Putting on a major political event can be pretty exhausting in North Korea, where everyone is expected to pitch in.

In typical North Korean fashion, Kim Yon Hui, a 29-year-old waitress at a beer bar on Pyongyang's new Scientists' Street high-rise area, said she believes that by serving beer she is actually serving the leader.

"Many people here are able to enjoy themselves," she said in between serving Taedonggang on tap to a nearly full evening crowd on Saturday. "I like seeing them happy and want to continue to serve them so they can be happy, fulfilling the will of our leader."

Beer at the stand-up bar on Scientists' Street is sold by the litre, which costs 500 North Korean won. That comes out to about 8 cents a glass if calculated at the unofficial but widely used exchange rate of roughly 8,000 won to the dollar. The official rate - charged at places where foreigners are more likely to be involved - is closer to 100 won to the dollar.

To put that in perspective, the highest-paid workers make about 600,000 won, or $75 a month at Pyongyang's March 26 wire-making factory, one of the showpiece spots around the city.

According to the factory's deputy manager, Kim Chol Ryong, Pyongyang residents have more money in their pockets since the North Korean leadership started gradually implementing new methods to boost economic output amid increasing pressures due to sanctions imposed by the United Nations Security Council.