North Korean-themed restaurant in Seoul removes Kim portraits after social media outcry

Soon-to-be-opened eatery had decorated its outside walls with portraits of the country’s late leaders, a North Korean flag and propaganda-style messages such as ‘more alcohol for the comrades!’

But it prompted an outcry on social media – and an investigation from local police on suspicion of breaching the national security act

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The exterior of the North Korea-themed restaurant in Seoul after the owner took down some of the offending images. Photo: YouTube

Published: 7:16pm, 16 Sep 2019Updated: 11:18pm, 16 Sep 2019

North Korean food has long been popular with South Korean diners, but Pyongyang’s propaganda is proving far less palatable, as the owner of a new restaurant in Seoul has just discovered.

The owner of the soon-to-be-opened North Korean-themed eatery in Hongdae, Seoul’s trendy student nightlife district, had decorated the facade of the building with portraits of the country’s late leaders Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il alongside a North Korean flag and propaganda-style posters featuring slogans such as “More alcohol for the comrades!”

But following an outcry on social media over the weekend the owner has not only been forced into removing the offending portraits and flag, he has found himself being investigated by police on suspicion of breaching the South’s national security act.

The act, which has been enforced since 1948, prohibits the spread of “anti-government” materials including communist propaganda from the North, and carries provision for punishments of up to seven years in prison for those found to have breached it.

Photos of the restaurant-bar began circulating on Korean social media over the weekend, and have since gone viral, outraging many citizens.