North Korean “Pyongyang Soju” to be sold in America
by Richardson ~ May 6th, 2007. Filed under: America, Economics, North Korea, WTF?. 
Update: Also see Joshua’s post on this at OFK.
Original post: The first thing I thought when I read this report (h/t BesottedTom) was, “shouldn’t it be illegal for North Korea to export goods to the U.S.? [The answer is no, see below.] So it seem that those in the U.S. will be able to purchase Pyongyang Soju, though tariffs are likely to make it less competitive that South Korean soju in America, and the quality is notoriously low. It could be on sale in the U.S. as early as June:
A New York-based Korean-American trader is importing the traditional Korean liquor, called soju, from communist North Korea. . . It said the U.S. government has approved the import, and the first shipment of Pyongyang Soju — consisting of three shipping containers — left North Korea’s port of Nampo last month.
The shipment is expected to arrive in the U.S. later this month and could be available in American stores next month, the report said.
There was no immediate U.S. confirmation of the report.
[. . .]
Soju is a popular liquor in both South and North Korea. It is generally distilled from rice combined with other ingredients such as sweet potatoes, wheat or barley. Usually clear in color, it resembles vodka in taste and ranges in alcohol content from about 20 percent to 45 percent.
North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency says hundreds of thousands of bottles of Pyongyang Soju are sold in various countries annually.
On the question of legality, it seems it is so. From State:
Many statutory sanctions on North Korea, including those affecting trade in military, dual-use, and missile-related items and those based on multilateral arrangements, remain in place. Most forms of U.S. economic assistance, other than purely humanitarian assistance, are prohibited. North Korea does not enjoy “Normal Trade Relations” with the United States, so any goods manufactured in North Korea are subject to a higher tariff upon entry to the United States. (emphasis added)
And from the Institute for International Economics:
Yet there is little trade between the United States and the DPRK. North Korea is among the few countries that the United States does not grant normal trade relations (NTR) status to, and North Korean exports are subject to the so-called column 2 tariff rates established by the infamous Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act of 1930. These tariffs tend to be the highest on labor-intensive products such as garments, in which North Korea is conceivably competitive. (emphasis added)
So it will no doubt be expensive in the U.S.
Over the years I’ve purchased about a dozen bottles of the stuff in South Korea, where it’s for sale on either coast at the Unification Observatories, as well as at the DMZ tunnel store. The bottle in the photo above was purchased at the East Coast Unification Observatory, a couple hours north of Sokcho, in 2002. At the time they were W2,000 and later W3,000 per bottle, though I’m not sure of current prices. Though I bought a few, I’ve never sampled any, but used them as unique gifts.
While visiting Korea a few years ago, I gave a bottle to the father of a Korean classmate while there for dinner (my Korean friend was still in the States); his father drank the bottle during the meal and commented on its poor quality, so buyer beware on that note.
Cost and quality concerns aside, I’ve not purchased any for several years as the notion of supporting the Kim regime was too much. This is obviously a way for the North Korean government to earn hard currency, and so is to be shunned. And while I have no way to verify this, it is very possible that those North Koreans condemned to concentration camps have a part in the production of the material as well.
On those grounds, I strongly suggest an outright boycott on purchasing Pyongyang Soju, or any other products from North Korea, in the U.S. and South Korea.
May 6th, 2007 at 10:45 pm
I was not aware you could get Soju in the US. How do I find it? Only at Korean markets right?
May 6th, 2007 at 10:56 pm
Probably most Korean markets in the U.S. will have soju available (I’ve never seen it any place else, personally), including one liter bottles. Most often Jinro, but other brands are out there as well. But no where nearly as cheap as in Korea.
May 7th, 2007 at 12:52 am
…” it is generally distilled from rice “..
I thought it was mostly manufactured from the waste ethanol mixed with water and additives.
I guess there’s not much waste ethanol in NK, so maybe it really is made from rice.
May 7th, 2007 at 3:25 am
[…] Attention American shoppers: You will soon be able to buy low-quality North Korean liquor! [Link] […]
May 7th, 2007 at 6:36 am
I suppose “let us boycott North Korea and all its glorious bountiful exports!!” has not been and never will be a loud slogan, for the most basic of reasons. But may we learn to what extent they actually produce goods or material for foreign export or trade (not counting emigrants)? I understand there is a moderate amount of business and trade along the Chinese border, but much more from China to DPRK than vice versa; is this correct? Have there ever been DPRK success stories in the line of exports of goods (or food, or soju) to neighbouring countries (apart from a trickle of Arirang DVDs)? Has the DPRK sold weapons to Third World countries?
A rather different theme is *what a boycott could actually achieve* if there is something significant to boycott in the first place. I suppose both extreme viewpoints can be found inside mainstream USA politics: (1) Let’s maxi-boycott them, don’t let them sell a litre of soju to their neighbours! (2) By all means, let’s open all doors they appear to be knocking on, let’s buy all their products, and lo & behold there will soon be free markets and glasnost and a transformed society! So DPRK Studies is firmly with (1) here?
