Seoul’s new openness to the North made the Okryukwan possible. Franchised by Pyongyang, it is owned by a Korean entrepreneur in Japan, who sells the chance to “experience the exotic world of North Korea” for less than $5 a bowl. Using buckwheat and utensils shipped in from Pyongyang, the Okryukwan makes real Northern specialties like rangmyon noodles in chilled broth. But the ambience is off. Just one tenth the size of the 3,800-seat Pyongyang original, the Seoul Okryukwan also lacks posters crediting its noodles and all good things to “Great Leader” Kim Jong Il. Noodles, yes, but Northern propaganda is still banned in the South.
