North Korea: Inside the lives of Pyongyang’s rich kids

Not only do they love the cosmopolitan lifestyle but they aren’t afraid to show it off among the fellow elite in an area dubbed ‘Pyonghattan’.

While the average worker in the North Korean capital earns around $US10 a month, these kids dubbed Pyongyang’s Brat Pack, aren’t afraid to splash out $US9 on an iced mocha, or dress in their favourite label.

Welcome to life for the roughly one per cent of kids who experience privilege that the rest of North Korea can only dream about.

According to the Washington Post, this small group of North Koreans make up just one per cent of people living in the country — and the place to find them is in the exclusive area of the capital dubbed Pyonghattan.

These kids love western labels like H&M, Adidas and Nike and some even undergo cosmetic work in order to look more western.

They also go on holidays and dine at restaurants only tourists can afford.

Lee Seo-hyeon was part of Pyongyang’s brat pack until around 18 months ago and admits the behaviour goes against the norm in the hermit country which has long been critical of western ways.

“We’re supposed to dress conservatively in North Korea, so people like going to the gym so they can show off their bodies, show some skin,” the 24-year-old said.

Women make pizzas at upscale Italian pizza restaurant on Mirae Scientists Street in Pyongyang. Photo Linda Davidson/The Washington Post via Getty ImagesSource:Getty Images

While North Korea isn’t exactly renowned for its high end brands, it isn’t hard for the better off to hop across to China and come back armed with all their favourite labels.

Pyonghattan is definitely an area for people with money featuring a bowling alley, gym and leisure complex which hosts wedding functions for a mere $500 an hour.

But forget having a coffee if you’re the average North Korean because one is likely to swallow up your entire wage with drinks ranging between $4 and $9.

While North Korea remains economically behind the rest of the world, that hasn’t stopped its citizens wanting more with the emergence of a merchant class nicknamed donju or the masters of money.

The donju not only hold all the important positions such as government or military, but run state businesses abroad which gives them vital access to everyday things most kids in the west take for granted such as flatscreen TVs.

Despite what its leaders would have us believe the city of Pyongyang is outdated, with only a handful of cars driven by those who are a bit more fortunate. Picture: Jonas Gratzer/LightRocket via Getty ImagesSource:Getty Images

A LUXURY LIFE

Researcher at ANU School of Culture, History and Language Leonid Petrov told news.com.au the situation of a rich elite in Pyongyang was hardly surprising.

Dr Petrov said most people in Pyongyang worked in government roles and diplomats and their children therefore enjoyed immense privilege compared to the rest of the country.

“Pyongyang is an artificial city and unusual for North Korea,” he said.

“Pyongyang is an island of wealth on the northern side of the peninsula (Korean) which is still suffering the effects of famine and financial mismanagement.”

Dr Petrov said diplomats who travelled and returned to the country had the greatest access to luxury items, which they could either sell or give as gifts to win influence.

Many in government lived in a parallel universe with their rent and expenses covered so their children would have access to hard currency and therefore a $9 coffee would not be a big deal to them, he added.

Dr Petrov said when he first visited Pyongyang in 1999, seeing teens dressed in Nikes and Puma wasn’t unusual, but outside the capital it was a very different story.

Mask Pass reportedly is popular with tourists and North Korea’s elite.Source:Flickr

NOT SO TOUGH

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has made it no secret that he wants the North Korean youth to enjoy life under his rule.

Kim has opened several recreational areas in recent times and even boasted the nation has a first-class ski resort.

Masik Pass has all the amenities of a first-world ski destination but also a luxury hotel, half a dozen restaurants and a well-equipped ski rental shop.

In this shop visitors can stock up on European chocolates, drink Heineken beer and buy T-shirts, Associated Press reported.

The same resort has snowmobiles imported f-rom China and its chairlifts are f-rom Austria.

The resort reportedly boasts a 250-room, eight-storey hotel for foreigners, 10 ski runs and is thought to have cost $300 million.

According to AP, it is popular with tourists and of course the North Korean elite.

North Korean students ride a chair lift at the Masik Pass Ski Resort which opened in 2014. Picture: Jean H. Lee/Getty ImagesSource:Getty Images

RICH AND POOR

It’s not just the Pyongyang brat pack having a good time in North Korea.

For the well off in general, life is comfortable with the rich flexing their purchasing power.

The elite residents of the capital hold extravagant wedding celebrations that the rest of the country consider excessive, according to UPI News.

Up-market restaurants are booming and families of the favoured class aren’t afraid to use their spending power.

The rich spend thousands of dollars on food and entertainment and even pay for the wedding in US dollars, a source told the news site.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is determined to show the west his country is doing well. Picture: AP Photo/Wong Maye-ESource:AP

CRIPPLING SANCTIONS

North Korea’s economy is hardly a strong one and many of its citizens remain relatively poor.

While tourists who have been to Pyongyang can reveal a clean and ordered city, life outside the capital and for those in rural areas remains hard.

Just days ago, Kim demanded the eradication of the country’s imports in an appeal for self-sufficiency, as the country faces the impact of international sanctions against the regimen.

“We should root out the inclination to import without fail and put a definite end to it,” he told the KCNA news agency in a report on his recent visit to a commercial vehicles and agricultural machinery factory.

The leader expressed his commitment to complete self-sufficiency in the country after observing the “highly efficient” operation of locally manufactured tractors, buses and trucks, according to the news agency.

This was Kim Jong-un’s first public field inspection since the VII’s Congress of the Workers Party, the first in 36 years, which ended on Monday and endorsed the “byeongjin” policy which prioritises economic development and nuclear weapons of mass destruction at the same time.

The statement of Kim to end imports and fully rely on the local industry comes at a time marked by strong isolation of the regimen after tough trade sanctions were imposed against it by the international community.

In March, the UN Security Council as well as South Korea, the USA and Japan unilaterally imposed strict restrictions on the North Korean trade in an attempt to stifle its economy in response to nuclear and long-range missiles tests carried out by Pyongyang in the previous two months.

It was also noted during Kim’s visit to the vehicles and machinery factory, that the leader came dressed in Western-style suit and tie, instead of the classic Mao style suit like his father, the late Kim Jong-il.

The outfit prompted experts to speculate a possible change of image in the leadership of the country in which an extreme personality cult of the Kim dynasty leaders exists.