Photo/Illutration The burger that is especially popular among North Korean passengers taking flights home from Shenyang in China (Kim Soon-hi)

SHENYANG, China--Staff in the Kentucky Fried Chicken outlet at the airport here brace themselves for a stampede every time an Air Koryo flight is due to take off for Pyongyang.

North Korean passengers booked on the state airline invariably make a mad dash to stock up on burgers before the flight is called.

Hamburgers and chicken burgers--some original menu items exclusively available at Chinese KFC restaurants--fly off the shelves, creating a short-lived surge in demand.

North Korean passengers stock up before they enter the passport control area to board the flight home.

Shenyang Taoxian International Airport in Shenyang, the capital of Liaoning province, northeast China, is mainly used by merchants doing business with Chinese companies, their family members and others who live in relative comfort.

CHATTY BEFORE BOARDING

Passengers going to the fast-food restaurant after finishing check-in procedure with Air Koryo seemed very talkative earlier this month, as if they hadn’t seen one another in a while.

A man patted the shoulder of his acquaintance eating a snack, saying how delicious it looked.

A boy said in a begging tone that he was famished.

A group of people talked about how they had nothing to do during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Being cautious, North Koreans rarely engage in casual exchanges on the streets in China.

But it seemed they let their guard down just before their flight back home and were not worried about their surroundings.

For an outsider, it offered a glimpse into their relaxed selves in an unexpected setting.

Even more surprising was to see some passengers ordering dozens of hamburgers as souvenirs.

One passenger who was stocking up said the souvenirs would not be confiscated either when leaving China or when entering North Korea.

It takes about an hour to fly from Shenyang to Pyongyang. It means passengers’ families waiting for their loved ones at the airport in Pyongyang can munch on hamburgers before the food gets completely cold.

In the past, North Koreans used to throw away paper bags to hide the fact they were eating food from a U.S. fast-food brand.

Rumors quickly began circulating about how tasty the burgers are and not having to worry about declaring them. So passengers nowadays openly bring food items into Pyongyang in KFC paper bags, the person added.

A China-based source with contacts in Pyongyang said there are hamburger joints in Pyongyang but the food tastes completely different.

Young North Koreans, in particular, tend to be fond of KFC if they lived in China from an early age due to their parents’ work, the source added.

The rush for burgers at the airport was by no means an isolated incident.

South Korean Choco Pies provided as a snack at the Kaesong Industrial Complex in North Korea, which had served as a symbol of economic cooperation between the two Koreas, were popular among North Korean workers.

Food and how it tastes sometimes can symbolize the culture of an outside world and sense of abundance.

It may be that KFC burgers sold at Shenyang airport are also bringing some kind of change to the minds of North Koreans.

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