North Korea: North Korea celebrates 20th anniversary of its national beer
North Korea has celebrated the 20th anniversary of the state’s national beer – which was founded after the regime bought a British brewery, the Metro reported on July 9.
The drink, Taedonggang, began life after the Ushers plant was purchased by the regime for £10 million and reassembled in Pyongyang.
The beer is said to have won ‘great public favor’ and to have been made in line with ‘detailed teachings’ delivered by the rogue state’s former supreme leader, Kim Jong-il, who died in December 2011.
He is said to have shown ‘deep care’ for the factory’s construction in a news release by the regime’s online outlet last week.
Taedonggang, which is named after a river in the capital, owes its existence to the purchase of the brewery after the Wiltshire company went bust following 176 years of award-winning production.
Marking the anniversary, the Rodong Sinmun website, a mouthpiece for the state, said: ‘Taedonggang Beer, which gained great public favor at an international beer exhibition in 2019, is very popular among all people.’
Gary Todd, who had been head brewer at Ushers before it folded, found himself in the unlikely scenario of training up North Korean staff so the plant could be rebuilt 5,200 miles away.
He said: ‘It is quite frightening how fast 20 years has gone by.
‘I did look into going out there about five or six years ago and then things erupted a bit more and it didn’t happen, for obvious reasons.
‘I’m pleased it’s still going, it was a fantastic brewery and there have been breweries closing down left, right and centre, so any that survive wherever they are in the world is good.
‘The preference would be for it not to be where it is but as far as I’m aware they are making good use of it.’
Taedonggang’s origin story is said to begin with Kim Jong-il, who was succeeded by his son Kim Jong Un, joking about his drinking prowess with his then South Korean rival Kim Dae-jung at a summit in Pyongyang.
The show of bravado in 2000 led Kim Snr, who was trying to adopt a more moderate tone after years of famine and economic sanctions, to order the construction of a state-run brewery.
The regime turned to German broker Uwe Oehms and he put forward the for-sale Trowbridge plant, which was acquired by Thomas Hardy Brewing after it folded.
Gary met a visiting North Korean delegation of 12, who took a straight-laced approach, telling him to only speak to the translators.
The father-of-two oversaw the sale of what amounted to a 2,000-ton consignment and turned down a lucrative package to relocate to the buyers’ country. The new owners employed Russian engineers who spent months breaking the site down before it was shipped to Wonsan, two hours east of Pyongyang, from Avonmouth in Bristol.
The brewery, which began life in 1824, was rebuilt in the capital as propaganda was blasted out to encourage local workers who were given lunchboxes loaded with cigarette packs.
Gary, 55, is now site manager for Greene King’s 300-year-old Belhaven Brewery in East Lothian, Scotland.
He believes the North Korean brewery is still pumping out the green bottles using the same British-made plant, despite the website giving little detail about the production site and its location.
Gary has tried the beer and found it to be a respectable concoction, even after shipment to the UK.
‘As far as I’m aware they’ve still got all the old kit and it hasn’t changed very much, I would doubt it’s moved from where it’s been,’ he said.
‘It’s a shame it is where it is under that regime, which is not a great regime, but I’m glad it’s still going, because it was a great little brewery.
‘It’s still a topic of conversation with a lot of people and I would like at some stage to go and visit it.’
The website makes no mention of the British involvement in the foundation of the Taedonggang Beer Factory.
The announcement reads: ‘The respected Comrade Kim Jong Un gave precious instructions in relation to the production of the factory several times and encouraged its officials and workers to further improve the flavor and quality of beer and thus exalt the honor of the factory as the one popular among the people.’
The beer is also said to have been awarded a quality medal and to have been ‘highly appreciated at various exhibitions, shows and sci-tech festivals’.
A number of other awards are also cited, with the plant described as a ‘model factory’.
A similar transfer of skills between the UK and North Korea is unlikely to happen in the present era of heightened military tensions.
Kim Jong Un’s forays onto the world stage have come in power plays which have raised fears that his regime is due to carry out its first nuclear test in five years. A demonstration of the state’s capabilities could come at ‘any time’ according to US and South Korean officials.
Tensions have showed no sign of easing over the past two weeks as the north blamed the US, South Korea and Japan for carrying out what it described as ‘aggression moves’.
But one aspect of North Korean life still has a non-military purpose.
The state said: ‘The officials and workers of the factory have devoted all their wisdom and passion to bettering the inimitable flavor of Taedonggang Beer.’
09 July, 2022
