[Photograph: Irina Kalashnikova/Getty]

In May 2009, a Singaporean entrepreneur helped open Samtaesong ("three big stars") in Pyongyang, the first foreign fast food outlet in North Korea. Samtaesong serves fries, Belgian waffles, fried chicken, hot dogs, and the most major attraction of them all, burgers—except instead of "burgers" they're called "minced beef patty and bread" to "mask their American association," AFP reports.

Today, guardian.co.uk published a slideshow of recent photos in North Korea, including one at Samtaesong. The photo's caption says a burger cost 1500 won, "half the monthly salary of the average worker, putting them out of reach of all but the elite."