AT: Of all the festivities in North Korea I would be most likely to miss, I think the Taedonggang Beer Festival tops the list. So it is with a sense of relief that the Daily Express reports the cancelation of the festival. No explanation from the regime of Kim Jong-un has been forthcoming, but rumors are rampant that the worst drought in 17 years might have something to do with it.
Tour company managers from Koryo Tours and Young Pioneer Tours were given no reason for the cancellation revealed they had to let their customers down.
But they revealed they believe the reason behind the festival being scrapped is a coming period of strain for Kim Jong-Un’s country.
Koryo Tours believes a drought and fears the poorest of Pyongyang’s citizens could suffer malnutrition and even death could be behind the festival being axed.
The Beijing-based Koryo Tours said the “optics” of hosting a beer festival are not good with image-conscious Kim Jong-un eager to control the state’s reputation.
However, both companies said they were not given a reason for the abrupt end to festivities.
Simon Cockerell, Koryo’s general manager said: “It won’t look great for Pyongyang middle class to be having a jolly good time while people are working on drought relief.
A long dry spell over North Korea’s important growing season of April to June has led to predictions of a bad growth of rice, soybean and maize.
They’d probably have to make Nork beer out of tree bark.
Bad tlansration. Festivar cancered due to bad draft.
Kim already drank all the beer. I declare, if he gets any fatter he is going to pop like a balloon.
Something tells me a NoKo beer would be a terrible draught
While waiting for the wife to get signed up for new cell phone, I have been walking around logging into IOTW pro trump negative Trudeau pages on their display phones and moving to the next one.
OK, THAT’S IT!! BEER ABUSE!!
IT’S TIME TO DROP IN THE NUCLEAR NANNY!! WE’RE RUNNING OUT OF TIME ON THIS PHAT PHUK!!
Gotta feel sorry for the misery of the people in NoKo.
tom@drum, that is the modern version of checking for change in the pay phones LMAO
If their beer is anything like everything else in a communist workers paradise, this may be a blessing.
A drought you say? But wouldn’t a beer festival create a yellow river for them?