North Korea touts BBQ restaurant boom, but sceptics dismiss it as propaganda

Ingredients for bulgogi, a Korean marinated beef dish, are arranged in a pan at Neungra Restaurant in Seoul, South Korea, Oct 22, 2026. (Photo: Reuters/Kim Soo-hyeon)

SEOUL: North Korea is projecting a new culinary obsession: multi-story barbecue restaurants with waterside terraces, marble tabletops inlaid with grills, and menus featuring beef, pork, and ostrich.

Since September, state media has announced over a dozen new "bulgogi" restaurants nationwide, a Korean word that usually refers to grilled meat in North Korea.

Dismissed by some as government propaganda, the proliferation is striking in a country that has long struggled to feed its people. The UN food body said in its latest report on the country that more than two out of every five North Koreans were undernourished.

Analysts say the openings reflect a push by leader Kim Jong Un to portray a growing prosperity across the country, although sceptics wonder how accessible or busy the restaurants will be.

CNA Games Guess Word Crack the word, one row at a time Buzzword Create words using the given letters Mini Sudoku Tiny puzzle, mighty brain teaser Mini Crossword Small grid, big challenge Word Search Spot as many words as you can Show More Show Less One new restaurant in Sinuiju, a city on the Chinese border, is three stories tall. In northern Kanggye, patrons can drink draft beer alongside a fish tank, while in the west coast city of Nampo, an opening ceremony included fireworks. Other restaurants tout unusually large floor plans that can seat hundreds.

Meat is an important symbol for the regime and recalls the promise of the late Kim Il Sung, a former leader and grandfather of Kim Jong Un, to give his people "white rice with meat soup", said Benjamin Katzeff Silberstein, head of Korean Studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

The openings mirror the spread of other leisure initiatives like waterparks, coffee bars, and high-end malls. While Kim has not yet been pictured at these openings, they are usually attended by high-level local officials.

"I think it's a way of showing all these nice things ... they're coming to people outside of Pyongyang, too," Silberstein said.

The restaurants may be further evidence that some North Koreans, especially in trade and construction, are benefiting from growing ties with Russia, said Hazel Smith, professorial research associate in Korean Studies at the University of London's School of Oriental and African Studies.

But "this is not a sign that you've got a thriving economy - it's a sign that some people at the moment are able to get by and afford to go out and have a meal now and then," she said.

North Korea's economy grew 3.5 per cent in 2025, a third straight year above 3 per cent, South Korea's central bank said in July.