May 7th, 2007 at 8:03 am
Jon, I believe you are correct about South Korean soju:
Since, as I’ve been told, Pyongyang Soju isn’t so great, as “Gypsy Josh” above puts it, traditionally made soju is worse than the ethanol mix, perhaps North Korean soju is made more traditionally. However, probably less rice and more potato or yam in the mix, as the result will be about the same.
May 7th, 2007 at 8:09 am
Nikolai Utkin,
Yes, North Korea sells missiles (individually and complete factories) to Iran, Syria, etc. They sell a wide variety of small arms and vehicles to various African countries as well.
But all of that is very well known. You’ve been asking many rather obvious questions about North Korea. Please do a simple Google search first.
I’m afraid you don’t grasp the big picture with North Korean trade. First, some products are made by slave labor in concentration camps. Second, hard currently supports the Kim regime, his elites, and the military, which only prolongs the suffering of that nations people. Third, North Korea is not, as you seem to think, engaging in any sort of reform or free-trade spree that indicates they are opening up - - they absolutely cannot open up. The extremely limited reforms since the summer of 2002 have all been rolled back, with the exception of housing.
I am absolutely for a complete and total embargo and blockade on all of North Korea, including using the threat of access to U.S. markets against both China and South Korea if they did not follow suit. Without Chinese oil and good, and support from South Korea, Kim Jong-il’s regime would last months rather than years. That won’t happen, but it should.
May 7th, 2007 at 9:45 am
I first read the story last week on Yahoo and did a bit of googling. The importer, naturalized Korean-American Steve Park, visited Pyongyang six times and secured the deal with help from an ethnic Chinese liquor importer in the US. He plans to sell the stuff on the east coast, specifically NY state, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia. Foreigners who have tried Pyongyang soju say the drink is wretched.
So much for opening up through trade. I recall reading last week about how NK officials are cracking down on the ownership of imported consumer goods in the border city of Shinuiju.
May 7th, 2007 at 10:00 am
Sonagi,
Thanks for that info. You ought to be a blogger…
May 7th, 2007 at 12:29 pm
Admonishment accepted, wrist considered slapped. I do search, I do read, and my ignorance might diminish more speedily than KJI’s arsenal. The information “out there” is highly conflicting, however, e.g. about the scale of dprk sales of weapons, and to whom, which is why I ask informed sources.
I also by and large accept your status description of the closedness of the country and their political ambitions to keep it that way, but we may have different predictions of what might happen and when (and for which reasons). I have no illusions that this is a free-market spree time (and my remarks were not intended to indicate such beliefs). But I do read reports (from TIME to Russian newspapers to refugee statements) that indicate just a few creaks in the doors along the Chinese border. We shall see.
May 7th, 2007 at 1:17 pm
Interesting that animation for “The Lion King” was subcontracted to North Korea?
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Korea/IC14Dg03.html
http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/03/02/news/won.php
May 7th, 2007 at 1:47 pm
The French have a lot of animation work done in North Korea. The book, “Pyongyang, A Journey in North Korea” is by a French-Canadian animator. Check out the review at OFK.
May 7th, 2007 at 2:26 pm
[…] or what all those upstream factories are dumping into the Taedong (or, as Richardson notes, that the stuff tastes putrid). When it comes to North Korea, I posit that all labor is slave labor to one degree or another, […]
May 8th, 2007 at 12:58 pm
[…] and DPRK Studies both have great posts on this. Make sure to check them out. Filed under: North Korea | 12:28 […]
May 13th, 2007 at 9:39 pm
I bought a bottle of the stuff at Namdaemun market a few years back. Tasted like paint thinner. At least what I imagine paint thinner tastes like.
July 24th, 2007 at 4:47 pm
[…] Now North Korea is going to enter the playing field with one of their soju going to be sold in the US, Pyongyang Soju. This is quite rare for products from North Korea to be sanctioned for import to the United States. Many folks feel that products from North Korea shouldn’t be allowed into the US or should be boycotted. […]
July 25th, 2007 at 3:43 am
[…] Now North Korea is going to enter the playing field with one of their soju going to be sold in the US, Pyongyang Soju. This is quite rare for products from North Korea to be sanctioned for import to the United States. Many folks feel that products from North Korea shouldn’t be allowed into the US or should be boycotted. […]
July 25th, 2007 at 6:14 am
[…] Now North Korea is going to enter the playing field with one of their soju going to be sold in the US, Pyongyang Soju. This is quite rare for products from North Korea to be sanctioned for import to the United States. Many folks feel that products from North Korea shouldn’t be allowed into the US or should be boycotted. […]
June 1st, 2008 at 4:55 pm
[…] more news about Steve Park, a/k/a Park Il Woo, the importer of the foul-tasting Pyongyang Soju, who was charged with acting as an unregistered agent for South Korea by giving its […]