Killing North Korean civilians 1950-1953

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64. I say we drop Choco pies on them

The first time the South Korean factory owner watched his North Korean employees nibble on a Choco Pie, they appeared shocked -- even overwhelmed.
He summed up their reaction to the South Korean snack in one word: "Ecstasy."
Much like what Twinkies are to Americans, South Korea's Choco Pies -- two disc-shaped, chocolate-covered cakes, sandwiching a rubbery layer of marshmallow cream -- are ubiquitous, cost less than 50 cents and are full of empty calories.
But on the other side of the Korean border, the snacks are viewed as exotic, highly prized treats, selling on North Korea's black markets for as much as $10, according to analysts. Their rising popularity in the north reveals an unexpected common ground between the two Koreas, despite their fractious relationship -- a shared sweet tooth.

http://www.cnn.com/2014/01/27/world/asia/choco-pie-koreas/index.html

The North Korean border has never been a hospitable place. It’s home to mines, guard towers and guns — all of it an intractable symbol of the animosity between the North and the South. But just six miles into North Korea sits a sprawling complex of factories, where today a very different type of struggle is underway between the nations.

It’s the battle of the Choco Pie.

Under normal conditions, the South Korea-produced Choco Pie is more or less available to North Koreans thanks to the Kaesong Industrial Complex, where South Korean businesses employ thousands of North Korean workers on the cheap. Since the complex opened in 2004, South Korean businessmen have parceled out untold thousands of Choco Pies as bonuses to the North Koreans. And the workers, in turn, have created a burgeoning Choco Pie black market.

It’s difficult, according to analysts, to overstate the Choco Pie’s cultural impact in North Korea. It’s not just two chocolate cakes hugging a marshmallow mixture — it’s capitalism, delicious capitalism.

Former North Korean defectors living in South Korea prepare balloons containing snacks called "Choco Pie" and anti-Pyongyang leaflets before releasing them towards the North near the demilitarized zone separating the two Koreas in Ganghwa, northwest of Seoul April 24, 2012. REUTERS/Lee Jae-Won (SOUTH KOREA - Tags: POLITICS MILITARY FOOD) - RTR31531 Former North Korean defectors living in South Korea prepare balloons containing snacks called “Choco Pie” and anti-Pyongyang leaflets before releasing them towards the North near the demilitarized zone separating the two Koreas in Ganghwa, northwest of Seoul on April 24, 2012. (Lee Jae-Won/Reuters)
By some estimates, as many as 2.5 million Choco Pies were traded monthly — though it’s unclear who exactly was so assiduously following Choco Pie markets.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2014/07/01/north-korea-has-reportedly-banned-choco-pies/?utm_term=.89f36d6c2363