-US officials could visit NK
-NK hotels stocking up on western food
-NK embassies abroad ordered to send western spirits, ingredients, and crockery
-NK seeking an improvement in relations and investment

According to a high level foreign affairs source on August 12th, North Korea¡¯s exclusive hotels are busy making preparations to receive American guests.

Responding to the question of whether North Korea¡¯s relations with the US are improving, the source said, ¡°In each country where North Korea has an embassy or consulate residences the order has been issued that they should stock up on those expensive brands of whisky, cognac, brandy and cigarettes most favored by Americans for dispatch to North Korea.¡±

The North Korean embassy in China, in particular, is in the midst of buying and sending western ingredients and crockery to North Korea. The sorts of food that would be appropriate to eat on very hot days, for example, are being transported by Koryo Air and plates and crockery are passing through the Dandong customs office.

¡°Even the interiors of the hotels,¡± the source went on, ¡°are being done up to suit western tastes. Music piped through the speakers is being changed. Anything incorporating party ideology is being excluded from the counter and basements and being replaced with folk or classical music in an effort to make the overall atmosphere more conducive.¡±

¡°This sort of flattering of western sensibilities has a financial goal. It¡¯s a kind of investment seeking a pay off, which is the expansion of large investment into North Korea out from the Chinese to include westerners as well,¡± finished the source.

The first talks between the US and North Korea in a year and seven months took place in New York on the 28th and 29th July. On the 11th, a North Korean foreign affairs spokesperson said the issue of reunions between Korean-Americans and their families in the North to be arranged via the American Red Cross and other channels had been raised in the talks.

Translated by Danny Lee