Conflict Kitchen travels to [South] Korea to prepare for [North] Korean menu.

Popsicles in Wonsan, 2012, from Joseph A. Ferris.

In April we wrote about Pittsburgh's Conflict Kitchen adding North Korean take-out to its menu this fall. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette writes about the restaurant's trip to South Korea to research its latest incarnation:

Later this month, the co-founders of Conflict Kitchen and their head chef will find themselves close to North Korean soil again. Proprietors Jon Rubin and Dawn Weleski, along with culinary director Robert Sayre, will speak and cook with South Korean natives and North Korean refugees during a week-long research trip to South Korea. Their efforts will debut a new menu in late October at the Schenley Plaza take-out restaurant, where they serve food from countries with which the United States is in conflict.

"We want to get a sense of what [the refugees'] life was, what their life is, what they're feeling on what's going on inside their country," Mr. Rubin, 49, of Point Breeze, said.

Their trip is funded by the Anyang Public Art Project in South Korea. They'll begin their research by conducting interviews with native Koreans -- and then they'll begin chopping ingredients.

Last year it was the McKeesport International Village Festival that used a North Korean flag in its advertisements. This year, it's the Ambridge Nationality Days Festival.

Part three of Pitt student's spring break in North Korea.

A kindergarten performance, from the Young Pioneer Tours Facebook page.

The Citizen-Standard, a paper serving three eastern Pennsylvania counties, has been running a series of columns by Evan Terwilliger, a Pitt senior who spent his spring break in North Korea. Here is an excerpt from the final of three installments:

Much of the information we see in our media about the DPRK has been comprised of primarily values-based critiques. I urge you to be very wary of the pitfalls of these types of judgments. A values-based critique occurs when one uses his/her own values as a perspective to evaluate something else. They are not conducive for understanding others and they tend to oversimplify others (particularly negatively). They lead to evaluation before understanding. Lastly, values-based critiques require no skill in perspective thinking. There is only one perspective, which creates no productive discourse. We get into very dangerous situations like we see at the present by arguing "I'm right! You're wrong! We're better! You're flawed! I'm still right! You're still wrong, ignorant, and dangerous!" We can, of course, be angry and feel disgusted about issues. What is not okay is to simply dismiss the people on the other side. We must engage.

"Of borders and ball pits"; second installment of Pitt student's spring break in North Korea.

Ball pit in North Korea, via Young Pioneers Tours Facebook Page.

Last week was the first installment by Evan Terwilliger on his trip to North Korea in March. Terwilliger is a Pitt student who spent spring break there and who is writing about it for the Citizen-Standard, which serves three eastern PA counties. Yesterday brought us the second of three installments. An excerpt:

[W]e traveled to the balcony of Panmungak (that big building you see in the pictures opposite South Korea's House of Freedom). We could wave, smile, laugh, point, and take pictures of whatever we wanted (including soldiers). We even got our picture with the First Lieutenant that was showing us around. When we arrived back at the outer perimeter again, I found some common ground with our KPA escort. We agreed that as normal people we would not want to hurt each other. He claimed that I was a nice guy and everything, but that I would be shooting at him if I was fighting for my country. I told him that I never hope it comes to that. Oh, and we also agreed that we love potatoes. Isn't that a start to peace?

It's always a treat to find such things in small, out of the way newspapers.

Pitt student visits North Korea for spring break.

Photo in a North Korean school's language lab, via the Young Pioneer Tours Facebook page. Guides for English study are posted on the wall.

Flipping through the Citizen-Standard, which serves three eastern Pennsylvanian counties, brings us to a timely piece by Evan Terwilliger, a University of Pittsburgh student who just spent a week in North Korea. Cutting to the chase:

Many of the popularly-held beliefs that I took into the country turned out to be completely unfounded. For one, the average DPRK citizen is extraordinarily normal. They're not robots. They get through the day one day at a time and, just like us, have pride and support for their country. The biggest fear of the average citizen is being misrepresented in the global media. I had to admit it: the very notion of content and happy communists threatens the foundation of a capitalist society like ours. A couple of times, I was asked what the average American thinks of the DPRK. I was asked about my views of the government and the ongoing tension between our countries. We met up with one tour guide in Pyongyang. He said to me: "Evan, I know I'm from the DPRK; I know you're from America. But remember this: all around the world. . .children is children, life is life, and love is love." Over a few drinks, we agreed that nobody actually wants war. Everybody wants a peaceful world. I proposed a cheer to peace. We drank through the night.

The Young Pioneer Tours Facebook page has more pictures and posts.

