<figure id="attachment_218241" class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 3600px;" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-218241"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="186185e5"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2021/12/3accbd84a3486a878e8e4ba971e4dbac.jpeg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-218241" class="wp-caption-text">This is an image of the inside of a North Korean restaurant in eastern China, obtained independently by FRIDAY. A female staff member dances on stage, taken in 2004.</figcaption></figure>
 North Korea&#8217;s foreign restaurants, where many beautiful female staff members work, are in dire straits.
 At its peak, there were about 130 North Korean restaurants all over the world, including China, Russia, Thailand, Malaysia, and the Netherlands. In recent years, however, the number of customers has plummeted due to the new coronavirus. Due in part to the impact of economic sanctions, many of these restaurants have been forced to close.
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 For North Korea, restaurants outside the country are an important base for earning foreign currency. (South Korean newspaper reporter) For North Korea, restaurants outside the country are important bases for obtaining foreign currency.
 Some of the female staff have been told that they are not allowed to eat at the restaurants. Some of them even have female staff serving customers inappropriately.
 The excessive service came to light in June of this year. In June of this year, the U.S. media outlet Radio Free Asia reported on trouble at the Pyongyang Koryo Hotel in Dandong, northeastern China. Mr. Gao Yongqi, editor-in-chief of Daily NK Japan, who is an expert on the situation on the Korean Peninsula, tells us.
 On the day of the incident, a Chinese man who was familiar with the restaurant was enjoying his meal in a private room. To his surprise, a female waitress in her 20s suddenly sat down on his lap. As she was singing her favorite song with a microphone on her knees, the male customer suddenly collapsed. She may have had some kind of seizure, or she may have been surprised by the act of serving a customer on her knees.
 It seems that Pyongyang Koryo Restaurant has been inviting customers to their private rooms and allowing the female staff to have excessive contact with them. The management and executives turned a blind eye. At the time, Dandong was required to shorten business hours to 9 p.m., but it is said that the restaurant continued to operate until 2 to 3 a.m.
<h2>To customers in a private room: &#8230;&#8230;</h2>
 In North Korean restaurants, physical contact between employees and customers is prohibited. The restaurant used to be a &#8220;wholesome restaurant. However, the plight of the Covid-19 disaster may have forced them to cross the line.
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 On November 30, the above-mentioned &#8220;Radio Free Asia&#8221; reported new information about another restaurant in Dandong. Mr. Gao continues.
 I heard that they have imposed a certain duty on the female staff. The manager said, &#8216;Don&#8217;t wear a mask. The manager explained to them that they can attract customers because they show their faces. The female staff members dance and play musical instruments without wearing masks. They are said to be receiving tips from customers.
 This is a time when a mutated variant of Covid-19 (Omicron Variant) found in southern Africa is likely to become a threat to the world again. I&#8217;m worried that the women who perform without masks in close quarters might be infected with Covid-19.
 According to Radio Free Asia, performances without masks have been held not only in restaurant halls but also in private rooms for small groups.
 North Korea has one of the strictest anti-corona measures in the world, including sealing its borders. Violators can be executed.
 However, these measures are only applied domestically. Compatriots working abroad are forced to serve customers without masks. For leader Kim Jong-un, earning foreign currency is the most important thing, and the lives of his people are probably secondary.
 At home and abroad, the response to Covid-19 is completely opposite. The double standard that puts people&#8217;s lives at risk symbolizes the contradictions in North Korea.

 For North Korea, restaurants outside the country are valuable places to earn foreign currency. But the number of customers has plummeted due to the effects of the new coronavirus. What is the surprising service and "duty" that the restaurant imposed on its female staff in order to get out of its predicament?

North Korean Restaurant with Extreme Service: “Surprising Duty” to Female Staff

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