South Koreans’ stomachs latest front in standoff with North Korea
In this file photo, a North Korean singer presents flowers to a customer at a North Korean restaurant in Dan-dong, in north-eastern China’s Liaoning province. — AP
South Koreans’ stomachs are the latest front in the standoff with North Korea. South Koreans have been told not to eat at North Korea’s restaurants around the world, although such visits are not illegal, the South’s foreign ministry said on Wednesday.
Most of the restaurants are in China, and Chinese and other nationalities frequent them more than South Koreans do, so analysts see little impact.
But the move is symbolic of a tougher stance from the South since North Korea’s nuclear test in January and its recent rocket launch, which many outsiders see as a banned test of ballistic missile technology.
President Park Geun-hye has taken a much harder line than during past standoffs with the North, closing a jointly run factory park that the South believes helped finance Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles program.
North Korea runs about 130 restaurants in other countries — about 100 in China and the others in Russia, Southeast and South Asia, according to a South Korean national intelligence service.
South’s officials would not say how many South Koreans visit those restaurants or how much money the businesses generate for North Korea, reportedly more than $100 million annually.
Restaurants such as Okryukwan, known for its cold buckwheat noodles and grilled marinated beef, have been popular among some South Korean leisure and business travellers.