By Sunny Lee Asia Times (Hong Kong)
BEIJING - "Here is the gentleman's rule. You can watch the girl, but you're not allowed to touch the girl." That was the simple introduction a manager at a table-dance bar in the French Quarter, the famous nightlife district in New Orleans, once told a curious reporter.
The same "gentleman's rule" applies in a North Korean karaoke bar where North Korean girls accompany guests for drinking, singing and dancing. For the majority of readers who cannot afford to travel to the remote country, do not not despair. The North Korean leadership generously allowed some such installments in the neighboring China. So, drop by sometime. And when you come, make sure you behave like a gentleman. But where are the North Korean karaoke bars?
North Korean restaurants in China are often a sought-after destination by foreigners who want to have a "bite" of the reclusive country, while unable to visit there physically. They enter North Korean restaurants in China as if they enter a secretive treasure island. They are curious about North Korean food and order some cuisine, such as Pyongyang cold noodle. But they are invariably more curious about the workers they see there who are all beautiful waitresses busily shuttling food back and forth. Some foreign guests want to capture this rare chance of meeting North Koreans by taking pictures with these waitresses who all wear conspicuous North Korean flag insignia on their uniform, which makes the photo-op all the more memorable.
But what most of these foreign guests don't know is that that's not the end of the service these restaurants offer. When the dusk and hush of night sets in, some of these restaurants metamorphose into a karaoke bar. In the less visible corners or upstairs of the restaurant, there are private rooms where one can have a more "up-close and personal encounter" with North Korean beauties. Of course, atmosphere and styles vary, depending on which place you go.
One of them is located in the "Korean Town" section of China's capital city. It's a relatively small one. But among those who are in the know, this place is counted as the best in town.
"This is a place where we can enjoy light conversations," said a businessman as we were sitting down in a room of the karaoke bar. That was another way for him to say that these rooms were all bugged so we'd better be mindful - not to talk about "heavy" topics such as politics.
The room looks like a typical karaoke room. There are comfy cushions with a table in the center. On the one side of the room, there is a big TV screen with a karaoke machine. There is also a switch on the wall that can make the room light dimmer, to meet the "needs" of the customer.
Soon, two North Korean girls entered the room. One is Park Hee-kyung and the other is Kim Ju-myung (not real names), both of them in their early 20s. They sat down next to us, but not as closely as you might be erroneously visualizing in your head. They were well trained for such an occasion. And they knew that it's polite to give the two gentlemen in the room some space for themselves. Park and Kim gently poured the imported Pyongyang wine into our glasses and served fruit on our plates.
We took turns to sing. The North Korean ladies were amazing. They knew most of the very popular South Korean songs, even requested some for us to sing. They also sang Chinese songs as well as North Korean ones. Kim was apparently so good at music that she was adding soprano chord to the businessman's voice, creating a beautiful duet. But the highlight of the night came when one of them, Park, played violin to the theme song of the movie Titanic.
When later the girls were out of the room for a few minutes, the businessman said, "These girls are all specially selected people from North Korea. They are very exquisite and well-trained. I like brining my business clients here once in a while because of their top-quality service. Besides, they understand your jokes and make intelligent responses. It's a rarity in karaoke girls."
The businessman later got into a sort of a word scrimmage with Park when he said, "Your biolin sound is so good." "It's violin," Park corrected the businessman's pronunciation by exaggerating the "v" sound. "Ah, yeah, violin, not biolin," the businessman replied. Strangely, that created a rapport between the two.
Throughout their interaction, the businessman was addressing Park and Kim with honorific terms. The Korean language is notoriously complicated. Depending on the other party's age, there are different ways of addressing the other. If the other party is older than you, one is expected to use honorific terms. If the other person is younger than you, yet when you two are in a formal relationship, then you are also expected to address the other person in honorific terms to show respect. In addition to using the honorific terms, the businessman was also feigning his intonation slightly closer to the North Korean accent.
Later, when this observation was brought up to him, the businessman said: "You don't have to butter them up. But when you let them know you treat them with respect, they get disarmed and they will reveal their more human side. Eventually, you'll enjoy your time here. Respect is the most powerful weapon to disarm people," he said.
There were times years back when South Koreans travelling abroad avoided North Korean restaurants or even ran way from them for fear of the possibility of being kidnapped by North Korean agents. Now, years later, South Koreans make up the largest customer group to visit North Korean restaurants. In China, for example, as much as 80% of all customers to North Korean restaurants are South Korean tourists.
