Unhasu and Pomhyanggi are brands of cosmetics which are produced by the Pyongyang Cosmetics Factory and the Sinuiju Cosmetics Factory, respectively.

Now the cosmetics produced at the two factories enjoy the greatest popularity in the DPRK.

This is associated with the leadership of Chairman Kim Jong Il (February 16, 1942-December 17, 2011) and the respected Comrade Kim Jong Un .

When Chairman Kim Jong Il visited the Pyongyang Cosmetics Factory one day in August 2003, he said: I was told that this factory is endeavouring to improve the quality of its products; it is advisable for the factory to conduct a competition for improving quality; it will help it improve the quality of its products and achieve development; the factory should wage a fierce competition with the Sinuiju Cosmetics Factory so as to continuously improve the quality of cosmetics.

A competition between the two cosmetics factories started in this way.

The competition grew more intense under the concern of the respected Comrade Kim Jong Un .

When he inspected the Pyongyang Cosmetics Factory one day in February 2015, he took a measure of renovating it as a model and standard for the country’s cosmetics industry and instructed relevant officials to purchase two sets of world-famous cosmetics and send them to the two competing factories.

And when he visited the factory again in October 2017, he set a higher goal for it to produce a larger amount of cosmetics of various kinds so that it can compete with world-famous cosmetics companies and solved the problems arising in enhancing its competitive edge.

In June 2018 he visited the Sinuiju Cosmetics Factory.

Going round the factory, he learned about its production in detail and highly praised it for creating capacity for mass-producing new goods of scores of kinds.

As I have heard, the factory with a long history is quite different from others and I am deeply impressed by the tenacious spirit and style of work of its officials and workers, he said with satisfaction, adding that the factory should not rest content because Pomhyanggi -brand cosmetics are in high demand and popular among the people but constantly intensify research to improve the quality of its products and increase their variety while comparing its products with the Unhasu -brand ones.

That day he encouraged the factory by saying: The Sinuiju and Pyongyang cosmetics factories are twin buttresses of the country’s cosmetics industry; I will support the Sinuiju Cosmetics Factory on its side.

Now the two factories are vying each other to turn out quality goods of various kinds, true to the ennobling intention of Kim Jong Un to provide the people with cosmetics of higher quality.