[identity profile] unreal.livejournal.com posting in [community profile] omonatheydid
Life in Pyongyang, capital city of North Korea, is boisterous and fun-filled even as the country is threatened with military action from the West due to its nuclear programme, reports Xinhua.

Screams from roller coaster rides, karaoke and clink of beer glasses at night clubs seem to be quite a picture of metropolitan areas like New York, Tokyo or Beijing.

Well, make no mistake. This is what actually happens at night in Pyongyang.


Though without dazzling neon signs, the hustle and bustle of discos or the notorious red-light districts, night life in Pyongyang is not cloaked in silence.

Built in the 1980s in Pyongyang's Moranbong area, the Kaeson Youth Park used to operate only a handful of simple rides and was open to the public only during the daytime and on holidays. With a restoration being done by authorities, tourists can now have fun, even at night, with an Italy-made 'jumping machine', pirate ship and roller coaster being rated at the top by visitors.

There are also video-game lounges, where children were seen shooting flying saucers and racing cars.

'Over 5,000 people visited the park every night. And it is a good place for people to be relaxed after a day's work,' Kim Hyok, the park's director, was quoted as saying by Xinhua.

While a visit to the park is not free of charge, it does not cost that much either.

An adult ticket costs 20 won (21 cents) and one for a child 10 won. And it costs about 250 won or $2.65 to take part in all the facilities. For foreigners, however, the ticket costs one euro ($1.27).

Even though electricity is in short supply in North Korea, authorities have specially laid two cables to guarantee regular service to the park.

Karaoke - popularly known in Pyongyang as 'film-accompanied music' - is another popular night time entertainment.

Even the country's leader, Kim Jong Il, has supported popularising karaoke as he says it was a good way to make the lives of all people varied and rich.

In many restaurants in the capital city, karaoke as well as popular music is played for the pleasure of customers. To liven things up, waitresses are also trained to sing.

Beer bars and pubs are also reporting huge turnouts as night falls upon Pyongyang.

Bars are seen filled with laughter, cheers, and the aroma of tasty homemade beer.

The Qingxing beer house, Pyongyang's largest bar, opened in April this year with a capacity of 1,000 people.

While retired people and housewives are seen in the daytime, government officials, public servants and workers would arrive after office hours.

Interestingly, the beer bar prepares only tables for customers and provides no chairs. Drinkers have to stand, while waiters serve beverages in carts.

During summer, the beer bar receives an estimated 3,500 to 4,000 customers per day.

Meanwhile, in a bid to attract more female customers, the Taedong Beer Brewhouse, which produces beer in a Pyongyang surburb, was preparing a fruity flavour.

Source: sify
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Date: 2010-09-13 08:48 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] piruvi.livejournal.com
And there are Koreans? I need to go and check it myself!

Date: 2010-09-13 08:49 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] inudela.livejournal.com
I would recommend against it.

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Date: 2010-09-13 08:48 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] bitter-sweet05.livejournal.com
North Korea's culture is a real mindfuck sometimes. When all you hear is stories about plight and widespread strife, it's easy to forget that somewhere in the country there's gotta be people having a good time...

Date: 2010-09-13 08:52 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] spin.livejournal.com
yeah seriously. the lack of proof is why, if we can't SEE that nightclubs exist we assume they don't exist.

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Date: 2010-09-13 08:48 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] amberr21.livejournal.com
Meanwhile, in a bid to attract more female customers, the Taedong Beer Brewhouse, which produces beer in a Pyongyang surburb, was preparing a fruity flavour.

lol...this is a random way for the article to end.

Date: 2010-09-13 09:04 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] omonaki.livejournal.com
Haha ikr? Fruity flavor...

Date: 2010-09-13 08:49 pm (UTC)

Date: 2010-09-13 08:49 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] inudela.livejournal.com
i love fruity flavoured beers. pineapple and lychee are my favs

Date: 2010-09-13 08:49 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] taemanggg.livejournal.com
It's interesting to see a different perspective of NK.

Date: 2010-09-13 08:54 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] honeebs.livejournal.com
omg awesome~let me book a flight >.> oneway.

Date: 2010-09-13 08:55 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] lapereaux.livejournal.com
even though this is supposed to make nk sound like a funner place..this whole thing just makes me kind of depressed

Date: 2010-09-13 08:57 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] underhand-glory.livejournal.com
maybe because the lower class are starving to death and not receiving adequate medical care while apparently these people are living it up?