North Korea has some 100 restaurants overseas, mostly in China and Southeast Asia, including Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia. These restaurants serve as an important revenue pipeline for earning foreign currencies for Pyongyang. Each overseas North Korean restaurant is said to be allotted a revenue quota to fill, ranging from US$100,000 to $300,000 a year to send to Pyongyang, which makes the total revenue estimation some tens of millions of dollars.
The business formula - restaurant by day and karaoke bar by night - is also seen as an effort for these restaurants to meet the assigned financial quota. Currently, there are scores of North Korean restaurants in China, including in cities such as Beijing, Tianjin, Tsingdao, Dandong and Yanji. Beijing has 11 North Korean restaurants. All of these employ North Koreans whose total employment number in China is estimated to be several hundred.
The reason that North Korean restaurants are expensive yet remain popular among customers is their immaculate service from beautiful employees. In China, where service quality at restaurants is often unsatisfactory, North Korean restaurants are becoming a favorite alternative among members of the businesses community.
The businessman said, "You see? The waitresses working here can all speak two foreign languages: English and Chinese. They sing and dance professionally. They are all graduates of top universities in Pyongyang. When you make a joke, they can intelligently strike back with a punch line and often with a good sense of humor. They are not like other karaoke girls."
He continued, "But what they end up doing is working at a karaoke bar in a foreign country like this one. Can you imagine a female graduate of Seoul National University [South Korea's top university] working in a place like this? This is very sad."
The night was still young, so we thought. But the clock was already pointing to 2am. We said our good-byes to the two gorgeous North Korean comrades. As we were walking towards the main exit door, the 21-year-old Park came out to make a farewell gesture to the businessman once more. Although she had only drunk some fruit juice that night, her face was flushed.
"I think she really likes you," I half-jokingly said to the businessman. He didn't reply, but said, "Beijing is already a very free city compared to Pyongyang. Once they taste freedom, it will change them. They won't remain the same people."
Sunny Lee is a writer based in Beijing, where he has lived for five years. A native of South Korea, Lee is a graduate of Harvard University and Beijing Foreign Studies University.
The same "gentleman's rule" applies in a North Korean karaoke bar where North Korean girls accompany guests for drinking, singing and dancing. For the majority of readers who cannot afford to travel to the remote country, do not not despair. The North Korean leadership generously allowed some such installments in the neighboring China. So, drop by sometime. And when you come, make sure you behave like a gentleman. But where are the North Korean karaoke bars?
North Korean restaurants in China are often a sought-after destination by foreigners who want to have a "bite" of the reclusive country, while unable to visit there physically. They enter North Korean restaurants in China as if they enter a secretive treasure island. They are curious about North Korean food and order some cuisine, such as Pyongyang cold noodle. But they are invariably more curious about the workers they see there who are all beautiful waitresses busily shuttling food back and forth. Some foreign guests want to capture this rare chance of meeting North Koreans by taking pictures with these waitresses who all wear conspicuous North Korean flag insignia on their uniform, which makes the photo-op all the more memorable.
But what most of these foreign guests don't know is that that's not the end of the service these restaurants offer. When the dusk and hush of night sets in, some of these restaurants metamorphose into a karaoke bar. In the less visible corners or upstairs of the restaurant, there are private rooms where one can have a more "up-close and personal encounter" with North Korean beauties. Of course, atmosphere and styles vary, depending on which place you go.
One of them is located in the "Korean Town" section of China's capital city. It's a relatively small one. But among those who are in the know, this place is counted as the best in town.
"This is a place where we can enjoy light conversations," said a businessman as we were sitting down in a room of the karaoke bar. That was another way for him to say that these rooms were all bugged so we'd better be mindful - not to talk about "heavy" topics such as politics.
The room looks like a typical karaoke room. There are comfy cushions with a table in the center. On the one side of the room, there is a big TV screen with a karaoke machine. There is also a switch on the wall that can make the room light dimmer, to meet the "needs" of the customer.
Soon, two North Korean girls entered the room. One is Park Hee-kyung and the other is Kim Ju-myung (not real names), both of them in their early 20s. They sat down next to us, but not as closely as you might be erroneously visualizing in your head. They were well trained for such an occasion. And they knew that it's polite to give the two gentlemen in the room some space for themselves. Park and Kim gently poured the imported Pyongyang wine into our glasses and served fruit on our plates.
