The New York Times(NYT) reported on foreigners who recently visited North Korea who claimed that a Western-style consumption culture exists among the regime's upper class.

The NYT issued the report on Sunday based on video footage obtained from three foreigners who recently visited the reclusive regime - a Russian tourist, a Swedish marathon runner and a Chinese student.

The Chinese student said the most luxurious place in Pyongyang is a shopping mall named the "Rangrang Aeguk Kumgang Service Complex" that sells furniture, kitchen appliances, and food products considered by Chinese students there as the "North Korean version of IKEA."

According to the report, a coffee shop in operation inside the shopping mall resembles the premium Starbucks Reserve store, with three cups of coffee priced at 25 U.S. dollars. The Chinese student said prices in Pyonyang were expensive.

The Swedish marathon runner who participated in April's Pyongyang International Marathon said most transactions in the North are done via mobile payment and that North Korean people were using mobile apps similar to those in the West.

The Russian tourist who spent her summer vacation in the North's Wonsan Kalma coastal tourist zone, said she enjoyed her time over barbecue at the beach and drinking imported beer from the U.S., Japan and China.