North Korean-themed restaurant in Seoul removes Kim portraits after social media outcry

Soon-to-be-opened eatery had decorated its outside walls with portraits of the country’s late leaders, a North Korean flag and propaganda-style messages such as ‘more alcohol for the comrades!’
But it prompted an outcry on social media – and an investigation from local police on suspicion of breaching the national security act

Social media

Crystal Tai

Published: 7:16pm, 16 Sep 2019

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North Korean food has long been popular with South Korean diners, but Pyongyang’s propaganda is proving far less palatable, as the owner of a new restaurant in Seoul has just discovered.

The owner of the soon-to-be-opened North Korean-themed eatery in Hongdae, Seoul’s trendy student nightlife district, had decorated the facade of the building with portraits of the country’s late leaders Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il alongside a North Korean flag and propaganda-style posters featuring slogans such as “More alcohol for the comrades!”

But following an outcry on social media over the weekend the owner has not only been forced into removing the offending portraits and flag, he has found himself being investigated by police on suspicion of breaching the South’s national security act.

The act, which has been enforced since 1948, prohibits the spread of “anti-government” materials including communist propaganda from the North, and carries provision for punishments of up to seven years in prison for those found to have breached it.

Photos of the restaurant-bar began circulating on Korean social media over the weekend, and have since gone viral, outraging many citizens.

Twitter user qtenny1004 said that it was important not to assume South Koreans’ affinity for North Korean cuisine such as naengmyun – or cold noodles – meant there was tolerance for its politics, tweeting: “We know [North Korea] well, we eat [North Korean] dishes a lot, but this bar is an entirely different thing.”

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Fellow tweeter Kim Gu-hyo called the restaurant-bar “pathetic”. “Featuring portraits of war criminals and dictators [at a North Korean restaurant] would be like hanging a photo of [Shinzo] Abe in a Japanese restaurant,” wrote Kim, referring to ongoing trade tensions between Seoul and Tokyo.

The controversy follows a similar outcry last December, when several South Korean retailers landed themselves in hot water by selling “unification moisture nuclear masks” that featured images of the North’s leader Kim Jong-un. The masks sold out at some stores before they were removed from circulation following an outcry on social media.

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: N Korean-themed restaurant removes Kim pictures

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