Construction has started on a high-end dog meat restaurant in a prized spot along the Taedong River in central Pyongyang, NK Pro analysis shows, after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un personally approved the building’s design.

The “Dog Meat Delicacy House (단고기료리전문식당)” will occupy a prime riverfront location near the famous Okryugwan noodle restaurant, according to Russian outlet Rossiyskaya Gazeta, which also published a photo showing a 3D render of the building’s design displayed at the construction site.

The render depicts a large traditional Korean building featuring a wide outdoor area built on stilts above the water. Its design resembles another dog meat restaurant recently built in Chongjin in the northeast, suggesting the state could similarly promote it as part of leader Kim’s efforts to improve people’s diets.

NK Pro has pinpointed the location to a spot across the Okryu Bridge road and closer to Kim Il Sung Square, according to Planet Labs satellite imagery and analysis of Rossiyskaya Gazeta’s photo showing the unfinished Pyongyang General Hospital in the background across the river. 

Slide the bar to compare images taken in June 2022 (left) and Feb. 2023 (right) which show construction progress on the new dog meat restaurant in central Pyongyang | Images: Planet Labs, edited by NK Pro (Refresh page if images do not load)

Planet Labs imagery shows the construction site was walled off in mid-2022 and that workers began to extend the shore to build the restaurant’s foundation between September and October. Little progress appears to have been made since January, according to the latest high-resolution image taken on Feb. 26.

The project’s location suggests Kim views the project as an important use of state resources and that he could visit the restaurant upon completion, as he has with other major riverside restaurants built in the area. 

He publicly visited the “Mujigae (Rainbow)” boat restaurant near Kim Il Sung Square in Sept. 2015 and hosted South Korean President Moon Jae-in at both the Okryugwan noodle house and Taedonggang Seafood Restaurant across the river in Sept. 2018. 

Kim even personally approved the design of the new Dog Meat Delicacy House on Aug. 16, 2021, according to NK News analysis of state TV footage, which partially showed the same 3D render as seen in Rossiyskaya Gazeta’s photo prominently displayed inside the Pyongyang University of Architecture on a wall full of Kim’s “ratified” designs.

The North Korean leader previously sought to “improve the people’s diets” by “attentively guiding” blueprints and interior designs for the Kyongsong Dog Meat Restaurant in the northeastern city of Chongjin, built from 2020-21. 

It’s unclear if Kim will push the new restaurant in central Pyongyang as a top priority or when construction will be completed. Construction on another large restaurant built in traditional architectural style near Pyongyang’s DPRK-China Friendship Tower — the Phyongnam Noodle House — has been slow amid apparent delays since 2019. 

 North Koreans refer to dog meat by the euphemism “sweet meat (단고기)” and the government considers dog meat soup a “national dish” and “intangible cultural heritage.” Pyongyang is already home to a number of other large dog meat restaurants, and such restaurants also exist across the country.

Authorities frequently put on special dog meat cooking contests featuring dishes that incorporate all parts of the animal, and state media features these competitions as primetime headline news. 

The state-run Pyongyang Times reported that the Kyongsong Dog Meat Restaurant in Chongjin held a cooking contest last month in celebration of the late leader Kim Jong Il’s birthday. 

Edited by Arius Derr