For a couple takes on the latest North Korean situation---and especially on Western media's interpretation of it---written by expats living in the South, visit Roboseyo, Scroozle's Sanctuary, and the category on the topic at The Marmot's Hole. And for a thoughtful look at life in North Korea (and one with a local touch), former St. Vincent's College professor Richard Saccone's Living with the Enemy: A Year in North Korea is worth a read.

North Korean take-out coming to Pittsburgh's Conflict Kitchen this fall, maybe.

Popsicles in Wonsan, 2012, from Joseph A. Ferris.

Pittsburgh's Conflict Kitchen---"a take-out restaurant that only serves cuisine from countries with which the United States is in conflict"---recently opened in Oakland's Schenley Park. Accompanying news of its relocation from East Liberty and its Iranian menu is that North Korean food will be coming this fall. From the Pitt News yesterday:

While Conflict Kitchen’s current menu features authentic Iranian cuisine, its organizers hope to bring North Korean food to Oakland’s Schenley Plaza soon.

As of now, the Conflict Kitchen’s crew plans to travel to South Korea in August to meet with North Korean refugees and conduct food research. These face-to-face interactions allow for more direct information and a better product. Sayre said that while the crew formally conducted food research on a trip to Cuba, some of the best information and tips they received were from ordinary people they ran into on the street informally. The crew always attempts to experience a country’s food firsthand before bringing it to Pittsburgh, but in some cases, such as North Korea and Iran, field research is not feasible.

And from The Last Magazine in February:

While exploring Cuba, Rubin and Weleski came across the North Korean embassy in Havana and decided to pay the cultural attaché a visit. They discussed regional dishes and found out that North Korea’s food is in many ways similar to that of its bête noire, South Korea. While they acknowledge that a North Korean edition of Conflict Kitchen may be problematic, they nonetheless want to shed light on the human side of the conflict, cooking up coexistence through ethnic dishes regardless of the degree of controversy.

A Pop City Media post from March says they will offer both North and South Korean food, which is useful considering there are tens of thousands of American military personnel there, both symbolizing and actually representing this country's heavy bootprint all across East Asia.

Much of what the restaurant does know about North Korean food has heretofore come from Cuba, via that North Korean embassy. The Pittsburgh City Paper on their preparations up to last fall:

While research hasn’t stretched to visiting the country, Rubin and Sayre did stop by the North Korean embassy in Cuba, or at least rung the doorbell and chatted for 45 minutes with an employee returning from a morning run.

The Los Angeles Times wrote in 2012 of the then-impending Korean menu:

"People are going to be thinking, 'Are we going to be eating twigs and rocks?' " Rubin joked as he repaired the cafe's front counter, where employees dish out food and try to get customers to talk about the conflict du jour.

One thing Rubin learned from the Korean diplomat, who was polite but did not let his uninvited guests into the embassy, is that North Korean cuisine isn't much different from South Korean. The two countries were, after all, one until 1945, the diplomat reminded them in flawless Spanish. He noted, however, that northerners lean toward buckwheat rather than rice noodles.

Wikipedia will give you a quick overview of regional Northern Korean food. The "maybe" in our title is there because talk of North Korean food has been going on since 2010.

Glyn Davies talk at Pitt on "North Korea: Diplomatic Prospects in the Coming Year", January 16.

If you miss Ambassador Glyn T. Davies' January 16 talk at the World Affairs Council of Pittsburgh on "Bridging the Parallel: Prospects for Peace in the Korean Peninsula", you will have a chance at a similar presentation at the University of Pittsburgh later in the day. "North Korea: Diplomatic Prospects in the Coming Year" will be held from 3 to 4 pm in room 3911 of Posvar Hall. From the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs:

The Matthew B. Ridgway Center will host guest lecturer Ambassador Glyn Davies at 3:00 p.m., Wednesday, January 16 in room 3911 Posvar Hall. Ambassador Glyn Davies is a career member of the Senior Foreign Service, and was appointed by Secretary of State Clinton as Special Representative for North Korea Policy in November 2011.

A yearlong U.S. effort to engage nuclear-armed North Korea culminated in the announcements by Washington and Pyongyang of the so-called “Leap Day” understanding on February 29. A fortnight later, North Korea announced it would launch a multi-stage rocket carrying what the reclusive state said was a civilian satellite. After an intensive four weeks of public and private calls on Pyongyang from the other five members of the Six-Party Talks not to proceed, the April 13 launch failed, but triggered unanimous censure from the 16-member UN Security Council. Ambassador Davies will describe the talks leading to the Leap Day understanding, the fallout from North Korea’s aborted launch, and where this leaves our efforts to hold Pyongyang to its denuclearization and other promises. He will also discuss Washington’s views of new leader Kim Jong Un, the likelihood of change in North Korea, and diplomatic prospects in this season of political transition in key Six Party states.

