This composite photo captured from North Korean monthly propaganda magazine Kumsu Kangsan shows Kwangbok Department Store in Pyongyang. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, Dec. 6 (Korea Bizwire) — Large shopping malls furnished with a variety of convenience facilities are enjoying rising popularity in North Korea as places to spend leisure time in everyday life.
Highlighted in the December edition of North Korea’s monthly propaganda magazine Kumsu Kangsan were scenes of people shopping at the three-story Kwangbok Department Store in Pyongyang and various convenience facilities such as a buffet restaurant, slides, and kids’ cafes.
With a floor space of 12,700 square meters, the mall features splendid chandelier lighting and large escalators.
The magazine reported that the shopping mall showed great diversity in quality and price and various types of products. In particular, the foodstuffs selling on the first floor are popular among homemakers.
The magazine also stressed that the shopping mall displays and stores a huge amount of products on multiple floors, while being digitalized and informatized in every aspect of service management activities ranging from product warehousing to storage, sales and settlement.
“The receipts of the people who have purchased products there and the propaganda video indicate that it’s substantially modernized,” said Yang Moon-soo, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies.
M. H. Lee (mhlee@koreabizwire.com)
