In N. Korea, shop ostrich skin, TVs and Neo-Viagra
PYONGYANG, North Korea — Ostrich skin ready for tailoring, huge flat-screen TVs, “Neo-Viagra” and a cure for cancer?
North Korea's official shopper's guide is glossy and full of testimonials from satisfied customers and phone and email contact information for the dozens of companies pitching their latest products — though good luck reaching any of them.
The “2018 Korea Commodities” catalog, produced by the North's Committee for the Promotion of International Trade, reflects a side of North Korea often lost in the shadow of its nuclear weapons. Leader Kim Jong Un and many other North Koreans firmly believe their country needs to make more and better consumer goods and sell them to the outside world if it is ever going to have a strong — or even sustainable — economy.
More goods with the “made in North Korea” label are available than ever before, though international sanctions mean most can't be sold abroad.
A look at what North Korea sees as some of its most promising products:
Cheesy eskimo pies
Coke and other foreign brands are relatively rare and expensive in North Korea.
But the O-Il General Processing Factory has tried to fill the gap.
A surprising amount of shelf space in Pyongyang grocery stores, and increasingly stores elsewhere, has been taken over by sugary soft drinks, much of which is produced by O-Il and other well-known brands. Air Koryo, the country's flagship airline, also has its own line of drinks.
O-Il, which means May Day, has 12 pages in the 207page 2018 commodity catalog introducing its line of nine energy drinks.
O-il also produces dozens of yogurt and milk-flavored drinks, fruit juices, tea, jellies and dozens of flavors of ice cream cones, popsicles and ice cream sandwiches, collectively known here as “Eskimo.” There's chocolate and strawberry, of course, but also cheese, fermented bean and lactobacilli. One of O-Il's latest offerings is “Hydrogen Water,” which it calls the “wonder health water of the 21st century.”
Miracle cancer cures?
Traditional “Koryo” medicines dating to ancient times are widely used in North Korea, in part because of the scarcity of modern Western medicines, and have long been popular with Chinese tourists.
North Korea sees big potential for exports.
Leading the charge is the Pugang Pharmaceutic Co., Ltd, a pioneer both in making health supplements and in using advertising to sell them, a tricky undertaking given that such capitalist practices are still officially frowned upon. Posters for its best-known product — Royal Blood-Fresh — can be seen in department stores and at souvenir shops catering to foreigners.
So what is it? According to the catalog, Royal Blood-Fresh is a supplement made primarily from beans that's recommended for long flights to help prevent or cure deep vein thrombosis. Posters targeting foreign tourists say, “Fly safe with Royal Blood-Fresh” and “Who says you can't grow younger and cleverer?”
Another heavily hyped supplement is Pugang's “Kumdang-2 Injection,” a vegetable-based medication its producer says is exported to a dozen countries.