A few years ago, North Korea’s hereditary dictator Late Kim Kong allowed the opening of a departmental store – ‘Pothong gang Department Store’.
This store soon became a mecca for all ‘luxury’ goods, i.e., luxury in North Korea, but essential else where. Despite the animosity between North Korea, and USA, all goods are still marked in the local currency – won, and the US $.
Customers blatantly pay in dollars, and are even tendered change in dollars. This applies equally to Chinese, or other currencies, which are acceptable in the flourishing black market there.
This store offers a stark contrast between the lives of common North Koreans versus the elite under the regime, with a ever widening gap between incomes and lifestyles of the ‘equals and the first among equals’ in this Communist paradise.
