Koryo Song Gyun Gwan Opens

In the DPRK, where legacy counts for so much, a ‘Song Gyun Gwan’ has been “re-founded” in Kaesong. Originally a 10th century school for training high officials, the name has been revived in the form of a college of light industry.

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We saw that the campus was under construction last summer and now a Pyongyang magazine reports that it is finished and now running. The design of the rather large main building contains traditional elements with more contemporary ones.

Reports emphasized the school’s research into traditional products from the region, with ceramics, spinning and weaving, ginseng and food science departments. However, the ‘light industry’ tag and the variety of other more technical departments suggest that the school could operate as a platform for supplying more highly skilled workers for the Kaesong Industrial Complex, perhaps even for the management level.

Assuming that this period of tensions passes and that the Kaesong Industrial Complex reopens and eventually grows, it is not impossible that Kaesong could become something of a light industry hub for the DPRK, with the educational facilities and then employment opportunities to attract people from around the country. However, while it is positive to see a potentially valuable resource being founded outside the capital, it will probably remain marginal at best if the KIC doesn’t survive this period .

Third-wave Coffee hits the DPRK

A very pleasant discovery this March is that there is what you might call a third wave coffeeshop in Pyongyang. (For those of you unfamiliar with the term, ‘third wave’ essentially means thinking about coffee similarly to wine: concern for terroir, freshness and individual, hand-made drinks. It's pretty bougy.) This un-named café is attached to the Pyongyang Hotel View Restaurant. It is the first one in the DPRK with single origin beans, pour-overs and even a small roasting machine, as far as we know. 

This amounts to a quantum leap in coffee quality in the capital city. Espresso is available at certain restaurants and there is an Austrian coffeeshop tantalizingly close to Kim Il Sung Square but sadly, without a view.

The pour-over we had was unfortunately a bit off. The grind was too coarse and the beans slightly out of date by the standards of third wave cafes elsewhere. The espresso, however, was excellent, bursting with caramely and nutty flavors. The cappucino was good, also.

Though we haven't seen it packed yet, the chances of it surviving seem quite high. It is only about three months old and the café has the backing of a successful restaurant. As we’ve noted before, there is a growing market of Pyongyang citizens who are willing to spend $3.50 for a coffee.

Combined with the river view, this should soon enough become the city’s hotspot for tourists and expats who can’t stand another cup of instant coffee.

Air Koryo Anticipating a Big Summer...

There have been rumors of Air Koryo offering more flights than ever before for 2013, but now there is confirmation. Confirmation being a notice on the door at Sunan Airport. As of mid-April, Air Koryo will be running flights to Beijing on Monday and Friday as well as its regular Tuesday/Thursday/Saturday flights. This will bring them into direct competition with the Air China flights on those days, which are more expensive. Moreover, Air China seems to run the route quite reluctantly, especially in the winter, when any dusting of snow seems to be a pretext for cancellation.  Its not hard to see why: during the winter months, capacity is very low.

Anyway, the Air Koryo flight schedule is below:

flight schedule