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Date: 2010-09-13 08:56 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] underhand-glory.livejournal.com
idg where who ever wrote this is getting their information from

eh my understanding of pyongyang was that they had mandatory black outs at night to conserve electricity

Date: 2010-09-14 08:31 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] mei-zi.livejournal.com
eh my understanding of pyongyang was that they had mandatory black outs at night to conserve electricity

omg lol

Date: 2010-09-13 08:57 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] dead-lenore.livejournal.com
It sounds more lively than my town, for sure.. xDD

Anyway.., if it's real I'm glad people can have fun in a place like that, but for some reason it's impossible for me to visualize it.. :S

Date: 2010-09-13 08:58 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] kawaiiairbender.livejournal.com
interesting, I can't imagine it's completely dismal there. I wonder what percentage of the population can enjoy these things though.

well besides homemade beer because I think despite their famine people will make alcohol.
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Date: 2010-09-13 09:11 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] bitter-sweet05.livejournal.com
mmmm. It's hard to swallow, but then again, not everything can be shit over there, just like everything's not sparkles and rainbows everywhere else. It'e easy to visualise that everything's horrible over there, but not everyone can be doing as badly as we think.

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Date: 2010-09-13 09:26 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] siaht.livejournal.com
I'm surprised by the words "tourists" and "North Korea" in the same sentence.

Date: 2010-09-13 09:35 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] kawaiiairbender.livejournal.com
I know some people go to North Korea to see their mass games. I remember seeing a documentary on it over 10 years ago, they are pretty amazing imo.

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Date: 2010-09-13 09:27 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] violentiak.livejournal.com
Karaoke and popular songs blasting around, yeah sure. I'm just pretty sure they're all propaganda songs about the Grea and Beloved leaders.

Date: 2010-09-13 10:09 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] pumpkinskin.livejournal.com
I'd love to sing a song about the Great Leader coming out of his mother's Patriotic and Revolutionary Vagina followed by a double rainbow

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Date: 2010-09-13 09:48 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] yukino23.livejournal.com
An adult ticket costs 20 won (21 cents) and one for a child 10 won. And it costs about 250 won or $2.65 to take part in all the facilities. For foreigners, however, the ticket costs one euro ($1.27).
That's really cheap, but actually, it has to be taken into consideration how much do they earn. I mean, for most of us one euro is almost nothing, but if you earn, let's say, 50 wons every month, 20 won is really expensive. Hopefully I'm making my point clear ;_;

And on a side note, when I visited the DMZ I bought a North Korean beer, and it was really good, even if it had like double the alcohol of the popular SK counterparts. /useless comment is useless

Date: 2010-09-14 04:32 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] mirotic-mor.livejournal.com
Alcohol tips are never useless.

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Date: 2010-09-13 10:26 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] couturegirlxox.livejournal.com
this sounds like the beginning to an... ominous novel -_-"
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Date: 2010-09-13 11:58 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] 831panda831.livejournal.com
mandatory in every north korea post

/thumbs up

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Date: 2010-09-13 11:05 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] crystalheng.livejournal.com
The price of the admission tickets remind me of how my old teachers and mum used to say that 50 years ago (in my country, Singapore), 10 cents (or was it cheaper, I can't remember) could buy you a really good bowl of noodles.

Date: 2010-09-14 05:28 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] manicmidnights.livejournal.com
Yea and they'll give u an egg in it too. Srsly that's what my mom said.

Date: 2010-09-14 12:24 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] byronsbitch.livejournal.com
Who wrote this propaganda piece lol

Date: 2010-09-14 12:35 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] sweetemerald513.livejournal.com
Hmm...I think Kim Jong Il would make an excellent case study (is 'case study' the correct term)...like have a psychologist delve into the deepest recesses of his mind and make a documentary out of it...or something like that.

Date: 2010-09-14 12:59 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] needsm0retime.livejournal.com
well I guess I'm glad that its not all gloom and doom over there...but I'll still believe differently despite what this says

Date: 2010-09-14 01:07 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] ari-meh.livejournal.com
i don't even.... -___-

Date: 2010-09-14 01:22 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] despair26.livejournal.com
I wanna see Jongil rockin' the karaoke.
But really, No NK, NO.
They'd be shocked if the saw how the rest of the world partied.

Date: 2010-09-14 01:29 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] saintedmal.livejournal.com
Well okay... I can only feel happy that there's at least some spark, how ever small, of happiness over there...

Ya don't say....

Date: 2010-09-14 01:36 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] lilipute.livejournal.com
Image (http://es.tinypic.com?ref=30s7i1w)
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