Daily NK has exclusively obtained a bundle

of snacks that will be part of a larger gift set handed out to participants of

the 7th Party Congress, which began today in Pyongyang. The goods were

produced on April 25 at the Gold Cup Athletes Comprehensive Food Factory

located in Pyongyang’s Mangyongdae district.

The gift package contains some 30 types of

snacks including fried glutinous rice crackers, jam-filled pastries, strawberry

lily biscuits [named for an famous North Korean song], assorted biscuits,

twisted bread sticks, castella, pumpkin seed biscuits, and small

chocolate-covered cakes, according to the source who secured the snacks for

Daily NK.

“Party participants will have the privilege

of tasting famous biscuits and cakes in the North as part of Kim Jong Un’s gift

to those at the ‘No. 1 event [any event with Kim Jong Un in attendance],’” the

source, who lives in Pyongyang, told Daily NK in a telephone conversation on May

3. “They’ve been recently cranking up production to make sure there’s an

abundance of gifts when the event is over.”

Kim Jong Un also toured the Gold Cup

factory in January 2015, ordering for its transformation into a model for

modern food factories and fully updated to meet global trends in technology.

Following this tour, the Party-run publication Rodong Sinmun claimed the

factory’s manufacturing lines are entirely automated.

Athletes such as the women’s soccer team and

other rising stars piquing Kim Jong Un’s attention are said to receive

supplies from the factory for free, but the goods are not easily obtained by

regular members of the public.

“Provincial Party members eager to finally enjoy Gold Cup goods will be able to get their hands on them during the Party

Congress and then take them back home as souvenirs,” the source said. “[The

leadership] is trying to win over people’s hearts with goods that are hard to

come across.”



This is unlikely, added a source in South Pyongan Province, as most will be expecting color TVs, a gift known to be distributed in the past. Moreover, the exercise may prove self-defeating for the regime—most will use the snacks as a point of comparison for the South Korean snacks they have grown to love. The North Korean counterparts, which attempt to mimic treats from below the border, inevitably fall short .































































