We took turns to sing. The North Korean ladies were amazing. They knew most of the very popular South Korean songs, even requested some for us to sing. They also sang Chinese songs as well as North Korean ones. Kim was apparently so good at music that she was adding soprano chord to the businessman's voice, creating a beautiful duet. But the highlight of the night came when one of them, Park, played violin to the theme song of the movie Titanic.
When later the girls were out of the room for a few minutes, the businessman said, "These girls are all specially selected people from North Korea. They are very exquisite and well-trained. I like brining my business clients here once in a while because of their top-quality service. Besides, they understand your jokes and make intelligent responses. It's a rarity in karaoke girls."
The businessman later got into a sort of a word scrimmage with Park when he said, "Your biolin sound is so good." "It's violin," Park corrected the businessman's pronunciation by exaggerating the "v" sound. "Ah, yeah, violin, not biolin," the businessman replied. Strangely, that created a rapport between the two.
Throughout their interaction, the businessman was addressing Park and Kim with honorific terms. The Korean language is notoriously complicated. Depending on the other party's age, there are different ways of addressing the other. If the other party is older than you, one is expected to use honorific terms. If the other person is younger than you, yet when you two are in a formal relationship, then you are also expected to address the other person in honorific terms to show respect. In addition to using the honorific terms, the businessman was also feigning his intonation slightly closer to the North Korean accent.
Later, when this observation was brought up to him, the businessman said: "You don't have to butter them up. But when you let them know you treat them with respect, they get disarmed and they will reveal their more human side. Eventually, you'll enjoy your time here. Respect is the most powerful weapon to disarm people," he said.
There were times years back when South Koreans travelling abroad avoided North Korean restaurants or even ran way from them for fear of the possibility of being kidnapped by North Korean agents. Now, years later, South Koreans make up the largest customer group to visit North Korean restaurants. In China, for example, as much as 80% of all customers to North Korean restaurants are South Korean tourists.
North Korea has some 100 restaurants overseas, mostly in China and Southeast Asia, including Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia. These restaurants serve as an important revenue pipeline for earning foreign currencies for Pyongyang. Each overseas North Korean restaurant is said to be allotted a revenue quota to fill, ranging from US$100,000 to $300,000 a year to send to Pyongyang, which makes the total revenue estimation some tens of millions of dollars.
The business formula - restaurant by day and karaoke bar by night - is also seen as an effort for these restaurants to meet the assigned financial quota. Currently, there are scores of North Korean restaurants in China, including in cities such as Beijing, Tianjin, Tsingdao, Dandong and Yanji. Beijing has 11 North Korean restaurants. All of these employ North Koreans whose total employment number in China is estimated to be several hundred.
The reason that North Korean restaurants are expensive yet remain popular among customers is their immaculate service from beautiful employees. In China, where service quality at restaurants is often unsatisfactory, North Korean restaurants are becoming a favorite alternative among members of the businesses community.
The businessman said, "You see? The waitresses working here can all speak two foreign languages: English and Chinese. They sing and dance professionally. They are all graduates of top universities in Pyongyang. When you make a joke, they can intelligently strike back with a punch line and often with a good sense of humor. They are not like other karaoke girls."
He continued, "But what they end up doing is working at a karaoke bar in a foreign country like this one. Can you imagine a female graduate of Seoul National University [South Korea's top university] working in a place like this? This is very sad."
The night was still young, so we thought. But the clock was already pointing to 2am. We said our good-byes to the two gorgeous North Korean comrades. As we were walking towards the main exit door, the 21-year-old Park came out to make a farewell gesture to the businessman once more. Although she had only drunk some fruit juice that night, her face was flushed.
"I think she really likes you," I half-jokingly said to the businessman. He didn't reply, but said, "Beijing is already a very free city compared to Pyongyang. Once they taste freedom, it will change them. They won't remain the same people."
Sunny Lee is a writer based in Beijing, where he has lived for five years. A native of South Korea, Lee is a graduate of Harvard University and Beijing Foreign Studies University.
1 comment:
That is same thing here in US. Beleive or not go to Nude Club on the conner of aviation and century blvd. Kritny Horn love that place.
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