ⓒ YONHAP News

In South Korea, the season of “chimaek” is back. Chimaek is a word combining “chi” from chicken and “maek” from maekju, the Korean word for beer. It refers to fried chicken served with beer. Chimaek is such a common slang word that it has even been added to the Korean language dictionary. 

A frosty mug of ice-cold beer with a tangy flavor and a piece of crispy yet soft chicken will probably make you feel like you’ve got nothing to envy in this world. Especially when people continue to swelter under an unrelenting heat wave, many choose to go to restaurants or sit at the tables in front of convenience stores to enjoy chimaek. Motorcycles are also busy delivering the popular summer night meal. Perhaps, chimaek lovers may have their own favorite place, at least one, for fried chicken and beer. 

So, is there any chimaek culture in North Korea? The summer-related topic we’re going to talk about today is North Korean beer.

We can’t help but wonder if people in North Korea enjoy chimaek, just like South Koreans. Here is Professor Jeong Eun Chan at the National Institute for Unification Education. 

I remember I drank beer with my friends when I was in college in North Korea. We didn’t really eat chimaek, though. We simply enjoyed beer as a soft drink. In North Korea, chicken is consumed as a health food on special occasions. I resettled in South Korea in 2004. Afterwards, I heard some people in the upper class in the North ate chicken and beer. But I don’t think it is common. 

It is said that North Koreans like strong liquor. In the North, brewery products with over 30 or 40 percent are called liquor, while beer is considered a soft drink. Usually, beer is served with dried snacks. 

North Korean dried snacks include dried Pollack, small anchovies, clams, squid and octopus. Snacks for beer vary, depending on the region and age group. While the older generation prefers dried snacks, many young people are interested in chicken and beer at large restaurants in Pyongyang. As I said before, however, it’s hard to say that’s a common trend. 

On top of four major beer brands such as Ponghak, Geumgang, Ryongsong and Taedonggang, North Korea produces various other beer brews including Pyongyang and Kyunghung. But the most famous by far is Taedonggang beer. Named after the Taedonggang or Taedong River that runs through the capital of Pyongyang, it is called People’s Beer in North Korea. 

In June, the 20th anniversary of the Taedonggang Beer Factory was widely reported in North Korean media. Celebrating the occasion, the Central Committee of the ruling Workers’ Party delivered a congratulatory message to workers and officials at the brewery. 

The oldest North Korean beer is Pyongyang beer, which the country began to produce in the mid-1950s. A beer factory was set up under the Workers’ Party in the 1980s, giving birth to Ryongsong and Ponghak brands. North Korea released its first canned beer, Geumgang beer, in 1996. 

North Korea’s beer culture faced a major turning point in the early 2000s. Then-leader Kim Jong-il showed keen interest in creating a brewery in his country after touring the Baltika Brewery in St. Petersburg, Russia, in 2001. Kim purchased Britain’s Ushers Brewery that closed in 2000. The brewery plant was dismantled piece by piece and packed into 30 shipping containers for transportation from Britain to North Korea. It was then reassembled in the North before opening in the Sadong District in Pyongyang in June 2002. Based on the British facilities, the new brewery adopted the latest German brewing method of using computers. That was the beginning of Taedonggang beer. 

At the time, North Korean media reported that leader Kim Jong-il, while watching the beer production process, expressed his pleasure at the fact that people could now enjoy cold beer in all seasons. 

The launch of Taedonggang beer was one of the projects the leader had particular interest in, with the local media promoting it as “the best beer in all of Asia.” 

Taedonggang beer comes in as many as seven different flavors, based on the proportion of barley malt and rice. Beer No.1 is comprised of pure malt. Beer No.2 contains less malt and Beer No.5 is made of 100 percent white rice. No.6 and No.7 are dark beers, with the aromas of coffee and chocolate, respectively. 

The seven different versions of Taedonggang beer have their own flavors. For instance, Beer No.1 tastes bitter. Beer No.2 is comprised of 70 percent barley malt and 30 percent rice, and this mild, tasty beer is the most favored brew among North Koreans. Personally, I liked No.2. Searching Taedonggang beer on Google, you may find the version with a circle around the 2. The percentages of barley and rice are marked on some versions. Overall, the beer has five-percent alcohol content. 

