North Korean restaurants in Cambodia draw South Korean tourists
By Channel NewsAsia's Indochina correspondent Anasuya Sanyal
SIEM REAP : It's a dining experience that few get to try, but North Korean restaurants do exist in Cambodia, serving South Korean tourists on holiday in the closed-off nation.
Cambodia is a country known for famine rather than feasts.
North Korea, a pariah state to the rest of world, has long-standing diplomatic ties with Cambodia, where several North Korean restaurants dot the road from the airport in Siem Reap.
It's a way for the North to get hard currency, as the Cambodian economy runs largely on US dollars, as well as a way to make overtures of friendship on neutral ground.
Since many South Korean tourists can't get a real taste of the North back home, they make Pyongyang Restaurant a stop on their holiday tours.
"Our reason for coming here is that we can't see North Koreans in South Korea, but we have the chance here in Cambodia," says Leena Sin, a South Korean tourist.
Waitresses dressed in identical hanboks (Korean traditional dresses) set the tables for the tourist hordes which start to arrive around 6 pm.
A waitress from Pyongyang says she is proud to work at the restaurant.
In fact, it is an honor to be chosen to be permitted to work abroad, though the waitresses reportedly live on the premises and are strictly controlled.
Entertainment comes in the form of karaoke songs popular with both North and South Koreans.
The audience is enthusiastic, though it seems more like a talent competition than entertainment.
When people from the North and South encounter each other, there is always talk of reconciliation.
The young waitresses say many South Koreans are ambivalent about the painful and complicated issue, but it doesn't stop them from being curious about their Northern neighbours.
Cambodia is a country known for famine rather than feasts.
North Korea, a pariah state to the rest of world, has long-standing diplomatic ties with Cambodia, where several North Korean restaurants dot the road from the airport in Siem Reap.
It's a way for the North to get hard currency, as the Cambodian economy runs largely on US dollars, as well as a way to make overtures of friendship on neutral ground.
Since many South Korean tourists can't get a real taste of the North back home, they make Pyongyang Restaurant a stop on their holiday tours.
"Our reason for coming here is that we can't see North Koreans in South Korea, but we have the chance here in Cambodia," says Leena Sin, a South Korean tourist.
Waitresses dressed in identical hanboks (Korean traditional dresses) set the tables for the tourist hordes which start to arrive around 6 pm.
A waitress from Pyongyang says she is proud to work at the restaurant.
In fact, it is an honor to be chosen to be permitted to work abroad, though the waitresses reportedly live on the premises and are strictly controlled.
Entertainment comes in the form of karaoke songs popular with both North and South Koreans.
The audience is enthusiastic, though it seems more like a talent competition than entertainment.
When people from the North and South encounter each other, there is always talk of reconciliation.
The young waitresses say many South Koreans are ambivalent about the painful and complicated issue, but it doesn't stop them from being curious about their Northern neighbours.
1 comment:
Dear Cambodian government,
Please make sure to benefit some sale taxes from North Korean restaurant since they do not provide jobs to the local Khmer people. Thanks.
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