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Shopping in North Korea

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Shops in North Korea offer the most exhilarating and exotic shopping experience for visitors, and a very good value for money. North Korea has a number of gift shops which sell a range of locally themed, eccentric goods tourists. Some of these shops are located at the Yanggakdo hotel, in Pyongyang and others are largely at various sites and museums.

Kwangbok Department Store

This is a multi-storey department store selling a wide range of local produce and mostly imported goods. It has ample space to move around and you can change money at the market rate. The food court on the top floor sells some great snacks while the ground-floor supermarket is fully stocked with everything you might need. From home appiances, electrical appliances, electronics, to mention but a few.

Ragwon Department Store-

This is a department store that sells local and classy international imported goods and is very popular with the Pyongyang elite. On the top floor there is a Japanese restaurant run by Kenji Fujimoto who is Kim Jong-Il’s former personal chef. 

The Pyongyang Department Store No.1

It is a major retail store on Sungri Street in downtown Pyongyang. it is one of the largest retail stores in the country and is often used for large commodity exhibitions. The store sells a variety of items including electronics, clothing, furniture, foodstuffs, kitchenware, and toys. Approximately 70% of the items in the store were produced domestically as of 2013. The store is also one of several official tourist stops in the city. Department Store No. 1 only accepts payments in local currency. It is a popular shopping destination for local residents with an average of 20,000 shoppers visiting the store daily in 2016.

"I enjoy shopping and I found it affordable but some of the clothes are definitely not of the highest quality." - Hassan from Turkey

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