North Korea wants McDonalds! South Korean president Moon Jae-In has claimed that North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un is prepared to welcome US investment.
Speaking about what this might mean, President Moon Jae-In said: “They welcome American sponsors and multilateral consortiums coming into North Korea,” also suggesting that such investment could take the form of a Trump Tower or McDonalds (NYSE:MCD) fast food outlets. Even North Korean officials put forward the idea of a “McDonalds-style“ investment from the US, according to a report by the Express.
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The suggestions come amid successful peace talks between North and South Korea which resulted in both leaders signing a pledge to work towards total denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. This marks a dramatic reversal in rhetoric from North Korea, which has been particularly hostile towards the West in recent years. For the first time since the 1950s, a North Korean leader stepped into South Korea. Both leaders met for discussions in the demilitarized zone between the two countries.
Although there is certainly no assurance that North Koreans will be able to buy a Big Mac any time soon, the fact that the idea is being tossed around is a very good sign for North Korea, which is in dire need of increased economic infrastructure. If such peaceful relationships continue, it could mean the lifting of global sanctions which currently choke North Korea’s economy by preventing the export and import of certain goods such as precious metals and coal. Lifting these sanctions would allow North Korea to begin operating as more of a normal country again, participating in such investments as McDonald’s food chains.
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In other news, McDonalds employees across the UK are taking part in a “McStrike” in order to demand an increased minimum wage of £10. In addition, zero-hours contracts are also a subject of the protests. If the strike continues to spread across the country further, it could mean bad news for McDonalds as a whole and not just its UK division. Britain is one of the food chain’s strongest markets, reporting 12 years of quarterly growth, according to the Guardian. Currently, workers in Cambridge, Crayford, Manchester and Watford are taking part in the walk-outs.
McDonald’s shares fell -2.39% in day trading on Tuesday, May 1st, though prices began to creep upwards in after-hours trading. Per-share prices currently sit at $163.44, bringing the firm’s market cap to $128.4 billion USD.
Featured image: Korean Investors
