Swathed in silk and song, Pyongyang's propaganda easy to swallow in Vietnam

In the heart of Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam's southern commercial hub, is a little piece of North Korea.

The Pyongyang Taedonggang restaurant - owned by a state trading firm from Pyongyang and staffed by a highly trained female propaganda troupe - is packing them in nightly in an upstairs room on Nguyen Thi Minh Khai Street on the edge of the city's downtown.

Lonely South Korean businessmen hit the rice liquor and sway to northern love songs, dreaming of reunification.

Their Japanese counterparts stare agog at the young women clad in billowing silk national costumes, each sporting a badge of the founder of Pyongyang's ruling dynasty, Kim Il-sung. And for Vietnamese regulars, there is a touch of nostalgia for the tightly orchestrated propaganda performances that once accompanied more hard-line rule here.

The menu ranges from Korean-style salmon sashimi and kim chi to boiled dog and a gristly offering described as 'head flesh-like ham'.

'It is so powerful, so inspiring,' said South Korean diner B.K. Choi, flushed after a boozy dinner and hot talk of future North-South relations. 'It may be propaganda, but these women still manage to touch the heart ... coming here for a night makes you feel good to be a Korean.'

For Vietnamese diner Minh, a classically trained pianist, there is amazement at the high standard of the performances. The women wait on tables before taking to the stage, singing in Korean, Chinese and English, from patriotic anthems to O Sole Mio. 'It is incredible to see how these women go from being waitresses one minute to singing with such passion and grace ... this is just like the old propaganda troupes we used to see years ago, the ones that would try to keep the workers and soldiers happy,' he said.