How South Korea’s 2010 ban on cross-border trade burned one man’s dream of building a fried chicken empire in the North
- Choi Won-ho had ambitions of establishing 100 restaurants in North Korea after opening a fried chicken eatery in Pyongyang in 2007
- But Choi, along with some 1,000 other South Koreans, saw their businesses in the North evaporate overnight after the government banned cross-border trade in retaliation for the sinking of a warship
Choi Won-ho had grand plans when he became the first person to introduce South Korean fried chicken to the North in 2007.
But the dreams turned to dust overnight when cross-border relations crashed after a South Korean navy ship exploded and sank in March 2010, claiming the lives of 46 sailors.
More than 1,100 South Koreans, including Choi, saw their businesses in the North evaporate after the conservative Lee Myung-bak government slammed the door shut on investments in retaliation for the Cheonan sinking – an incident for which North Korea has denied responsibility.
Choi went from being the owner of a four-storey building in western Seoul to operating a modest chicken-and-beer restaurant – with his wife working alone in the kitchen and him serving dishes in the hall and making food deliveries.