Watch North Korean Refugees Try American Barbecue In South Korea
This isn't your typical "blank group" tries "foreign food" and makes retching noises. South Korean lifestyle YouTube channel Digitalsoju TV teamed up with host Stephen Park of Asian Boss (another YouTube channel) to introduce the smoky tenderness that is American-style barbecue to four North Korean refugees who have found new homes in South Korea.
Brisket, pulled pork, burnt ends, sausages and chicken from Sweet Oak in Wonju, South Korea, were up for the sampling. Barbecue sauces from four different regions were also available for their tasting pleasures: Rudy's (Texas), Gates (Kansas City), LawLers (Alabama) and 12 Bones (North Carolina). Apparently, no Memphis joints were interested in participating. To many of the refugees, the concept of sauce was still a new one.
Besides deciding which meat and sauces they liked best, the refugees also shared stories about the types of meat eaten, if at all, in North Korea (dog, chicken, rabbit and pork). Because all work in North Korea is done manually and oxen can do the work of several humans, consuming beef is considered a crime punishable by death. The fork was even a topic of discussion as one of the refugees, Sun-Sil, explained that teachers compared the utensil to a large pronged trowel used to scoop cow manure.
Check out the video below.