishes".[4]

The restaurant, called Pizza Restaurant,[note 2] opened on Kwangbok Street [ko].[3][6] Kim had ingredients and a pizza oven flown in from Italy.[4][3] The restaurant opened with foreign funding.[2] According to Choson Sinbo, it was busy in the months following its opening, and it was the first Italian food many of its customers had ever eaten.[7] Its menu in 2010 included 11 traditional pizzas, though Italian food comprised only two-fifths of the menu. The Korea Times called it "Pyongyang's best pizzeria".[1] Lonely Planet listed it as "pretty decent".[8]

In response to publicity about the opening of Pizza Restaurant, a South Korean artist based in London, Kim Hwang, created a series of short films titled "Pizzas for the People". It was filmed in South Korea and premiered at a festival in Heidelberg.[8] He burned it onto 500 DVDs, which he sent to five people to smuggle across the border.[3][8] He did not know how many North Koreans received the DVDs, but his smugglers brought back fan mail from North Koreans.[6] The series is a cooking show and mockumentary that satirizes the exclusivity of pizza in North Korea. The artist said it was "subtly challenging an ideological status quo."[3] The videos imagine North Korea as a democracy and explain various aspects of Western lifestyle.[8][6] They instruct viewers to make potato-dough pizza using tofu instead of cheese, and to use a liquor bottle as a rolling pin.[9][3]

In 2011, a new pizzeria owned by Corital, an Italian–North Korean joint venture, was reported to serve Coca-Cola. Coca-Cola said it did not authorize the sale of the product, which would violate United States sanctions against North Korea.[10][11]

The third Italian restaurant in Pyongyang, Italy Pizza, opened in late 2015 as part of the launch of Mirae Scientists Street.[12] It serves less traditional pizza than the Kwangbok Street pizzeria. Its staff performs live music twice a day.[1] Vice described its decor as "1970s cruise liner-level kitsch" and its pizza as "pretty good" despite being served without cheese.[12] The restaurant existed before the redevelopment of Mirae Street, when the building was replaced with another at the same location.[13]

North Korean foreign propaganda videos, such as the Echo of Truth YouTube series, have shown pizzerias.[14][15]

Popularity

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Pizza served in a Pyongyang restaurant

As of 2021, Pyongyang has five restaurants that serve pizza.[13] It has more Italian restaurants than Chinese restaurants.[2] North Korean street markets, a major source of food, sell pepperoni pizza for wealthy customers.[16]

In 2018, a pizza cost about US$5 to US$10 ($6 to $12 in 2023), which most North Koreans cannot afford. Pizza is eaten by Pyongyang elites, diplomats, and foreigners.[3] A pizza may cost a month's salary for a middle-ranking official.[17] Since middle- and upper-class individuals are allowed to live in cities, Western-style restaurants have become popular in Pyongyang.[12]

Restaurants serve pizza with traditional toppings, as well as local varieties like kimchi pizza. All restaurants, including pizzerias, serve familiar dishes in North Korean cuisine. Most customers order these rather than pizza.[13]

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ Written in Chosŏn'gŭl as 삐자, bbi-ja, rather than the South Korean spelling of 피자, pi-ja.[1]
  2. ^ Also known as Italian Restaurant.[2]

References

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  1. ^ a b c Dunbar, Jon (July 7, 2020). "Dining at Pyongyang's best pizzeria". The Korea Times. Archived from the original on August 22, 2024. Retrieved August 22, 2024.
  2. ^ a b c d Fullerton, Jamie (February 19, 2018). "A Guide to North Korean Food from a Man Who's Been Eating It for 14 Years". Vice. Retrieved August 22, 2024.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Mejia, Paula (May 9, 2018). "The Politics of Smuggling Pizza-Making Videos Into North Korea". Atlas Obscura. Archived from the original on August 22, 2024. Retrieved August 22, 2024.
  4. ^ a b c Burkeman, Oliver (March 15, 2009). "After 10 years of leader's heroic struggle, pizza comes to North Korea". The Guardian. Retrieved August 22, 2024.
  5. ^ "Pizza Delivery". Newsweek. Vol. 137, no. 11. March 12, 2001.
  6. ^ a b c Castrodale, Jelisa (April 25, 2018). "A South Korean Artist Smuggled These Pizza-Making Instructions into North Korea on 500 DVDs". Vice. Archived from the original on August 22, 2024. Retrieved August 22, 2024.
  7. ^ "First North Korean pizzeria opens". BBC News. March 16, 2009. Archived from the original on November 29, 2011. Retrieved August 22, 2024.
  8. ^ a b c d Felden, Esther (April 22, 2018). "'Pizzas for the People' of North Korea". Deutsche Welle. Retrieved August 22, 2024.
  9. ^ Woo, Jaeyeon (February 25, 2011). "Tofu Pizza Recipe For North Koreans". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on August 22, 2024. Retrieved August 22, 2024.
  10. ^ Kim, Young-jin (August 31, 2012). "Coca-Cola says sale by North Korea 'unauthorized'". The Korea Times. Archived from the original on August 22, 2024. Retrieved August 22, 2024.
  11. ^ Ryall, Julian (August 31, 2012). "Coca-Cola denies 'cracking' North Korea". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on September 6, 2013. Retrieved August 22, 2024.
  12. ^ a b c Fullerton, Jamie (November 2, 2016). "MUNCHIES in North Korea: A Visit to Pyongyang's Newest Pizza Joint". Vice. Archived from the original on August 22, 2024. Retrieved August 22, 2024.
  13. ^ a b c Darby, Taylor (November 10, 2021). "A diplomat's life: Dining on pizza and 'meat in bread' in Pyongyang restaurants". NK News. Archived from the original on August 22, 2024. Retrieved August 22, 2024.
  14. ^ Williams, Martyn (July 17, 2020). "North Korea's Foreign Propaganda Takes a Step Towards Modernity". 38 North. Retrieved August 22, 2024.
  15. ^ Fritz, Martin (October 15, 2020). "North Korea's charm offensive". Deutsche Welle. Archived from the original on August 22, 2024. Retrieved August 22, 2024.
  16. ^ Glum, Julia (November 4, 2017). "What Do People Eat in North Korea? A Lot of Corn, Pizza and 'Man-Made Meat'". Newsweek. Archived from the original on August 22, 2024. Retrieved August 22, 2024.
  17. ^ Ford, Glyn (Winter 2018). "The Pyongyang paradox". Soundings (67): 138. eISSN 1741-0797. ISSN 1362-6620.
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