North Korea bans ‘hamburger’ and ‘ice-cream’: Why Kim Jong Un is renaming common foods and entertainment

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un - File Photo

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has issued a strange crackdown on Western words, banning terms such as “ice-cream”, “hamburger”, and “karaoke”. The move is aimed at promoting local culture and ethos, with the regime creating its own terminology for these common words.

Tour guides at North Korea’s new Wonsan beach-side resort have reportedly been instructed to avoid English words popular in the West and in South Korea. Officials say the guides must use North Korean alternatives. Hamburger is to be referred to as dajin-gogi gyeopppang, meaning “double bread with ground beef”, while ice cream will be called eseukimo, or “eskimo”. Karaoke machines should be described as on-screen accompaniment machines.

According to Daily NK, about 20 to 30 guides are enrolled in a strict training program run by the Workers’ Party of Korea’s Cadre Department in Kangwon province. Trainees receive detailed instructions on entertaining and guiding tourists and are required to memorise slogans and official phrases. The report quoted the official guidelines, stating, “Trainees must say dajin-gogi gyeopppang (double bread with ground beef) for hamburger and eseukimo (eskimo) for ice cream. And karaoke machines, widespread in South Korea, should be called ‘on-screen accompaniment machines.’”

After completing the training, participants must take an exam to prove their compliance.

This is not the first time North Korea’s extreme norms have drawn attention. The country is notorious for harsh punishments for activities considered normal elsewhere. A recent report revealed that death penalties are being used against citizens caught watching or sharing foreign films and TV dramas. A woman who fled the country in 2023 told the BBC that three of her friends were executed for possessing South Korean dramas.