According to North Korean media, Taedonggang beer is produced from barley grown in Hwanghae Province, hops from Ryanggang Province where plenty of sunshine is in store and clean water from the underground tributaries of the Taedong River. The media claim that the beer, undergoing the modernized production process, offers its special flavor. 

In 2009, North Korea even ran an advertisement on state TV for the national beer. It was a very rare occasion, as there are very few commercials on North Korean TV. 

The commercial for Taedonggang beer was broadcast on the Korean Central Television to cause a sensation. The ad says the beer has a soft, clean and pleasant flavor with the increased degree of fermentation, while emphasizing that it was certified with an international management system standard for quality management. (ISO 9001) 

However, the ad was suspended for some time, as it was severely criticized as a capitalistic commercial. 

Advertisements are viewed negatively in North Korea, as it is considered part of capitalistic culture. But North Korea releases a lot of commercials these days, including the ones about beer, cosmetics products and cell phones. North Korean TV ads are pretty long and explain the products in detail. That’s not the case in South Korea, where time is money and people tend to lose interest quickly. In the South, ads should deliver an intended message in a swift, clear and impressive way. 

By promoting its products, North Korea seeks to attract foreign capital and also export them to other countries. Under current leader Kim Jong-un’s rule, the North has been strongly committed to following global trends. Although North Korean commercials may seem simple and rudimentary, compared to their South Korean counterparts, the fact that the North continues to run ads shows a change from the past. It’s definitely worth noting. 

North Korea hosted its first beer festival, the Taedonggang Beer Festival, in August 2016. Held on a cruise boat on the Taedong River, the festival offered seven versions of Taedonggang beer as well as various side dishes. 

At the time, North Korean authorities invited foreign journalists and envoys and also drew foreign tourists to publicize the festival in a big way. Local media reported the positive review of a tourist from Germany, home to thousands types of beer. 

During the festival period, North Korean media aired a special program about the Taedonggang Beer Factory as well as the festival. 

Analysts say the beer festival was intended to show the outside world that the North Korean regime remains fully functional despite international sanctions and to promote Taedonggang beer as an export item. 

As a major shift from the previous Kim Jong-il era, current leader Kim Jong-un has a strong desire to expose his country to the outside world. The young leader hopes to show that his people can afford to enjoy cultural and leisure activities, as comfortably as people in other parts of the world. This is the main purpose of the beer festival. On the economic front, North Korean authorities seek to absorb some of the foreign currency circulating in the private sector. 

In 2017, North Korea had announced that the second beer festival would be held but later cancelled it without giving any clear explanations. 

There are quite many bars in North Korea. The Kyonghunggwan Beer Bar located in the Pothong River District in Pyongyang is particularly famous. All seven Taedonggang beer varieties are offered there, with the number of daily visitors reaching as many as 15-hundred. 

In South Korea, the German word “hof,” usually written in the Korean alphabet of Hangeul, refers to a bar that serves beer. But North Korea uses a Korean word meaning “beer bar.” In the North, locals also drink beer at restaurants with a sign indicating “soft drinks.”  

In principle, foreign words are banned in North Korea, although people use such words like coffee and espresso these days. The word “hof” is also spreading among people in Pyongyang gradually. Of course, the word is not included in the country’s official dictionary. In general, locals use Korean words for “soft drink” or “beer bar” when talking about beer. 

Beer had already received so much attention in the former Kim Jong-il era. On top of that, the regime hopes to demonstrate that North Korean people enjoy a high standard of culture and leisure, in order to dismiss international speculation that the impoverished country is struggling internally. In this context, North Korea is expected to develop beer-related businesses and events considerably.

With blistering heat in store for the entire country, many South Korean people may crave chimaek. We envision a day when South Koreans will beat the sweltering summer heat while enjoying chimaek along the Taedong River in Pyongyang.