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If you're living in America, getting an understanding for North Korean tastes is a little difficult. There was one notable North Korean restaurant in the D.C. area where the kitchen was run by a former spy, but it appears to have shut down last year (despite a 4/5 Yelp rating).
However, there is one North Korean beverage you can get your hands on pretty easily. Pyongyang Soju, a 23% strong liquor imported from North Korea, is currently legal for sale in the United States.
That Pyongyang Soju is for sale in the U.S. is unusual, and the entire thing has an odd backstory.
The liquor has been for sale in the country since 2007, the importing group (Korea Pyongyang Trading Inc.) apparently having a license from the Treasury to get around sanctions that prohibit North Korean trade. As Hunter Walker from Talking Point Memo reports, the group is operated by Il Woo Park, a South Korean national who lives in Manhattan.
Park has extensive links to North Korea — for example, he signed a contract to help relaunch the Mount Kumgang resort in 2011 for example — and is a registered U.S. agent of the North Korean government. Incredibly, these links weren't severed after Park became embroiled in a spy drama in 2007, when Park was arrested for lying to the FBI. According to Walker, documents show that Park was "apparently working with a network of spies from North Korea’s sworn enemy, South Korea".
Despite pleading guilty to all charges, Park was only sentenced to probation and his plea agreement remains sealed. Park was allowed to re-enter North Korea during his probation and his liquor business continued, Walker reports.
While the liquor's backstory may be murky, Pyongyang Soju is surprisingly easy to find. Business Insider bought a bottle of Pyongyang Soju at Warehouse and Wines in Greenwich Village, New York, a couple of weeks ago. It appears to be possible to buy the drink online if you wish to taste it yourself.
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The soju is inexpensive, and can be bought for just $5.99 for a 375ml bottle — cheaper than many South Korean or Japanese sojus for sale in New York City.
Quality may be an issue, however. Bon Appetit recently said that it "doesn't taste great" and had a "funky, fermenty smell." Others were less kind — one user on the Giant Robot forums wrote in a 2001 discussion about brands of soju: "you ain't had s--- until you've had Pyongyang Soju. Then, and only then, can you say you've had s---..."
Reactions in the Business Insider office were mixed. One reporter grimaced and exclaimed "oh god" as he took a sip, immediately reaching for a beer.