An unpaid advert on behalf of North Korean beer

North Korea has foregone the launch of another missile to launch a tv advert instead for a local brew. .

Extolling the virtues of the product of Taedonggang Beer Factory the advert features young women in traditional Korean dress serving trays of beer to men in Western suits and a thirsty worker holding a mug of frothy beer.

Billed as the "Pride of Pyongyang", the advert promises drinkers that the beer will help ease stress."It represents the new look of Pyongyang," the two-and-a-half minute advert says. "It will be a familiar part of our lives."

The beer has been in production since the Taedonggang Beer Factory bought a British brewery in 2002 and shipped it back to North Korea.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, said to have a fondness for fine wines and brandy, has taken a personal interest in the brewery. "Watching good quality beer coming out in an uninterrupted flow for a long while, he noted with great pleasure that it has now become possible to supply more fresh beer to people in all seasons," North Korea's state news agency, KCNA, said after he visited the brewery in 2002."

Comments following the article on the BBC website indicate that is is a bit sour, can be of variable quality, sometimes cloudy, but not bad.

Even if it were to make its way to the UK I'm not sure if it would become my favourite tipple. I'd probably try a bottle out of curiosity though