Bizarre: dictator Kim Jong-un bans hotdogs in North Korea
North Korea isn’t exactly a country on my travel bucket list. Reason 1: there’s no McDonald’s. Reason 2: dictator Kim Jong-un is in power there, and he keeps the country in his grip in some pretty strange ways. His latest rule? Hotdogs are strictly forbidden. The reason is striking—and so is the punishment for eating hotdogs.
Which country immediately comes to mind when you think of hotdogs? That’s right, America. It’s America’s big fat sweetheart. Many stories circulate about the origins of the hotdog. The hotdog sausage is derived from the German Frankfurter, that thin, long pork sausage. It came to America thanks to German immigrants in the mid-nineteenth century. They were sold in huge numbers during baseball games. Later, the sausage was served in a bun because that was easier to eat. Customers would then not burn their hands on the piping-hot sausage.
Making, selling or eating hotdogs = treason
The hotdog as we know it—a greasy sausage in a soft, white bun—is typically American. That is precisely why Kim Jong-un has decided that eating hotdogs is now a crime in North Korea. The dictator considers it ‘treason’ to eat a snack with such strong American roots. Kim Jong-un hates anything Western, after all. Free, democratic Western culture must not enter the North Korean dictatorship under any circumstances, and the ban on eating hotdogs is a result of that. (Now you probably also understand why McDonald’s cannot be found anywhere in North Korea.)
North Korea’s blacklist of foods
Hotdogs aren’t the only food banned in North Korea. budae-jjigae may no longer be made, sold or eaten either. It is a kind of spicy Korean-American stew soup containing pieces of hotdog. The soup was devised and made shortly after the Korean War using ingredients from American military supplies. A dish with Western influences that entered North Korean food culture from South Korea not so long ago. The same applies to the South Korean street food tteokbokki: a kind of steamed rice cake. Along with hotdogs, budae-jjigae and tteokbokki are now on North Korea’s food blacklist.
Eating hotdogs in North Korea? This is your punishment
Anyone thinking of making or selling hotdogs, budae-jjigae or tteokbokki should think twice. If you are caught by the North Korean regime, you may well find yourself spending time in one of the country’s notorious labor camps. That’ll teach you to eat a hotdog! Well, we’re going to enjoy the fact that we do not live in North Korea even more. We’re going to make these hotdogs this week. Will you join us?
Also read:
- 40% of American children think hotdogs, burgers and bacon are vegetables
- The Plantdog is IKEA’s latest hotdog
- Brandt & Levie have a new plant-based hotdog (tested!)
Sources: New York Post, Telegraaf, Miljuschka Magazine no. 12