"Bridging the Parallel: Prospects for Peace in the Korean Peninsula" public policy discussion, January 16.

The World Affairs Council of Pittsburgh will host U.S. Special Representative for North Korea Policy Ambassador Glyn T. Davies and his public policy discussion "Bridging the Parallel: Prospects for Peace in the Korean Peninsula" on Wednesday, January 16. The flyer over there has a summary; an excerpt:

As the Korean peninsula enters its seventh decade of conflict, are there prospects for peace — or renewed conflict? How is an increasingly isolated North Korea balancing itself after a major transition in leadership? Will the rise of China push South Korea into closer relationships with the U.S. and other regional powers? Join the Council as one of America’s leading North Korean negotiators examines the path for reconciliation and cooperation in one of most highly-contested areas in the world.

The talk and luncheon run from 12:00 to 1:45 pm at The Duquesne Club downtown (map). Registration is required and the cost is $65 for those not members of the World Affairs Council and who don't have to work Wednesday afternoon.

McKeesport International Village Festival, August 14 - 16th.

The 53rd annual McKeesport International Village Festival will take place from August 14th through 16th, in the city slightly southeast of Pittsburgh. The festival's Facebook page has some information about what to expect:

Did you know that this year's festival is poised to be better than ever? It's true! Festival organizers are in the process of enhancing the annual three day ethnic celebration so that it will reflect more of its cultural roots. Games, slides and other carnival-type attractions are being downplayed this year. In addition, those in attendance will now have access to a brand new series of educational demonstrations that focus on heritage and traditions of the different nationalities. This is definitely one summer event that you and your family won't want to miss.

And the festival's website says:

Each year, you’ll find more than a dozen booths selling freshly-made ethnic foods from around the world, continuous live entertainment, live music for dancing, crafts, community information and games. New this year are short educational sessions about world cultures, presented by the same organizations whose food booths—each representing a different nationality or culture—have been a Pittsburgh-area tradition for more than a half-century.

International Village is entirely run by volunteers, including many of the ethnic churches, temples and social organizations in the McKeesport region. It annually draws more than 20,000 people to McKeesport’s historic Renziehausen Park, home to many other attractions, including an extensive walking/fitness trail, a heritage museum and Pennsylvania’s second-largest rose garden.

Admission is $2, not including food, and the festival will be held at Renzie Park (map). Several Pittsburgh buses go to McKeesport (60, 61C, P76, for example), but it's still a hike from the bus stops to the park.

Strangely, the festival's poster shows a North Korean flag.



Though Korean isn't listed among the participating cultures on the festival's website, presumably all of the Koreans visiting will be from South Korea. It would be interesting to show a little about the culture of North Korea, but the poster would be more representative of the region's Koreans if it depicted the southern flag. While Korean visitors next month probably won't pitch a fit like that seen a few days ago at the Olympics over the wrong Korean flag, it's a careless mistake that will, at least, make people scratch their heads. I'm no graphic designer, but here's a quick fix that's on the right track:

North Korean volumes in University of Pittsburgh library.

1972 film The Flower Girl.

The latest edition of Pitt magazine (not available online yet) has an interesting blurb about the growing collection of North Korean materials in the East Asian Library. It reads:

What do students in North Korea learn in school? How do books published in North Korea portray history, archaeology, literature, and other topics? Answers may be found in a special Pitt library collection that is among the largest repositories of primary source materials in the United States for scholars studying North Korea. Books, journals, and films from the insular country are hard to come by, but the head of Pitt's East Asian Library, Hong Xu, has cultivated agreements with libraries at Yanbian University near the Chinese-North Korean border and other institutions to obtain materials on behalf of Pitt. The collection contains more than 14,000 volumes and continues to expand.

A longer profile ran in the University Times last summer.

Given that many resources are available in digital form, the library aims to collect unique items, Xu said. “Students and faculty are more interested in getting hard-to-find materials and primary sources,” she said. Pitt’s collection has 82 different North Korean journal titles totaling more than 2,000 volumes, as well as some 400 North Korean books. The publications include pictorial journals that document current events and achievements, arts journals and publications by the nation’s medical science press.

Topics include history, archaeology, literature, economics and politics.

The collection also includes a dozen textbooks, including elementary school, high school and college-level texts. There is even a documentary on North Korean taekwondo.

You can find a list of Korean-language items on this EAL page, including a sizable list of movies.