Scrutiny, challenges, ethical questions await South Koreans visiting North's restaurants

Guests are seated in a newly opened North Korean restaurant in Moscow in a photo uploaded by the North Korean Embassy in Russia's Facebook account. [SCREEN CAPTURE]

Switching smartphone language settings and speaking Chinese or English — these are tactics some South Koreans strategically use to get into North Korean restaurants overseas.
 
If their tricks work, warm hospitality often follows.
 
Lee Jong-suk, a South Korean in his 20s who asked to be identified by a pseudonym, prepared his German-issued student ID card for his entry into the Morangwan restaurant in Shenyang, China, last year. The establishment was known for rejecting South Korean customers.
 

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“Wo shi Deguoren [I am a German],” Lee replied to a waitress who asked where he came from, which he believed to be an intentional question to filter out South Korean customers.
 
The subsequent conversation continued with Lee speaking English, the waitress speaking Chinese, and a mobile translator between them. The waitress even informed her colleague that Lee was from Germany when she guided him to his seat.
 
As Lee left, the waitress bid a cordial farewell in English. She said, “Have a nice day.”
 
The restaurant that Lee visited was one of around 70 North Korean restaurants in five foreign countries, which are suspected of hiring North Korean workers and channeling money to the regime, according to a 2024 report from the United Nations Security Council. 
 
Those establishments appear to have violated UN Resolution 2397, which mandates member states to repatriate all North Korean nationals earning income within their jurisdiction back to North Korea, as their income could be funneled into the development of weapons.  
 
Despite heightened tensions between Seoul and Pyongyang in recent years and international sanctions, such encounters with North Korean workers are not taboo in the South. Their experiences are widely shared on YouTube and social media. 
 
Quite often, the content elicits the same reactions and comments: "Have you ever been contacted by the South Korean spy agency after your visit?" 
 
Food beyond borders
 

A bowl of North-Korean style naengmyeon (cold noodles) and glass of Taedonggang beer are seen in a photo taken at Morangwan Restaurant in Shenyang, China, in 2025. [LEE JONG-SUK]

In principle, South Koreans’ interactions and engagements with North Koreans must be reported to the South Korean authorities.
 
The Inter-Korean Exchange and Cooperation Act stipulates that those who accidentally encounter and communicate with overseas North Koreans while traveling must report the incident to the Ministry of Unification.
 
The law defines “contact” as the exchange of information, messages or ideas by any means, regardless of physical location.
 
Those who fail to comply or make false reports can face fines of up to 3 million won.
 

YouTube Videos posted by South Korean users who recorded their visits and experiences in North Korean restaurants overseas [SCREEN CAPTURE]

While Lee’s experience appears to be subject to reporting, the Unification Ministry clarified that reporting such encounters is unnecessary.
 
“The ministry considers that communications with North Koreans, if limited to ordering meals and paying, fall outside the reporting requirement scope,” a Unification Ministry official told the Korea JoongAng Daily on March 16. 
 
“Accordingly, the ministry cannot monitor each and every encounter.”
 
However, those interactions were not left entirely unmonitored.
 
Nam Jae-sung, a blogger who posted his experiences of visiting North Korean restaurants in Moscow and Shanghai, told the paper that South Korea’s national spy agency contacted his acquaintance.
 
“The National Intelligence Service cautioned my acquaintance, who went to the Moscow-based Koryo Restaurant three times a week,” Nam said. “The agency asked him to behave discreetly as high-ranking North Korean officials frequently visit the establishment.”
 
Sense of kinship
 

The North Korean restaurant Okryugwan in Beijing in 2019 [YONHAP]

Three South Korean nationals who spoke with the paper recalled that their experiences at North Korean restaurants hardly reminded them of the hostility on the Korean Peninsula.  
 
Instead, what they felt was closer to a sense of kinship as human beings.
 
“While listening to a conversation between two North Korean workers who were talking about casual topics like marriage, I learned that they do not belong to an entirely separate world,” Lee said. 
 
Lee, who was curious about the authentic taste of Pyongyang-style naengmyeon, or chilled noodles, noted that the noodles he had in Morangwan and South Korea had completely different flavors.  
 

Interior of the restaurant Morangwan in Shenyang, China [LEE JONG-SUK]

"While South Korean restaurants offering the North's cuisine often use a beef-based broth, Morangwan, I guess, used chicken-based soup," Lee said. "The highlight was Taedonggang Beer, served alongside the noodles. Its frizziness was exceptional and different from the bottled beer I bought in an Asian market in China." 
 
Another man who requested anonymity said he thought the North Korean restaurant Okryugwan in Beijing could be an “everyday dining spot” for locals craving Korean food. He spoke fluent Chinese.
 
Okryugwan has reportedly refused to accommodate South Koreans since October 2023.
 
“Several luxury foreign-made sedans from Maybach and Mercedes-Benz were parked outside,” the man said, adding that the scene resembled that of late-night Korean barbecue places in Cheongdam-dong, one of the most affluent neighborhoods in South Korea.
 
“Seeing the workers, I felt they must face various hardships while living abroad,” the man said. “I wanted to keep my experience as a cultural one, rather than projecting it through a political lens.”
 
Nam said he felt “pity” when he spotted propaganda materials and heard regime-praising music inside the restaurant.
 
“I thought the North Korean workers had figured out the reality of their home country while living abroad,” Nam added. “Yet, the performance of traditional folk dance and songs at the restaurant reminded me that North and South Koreans share a common national heritage.”
 
Is the North watching? 
 

Luxury cars, including a Maybach and a Range Rover, are parked outside the North Korean restaurant Okryugwan in Beijing, China, in a photo provided by a source who requested anonymity. [JOONGANG ILBO]

While South Koreans’ reviews aim to offer rare glimpses into dining experiences at North Korean establishments, they are likely to be monitored by the regime, experts say.
 
Kim Sang-bum, a professor at the Institute for Far Eastern Studies at Kyungnam University, said the contents will “give opportunities for the regime to check whether their workers are duly working in accordance with what North Korea taught them.”
 
Kim — who had visited eateries serving North Korean cuisine in border areas in China — also noted that North Korean workers tend to behave more disciplined and cynical when their colleagues are around.
 
“They appeared to compete with one another over who is ruder to South Korean customers,” Kim said. “When they served customers alone, they became less guarded.”
 
The restaurants he visited were owned by Chinese owners who did not refuse South Koreans.
 

The entrance of the North Korean restaurant Morangwan in Shenyang, China [LEE JONG-SUK]

With the UN resolution and the Covid-19 pandemic, some North Korean establishments closed or switched owners to Chinese nationals. However, hiring North Korean workers could still violate the resolution. 
 
Hong Suk-hoon, an international relations professor of Changwon National University, said Pyongyang is extremely attentive to content produced by South Koreans.
 
“It can give the North guidelines for workers on how to behave,” Hong said.
 
He added that the establishments cannot completely ignore South Korean customers for economic and political reasons.
 
The UN report noted that the restaurants are suspected of having sourced foreign currency for the cash-strapped regime. They are believed to be operated by the North’s General Reconnaissance Information Bureau — the regime's top-tier military intelligence agency — and to have generated $700 million in annual revenue.
    
“Money spent by South Koreans is a significant source of income for the regime,” Hong said. “The restaurants, at the same time, are simply stages for North Korea's public diplomacy promoting their regime and system.” 
 

BY LEE SOO-JUNG [lee.soojung1@joongang.co.kr]