McDonald’s has long been seen as a symbol of Western culture and capitalism — particularly in communist countries. And it’s expansion into China and Russia was seen as a landmark in the 1990s.

“This has happened with a number of different communist cultures,” said Jenny Town, a research analyst at the Stimson Center and the managing editor of 38 North, an academic news site about North Korea. “Once they start to get different points of contact with the West, it changes their views — and it usually starts with McDonald’s or Coca-Cola.”