Kim Jong-un bans “hamburger” and other western words, orders North Korean guides to use regime-approved language

14 September 2025 , 18:19

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Kim Jong-un bans “hamburger” and other western words, orders North Korean guides to use regime-approved language

Despot Kim Jong-un has banned the word “hamburger” for being too Western.

“Karaoke” and “ice cream” are also on the North Korean dictator’s list of outlawed words.

Tour guides welcoming Russian and Chinese visitors to his country’s showpiece Wonsan resort have been told to avoid Anglicised words popular in the West and neighboring South Korea.

Some 20 to 30 guides are enrolled in a rigorous training program run by officials from the Workers’ Party of Korea’s Cadre Department in Kangwon province.

News outlet Daily NK said: “Trainees receive detailed instruction on handling and entertaining tourists, and must memorize slogans and phrases.

“The goal is to teach tourism professionals to consciously use North Korean vocabulary while avoiding South Korean expressions and foreign loanwords.

“Trainees must say dajin-gogi gyeopppang (double bread with ground beef) for hamburger and eseukimo (eskimo) for ice cream.

“And karaoke machines, widespread in South Korea, should be called “on-screen accompaniment machines.”

After completing the course, trainees will take an exam.

A source said: “Only those who are fully prepared will remain in the program.”

Thomas Brown