Pyongyang Naengmyeon Inscribed on UNESCO... North Korea "Kim Jong-un Personally Guides the Recipe"

"Broth and Noodle Texture Infused with People's Love"

[Asia Economy Reporter Jang Hee-jun] With the 'Pyongyang Naengmyeon custom' being registered as a UNESCO intangible cultural heritage, North Korea has begun promoting Kim Jong-un, the General Secretary of the Workers' Party, and the Party's support for Pyongyang Naengmyeon. In particular, it emphasized that Kim Jong-un personally taught everything from the thickness of the noodles and the dough to the cooking methods.

According to North Korean propaganda media on the 5th, the Pyongyang Naengmyeon custom was registered on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity at the Intergovernmental Committee meeting for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage held in Morocco on the 30th of last month. This is the fourth time North Korean culture has been registered as intangible cultural heritage of humanity, following Arirang (2013), Kimchi making (2014), and Ssireum (2018, jointly registered by South and North Korea).

Pyongyang Naengmyeon is known as one of Pyongyang's 'four major foods' along with onban, mullet soup, and mung bean pancakes (bindaetteok). It uses buckwheat noodles, which are known to help prevent high blood pressure and diabetes, and is characterized by a cool and sweet-and-sour taste created by mixing meat broth and dongchimi (radish water kimchi) broth.

North Korea registered Pyongyang Naengmyeon as a national intangible cultural heritage with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) as a geographical indication in August 2008. In response, North Korean media have been promoting that the supreme leader and the Party government are implementing policies to inherit and develop national traditions including Pyongyang Naengmyeon.

The Workers' Party organ newspaper Rodong Sinmun stated on the 4th, "With the Pyongyang Naengmyeon custom officially registered as a representative intangible cultural heritage of humanity, the long-standing history and tradition of the Korean nation, which is increasingly shining and being inherited and developed, has become widely known to the world."

North Korea's Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland's propaganda media, Uriminzokkiri, reported on the 20th of last month, "(General Secretary Kim) gave instructions on making Pyongyang Naengmyeon well and serving the people at Okryugwan, where the warm love of President Kim Il-sung and Chairman Kim Jong-il for the people is deeply rooted, on several occasions including February 2 and October 17, 2011."

In particular, it emphasized, "(General Secretary Kim) also organized noodle competitions among famous restaurants in Pyongyang and taught the judging methods for the competitions," adding, "He personally taught everything from the thickness of the noodles and the dough to the cooking methods, repeatedly urging to make noodles well to serve the people so that the unique taste and tradition of Pyongyang Naengmyeon would be revived."

North Korea's propaganda that the supreme leader's love and the Party's leadership are embedded in Pyongyang Naengmyeon seems to stem from the symbolic status of Pyongyang Naengmyeon as a representative national dish of North Korea and its role as a vanguard of 'food diplomacy.' In April 2018, at the inter-Korean summit, the head chef of Okryugwan personally prepared Pyongyang Naengmyeon, which was served at the South Korean Peace House banquet hall, and in September, during the Pyongyang inter-Korean summit, Pyongyang Naengmyeon was served to South Korean business leaders at Okryugwan.