Most Wanted Souvenirs from North Korea

For the average American citizen, buying special, foreign goods from the DPRK can be quite difficult... and not just because you have to order from halfway around the world. Because of US sanctions, you actually have to ask the government for permission to buy an item from the DPRK. Whether it be clothing, jewelry, beverages, or other amneties, transactions such as this must be done at special request.

While the US doesn't technically have any formal diplomatic relations with North Korea, trying to do business with the isolated state can be a flaky and dangerous affair. In order to actually buy a product from North Korea, you have to submit a letter to the US Treasury department, describing what you plan on buying and how you will do the transaction. NPR recently submitted a Freedom Of Information Act request to the treasury, asking to see some of the different kinds of things people have asked for. You can see those documents right here.

To the left is a picture of North Korean wine, one of the rare exports some wine enthusiasts and people interested in North Korean culture are intrigued about getting their hands on. There is something oddly special and mystifying about owning a bottled drink that comes from such an odd, far-away, isolated land.

In a short piece from All Things Considered on NPR, they explain why some people are interested in collecting some of these rare items.

So why do people try to collect things that are so hard to acquire? The biggest reason is because, well, those things are hard to acquire. The harder something is to get, the more valuable and interesting it becomes. For other people, it's about family-history related memorabilia. In the NPR article, a man ordered a pair of North Korean jeans for his wife because her father managed to escape North Korea during the war.

For many of these transactions, another nation has to act as a middle-man between North Korea and the US. In the jean example above, a Sweden company acquired a shipment of pants in bulk from the DPRK, which where then distributed to people in the US who wanted them (for a pretty penny). It makes sense though. Considering North Korea very seldomly would ever want to do business with the US, chances are you're not going to be able to contact them directly. It's a niche hobby, but the fascination in owning items from the last remaining truly communist state on earth is very compelling.