This week, Pyongyang hosted a national dog meat cooking competition, as disclosed by state media, featuring around 200 chefs from all over North Korea.

Each contestant gathered to showcase their skills in preparing the controversial dish known locally as ‘sweet meat’.

Reported by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), the event was organized by the regime and took place at the Food Festival House on Ryomyong Street in the capital, spanning four days starting this Tuesday.

Footage released by KCNA, showed chefs preparing a variety of dishes made from dog meat, including the nation’s traditional dog meat soup or tangogi.

Korean Central Television, a state-run outlet, proudly noted that the number of contestants this year was twice that of the previous year, with participants coming from every corner of the country.

A city official quoted by the network described sweet meat soup as a ‘traditional source of summer energy’ and claimed the purpose of the cook–off was to ‘elevate culinary standards and share know–how on cooking the meat.’

Dog meat, long consumed in the North, is officially encouraged by the government as part of the country’s limited diet. 

North Korea has held a national dog meat cooking competition in Pyongyang this week, state media revealed, with around 200 chefs from across the country

Each contestant gathered to showcase their skills in preparing the controversial dish known locally as ‘sweet meat’

The event, organised by the regime and reported by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), took place at the Food Festival House on Ryomyong Street in the capital and ran for four days

North Korea even registered sweet meat soup as a ‘regional intangible cultural heritage’ in 2022. 

The move contrasts starkly with neighbouring South Korea, where a law passed last year will make the breeding, distribution, and sale of dog meat illegal starting February 2027.

The unusual contest comes as North Korea attempts to shine a spotlight on its culture and create a diversion from the country’s chronic food shortages, which have long plagued the population.

It also follows another unusual public display from the regime last month, when Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un unveiled a massive beach resort in Wonsan, a project long considered one of his pet ambitions.

Photos released by state media showed the reclusive dictator touring the Wonsan Kalma Coastal Tourist Area alongside his wife, Ri Sol Ju, who had not been seen for 17 months, and their daughter, Ju Ae, who many experts believe is being groomed as his successor.

The luxurious resort, which features colourful water slides, swimming pools, high–rise hotels, and sunbeds, was completed nearly six years behind schedule due to the impact of the Covid–19 pandemic. 

This picture taken on June 24, 2025 and released by North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on June 26, 2025 shows North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (L), his daughter Kim Ju Ae (2nd L) and his wife Ri Sol Ju (3rd L) visiting the Wonsan Kalma coastal tourist area in Kangwon Province, North Korea

Though originally launched in 2014, the project has only now been finalised and was set to open to domestic tourists on July 1 

Kim was an enthusiastic visitor this week to the sprawling site on the isolated country’s east coast, which is set to open its doors on July 1 to domestic tourists

Though originally launched in 2014, the project has only now been finalised and is set to open to domestic tourists on July 1.

‘Kim Jong Un expressed belief that the wave of the happiness to be raised in the Wonsan Kalma coastal tourist area would enhance its attractive name as a world–level tourist cultural resort,’ KCNA stated, adding that Kim was filled with ‘great satisfaction’ during the opening ceremony.

Despite these lavish displays, foreign tourism to the nuclear–armed country remains highly restricted. 

North Korea reopened its borders in August 2023 after nearly four years of strict Covid closures, during which even returning citizens were barred from entering.

Russian tourists were permitted to return for the first time since Covid and Western tour operators returned in February this year.

Foreign tourists wanting to visit the super secretive North Korea can only do so under a supervised tour, through which guides have complete control over visitors will see.

Russia and North Korea have agreed to expand cooperation on tourism, restarting a direct passenger train service between their capitals for the first time since 2020.