{"id":56179,"date":"2026-06-17T20:29:08","date_gmt":"2026-06-17T20:29:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/56179\/"},"modified":"2026-06-17T20:29:08","modified_gmt":"2026-06-17T20:29:08","slug":"north-korea-pet-culture-widens-wealth-gap-divide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/56179\/","title":{"rendered":"North Korea pet culture widens wealth gap divide"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Kim<\/a>Kim Jong Un and his daughter Ju Ae inspect a pet shop at the Hwasong District Phase 4 service complex in Pyongyang ahead of its opening, April 3, 2026. Photo: Rodong Sinmun\/News1<\/p>\n

A growing number of North Korean people are keeping pets, fueling rising sales of specialized dog food<\/a>, clothing<\/a> and other supplies in 2026. Pet ownership, once condemned as a capitalist habit, has spread into a popular new lifestyle trend in recent months, but some North Korean people say it<\/a> has also become a yardstick that makes the gap between rich and poor feel more pronounced.<\/p>\n

According to a source in South Pyongan province who spoke to Daily NK on Wednesday, the number of people raising dogs<\/a> of various breeds as pets has visibly increased in major cities, including Pyongyang<\/a> and Pyongsong, the capital<\/a> of South Pyongan province. In the past, most people kept dogs for security purposes or as a food source, but now many regard their dogs as pets and treat them like family<\/a> members, the source said.<\/p>\n

Wealthier people in particular are increasingly buying specialized dog food, treats, leashes and clothing imported from China<\/a>, according to the source. As recently as the early 2020s, dressing dogs in clothing was condemned as a \u201cbourgeois lifestyle\u201d or a symptom of \u201cdecadent capitalist culture<\/a>,\u201d but such criticism<\/a> has largely disappeared, the source said.<\/p>\n

Analysts believe the shift has been influenced in part by publicized images<\/a> of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un<\/a> and his daughter, Kim Ju Ae<\/a>, with pets. In April 2026, state media<\/a> reported that Kim and his daughter toured a newly built pet shop in Pyongyang\u2019s Hwasong<\/a> district, a large new housing<\/a> development, ahead of its opening. As the ruling family\u2019s affection for animals became public, it grew harder for people to openly criticize pet ownership, according to the analysis.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople say that since the supreme leader and his daughter visited a pet store themselves, who would dare openly criticize someone for keeping a dog as a pet,\u201d the source said. \u201cCriticism has also decreased because people are worried that speaking out against it could cause trouble for them.\u201d<\/p>\n

North Korea pet culture turns a joke into reality<\/p>\n

Amid the trend, some people have begun referencing a comedic stand-up routine by North Korean comedian Ri Sun<\/a> Hong to poke fun at the situation. In the routine, a drunk man stumbles past a sign for a knitwear shop, but after part of a character on the sign appears to have fallen off, he misreads it as advertising a \u201cdog clothing store\u201d and asks, \u201cDid I cross the border<\/a>?\u201d since such a shop seemed too far-fetched to exist in North Korea.<\/p>\n

But as pet culture has spread in recent years, people now joke that a real \u201cdog clothing store\u201d could soon open. Dressing dogs in clothing and accessories is no longer unusual, prompting cynical remarks that the punchline of the old routine has become reality.<\/p>\n

\u201cMany people never imagined that dogs would be dressed in clothes<\/a>, but it has now become reality,\u201d the source said. \u201cSome people feel it is contradictory that authorities regulate how people dress and wear their hair<\/a> to conform to the socialist<\/a> lifestyle, but do not raise the same objections to pet culture.\u201d<\/p>\n

With many North Korean people still struggling to make a living, some say that watching wealthier people buy specialized food and treats for their pets is deepening a sense of relative deprivation.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I hear that people buy separate food and treats for their dogs, I can\u2019t help but say their dog has a better life than I do,\u201d the source said. \u201cFor people who are struggling just to get by, it is hard to accept that kind of scene.\u201d<\/p>\n

Analysts say such reactions reflect less a rejection of pet culture itself than growing bitterness over the widening gap between social classes.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat really makes people uncomfortable is not the act of keeping a dog itself, but the difference between those who can afford to spend money<\/a> on it and those who cannot,\u201d the source said. \u201cThe remark that a dog clothing store could really open reflects the complicated feelings many people have about the widening gap between rich and poor.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read in Korean<\/a><\/p>\n

Reporting from inside North Korea<\/p>\n

\n Daily NK operates networks of sources inside North Korea who document events in real-time and transmit information<\/a> through secure channels. Unlike reporting based on state media, satellite<\/a> imagery, or defector<\/a> accounts from years past, our journalism comes directly from people currently living under the regime. We verify reports through multiple independent sources and cross-reference details before publication.\n <\/p>\n

\n Our sources remain anonymous because contact with foreign media is treated as a capital offense in North Korea \u2014 discovery means imprisonment or execution. This network-based approach allows Daily NK to report<\/a> on developments other outlets cannot access: market<\/a> trends, policy implementation, public sentiment, and daily realities that never appear in official narratives.\n <\/p>\n

\n Maintaining these secure communication channels and protecting source identities requires specialized protocols and constant vigilance. Daily NK serves as a bridge<\/a> between North Koreans and the outside world, documenting what\u2019s happening inside one of the world\u2019s most closed societies.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Kim Jong Un and his daughter Ju Ae inspect a pet shop at the Hwasong District Phase 4…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":56180,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[10589,2993,31780,26928,141,31,34,28280,129,4008,6102,10722],"class_list":["post-56179","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-north-korea","tag-clothing","tag-culture","tag-daughter","tag-hwasong","tag-kim-jong-un","tag-korea","tag-north-korea","tag-pyongsong","tag-pyongyang","tag-rodong-sinmun","tag-south-pyongan-province","tag-wealthy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56179","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=56179"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56179\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/56180"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=56179"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=56179"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=56179"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}