'Pyongyang unlikely to open restaurant in Scotland'
Pyongyang Restaurant in Amsterdam / Yonhap
By Lee Ji-hye
North Korea this week denied reports that it was trying to open a restaurant in Scotland.
The North recently opened one of its “Pyongyang” restaurants ― which are sources of hard currency for the regime ― in Amsterdam. Reports quoted North Korea experts as saying that the regime may be inclined to open one in Scotland, after Pyongyang expressed support for Scottish independence referendum.
“North Koreans love whisky,” Michael Madden, the editor of the North Korean Leadership Watch blog, was quoted as saying.
“Tourists in North Korea are told to tip people in Scotch instead of the currency,” he said, adding that the Scottish referendum catapulted Scotland into the thoughts of North Korean elites.
However, an official from the North Korean embassy to the United Kingdom told the Independent that reports were “nonsense,” declining to comment further.
The restaurant chain has links to Office 39, a shadowy agency in the North that seeks foreign funds for North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s slush fund.
Jenny Town of the US-Korea Institute also told The Mirror that North Korea has shown signs of warming up to Scotland.
“North Korea is going to support any country struggling for independence and legitimacy, as North Korea itself still continues to seek validation and recognition of its own legitimacy as a sovereign nation,” Town was quoted as saying.