North Korea’s wealthy keep using South Korean rice cookers despite crackdowns

Despite intensifying crackdowns on South Korean goods, North Korea’s wealthy elite continue to use Cuckoo brand electric rice cookers, treating the South Korean appliances as status symbols even at the risk of legal punishment.

A Daily NK source in North Hamgyong province said Monday that in Hoeryong and Chongjin, most households belonging to the donju — North Korea’s private merchant class, whose name roughly translates as “money masters” — cook their rice exclusively in Cuckoo cookers. “Even though the product is subject to crackdowns, people with money compete with each other to use them,” the source said.

Electric rice cookers already occupy a legally fraught category in North Korea. Power distribution units, which are state agencies responsible for monitoring household electricity consumption, conduct regular inspections to check for high-draw appliances including rice cookers and electric heaters.

South Korean rice cookers carry an additional layer of risk. Since North Korea redefined its relationship with South Korea as one between two hostile states, authorities have tightened controls on South Korean products. Using one is now treated not merely as an electricity violation but as an anti-socialist act, and those caught face referral to the police rather than a simple written self-criticism.

“If you’re caught with an ordinary electric rice cooker, the item gets confiscated and you have to write a statement saying you wasted electricity and won’t do it again,” the source said. “But because Cuckoo is a South Korean product, it doesn’t end at writing a statement — you get handed over to the security forces and face legal punishment.”

Bribes, bluster, and a Chinese voice setting

Demand among the wealthy has proven resilient regardless. Cuckoo cookers are widely regarded as superior to Chinese-made alternatives, and ownership doubles as a conspicuous display of wealth. Some donju accept the legal risk and hold onto their cookers.

When inspectors do catch someone, cash payments on the spot frequently resolve the matter. Evasion tactics have also grown more sophisticated. Some owners set their cookers’ voice guidance to Chinese, then argue during inspections that the appliance is Chinese-made rather than South Korean.

“It’s often hard to tell from the outside whether something is Chinese or South Korean, and even more so when the voice comes out in Chinese,” the source said. He added that some caught owners go on the offensive, saying to inspectors: “Can’t you hear the Chinese voice? How could I have gotten my hands on a South Korean product? You’re accusing an innocent person.”

The source noted that social dynamics help the tactic work. “People here care a lot about face and pride,” he said. “If you talk down to them and say ‘Can’t you tell the difference between Chinese and South Korean?’ they get flustered. A lot of people use that psychology to talk their way past inspectors.”

A source in South Hamgyong province described a parallel pattern. Wealthy households there pay informal fees to state enterprises to obtain electricity beyond their official allotment, then use it to run rice cookers. When power distribution officers catch them and the owners push back by questioning their evidence, the officers tend to back down.

The source said inspectors frequently accept bribes and leave without pressing the matter, and that ordinary people have taken note. “There’s talk that the whole point of the electricity inspections is to collect money,” the source said. With little incentive to escalate, inspectors settle for a payout and move on.

The pattern reflects a broader reality: even as Pyongyang sharpens its rhetoric against South Korean cultural and consumer goods, enforcement consistently yields to the economic interests of both sides. “No matter how much they crack down, there’s a strong perception among the donju that South Korean products are simply better,” the source said. “That’s why the trend of seeking out and using South Korean goods continues.”

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