15 Crazy Facts About North Korea

Now, more than ever all eyes are watching North Korea and it’s leader Kim Jung Un. It is no secret that North Korea is one of the worst places to live. The people there are starving and living in fear with zero freedom.

Any outside attention that is permitted inside it’s borders is highly monitored and played out exactly how the government would want. Keeping up positive appearances to the outside public is a must to hide all of the turmoil, poverty and suffering the people of North Korea face each day.

Over time, outsiders have been able to gather information about what really goes on there. Take a look at these 15 crazy facts about North Korea…

15. Kim Jong II is a god

An autobiography was written and inside those pages is content that is laughable to anyone who was not brainwashed within the walls of North Korea. Kim is depicted as a god and completely flawless. The biography states that he was born under a double rainbow and a new star. Apparently he was able to walk at the extremely young age of THREE weeks! Not only that, the biography states that he is able to control the weather depending on what mood he is in. It seems definitely far fetched, but if you do not know any better, this information is genuinely what the people believe. 

14. Regulated haircuts

Having your own sense of style, to dress, make up and change your hair however you want is something that makes you uniquely you. This type of freedom is not an option in North Korea. Kim ordered all men to copy his style of haircut. It has to be no longer than 2 cm in length and the women have to keep it above the shoulders. Women should emulate the style of Kim’s wife. Essentially look exactly like your leaders, whether you like it or not. 

13. There 3 generations of punishment

Keeping people instilled with fear, especially for punishment is one of North Korea’s best tactics in keeping it’s people in line. If one person commits a crime, then it will affect their generations to come. The person and their entire family are sent to a prison camp and their following generations will be born and live there, because of their crime. Crimes committed can range and you can get this generational punishment for trying to escape North Korea.

12. The pleasure crowd

The Kippumjo is a collection of groups of approximately 2000 women and girls that operate in order to provide sexual pleasure to officials. They provide entertainment for high ranking people in power and the head of state in North Korea. It does not stop just there, they provide sexual entertainment for the officials families and sometimes invited distinguished guests. 

11. Technology is controlled

Living in North Korea is like you are living in a cage and have zero control over your own life. We can easily take for granted anything we want to look up on the internet, or flip through our television stations with no hesitation. For the people living in North Korea, if they are lucky enough to have a television, they only have a choice between three different channels. Obviously their internet access is extremely limited. The government clearly does not want the people getting any exposure to the outside world that can influence their thinking. 

10. They have a different calendar 

Universally, the world seems to kind of go by the same type of calendar. There are exceptions for some religions, but the overall date and time is universal for us all. In North Korea, this is not the case and it is undisputed because the people do not know any different. Their calendar actually starts the year after the birth of of North Korea’s founder Kim II-Sung. For all of us today, the year is 2017, in North Korea it is currently 106. 

9. The border is overly secure

It is clear that North Korea does not want anybody to get out. The border is one of the most secure borders in the entire world. It is 1.2 military personnel working for it. In comparison to South Korea who has roughly 680,000 personnel, this is a big difference. If someone is caught trying to escape the country, they are automatically jailed and their life is never the same. With so many people working to keep North Korea enclosed, the chances of actually escaping seem slim. 

8. There are statues everywhere

Having your country looking good with beautiful architecture, monuments, flowers and overall infrastructure is generally very normal for most. North Korea does not exactly follow these norms. There are roughly 34,000 statues of Kim II Sung all over the country. His face and presence is constantly everywhere as well as Kim Jung Un. Roughly only 3% of the roads are paved for the whole country. The priority of the people being first is clearly out the window and the expectation to just be in awe at the leaders is the primary focus for the public.

7. They have their own time zone

Being completely independent from the world, North Korea even decided to reinstate it’s own official time zone. This was quite recent and just emphasizing where the government is at in terms of the rest of the world. The time zone was created in 2015 and is known as Pyongyang time. The time is thirty minutes behind South Korea and Japanese time. Pyongyang time was used before Japanese rule and now has officially become the official time zone yet again. 

6. One candidate to vote for

The people’s freedom of choice and government rule are quite a joke in North Korea. An election takes place every five years and everyone has the right to vote. The funny thing is, the ballots only include one candidate to vote for. So, what is the point of the election really? It seems to give off the impression that the people really are choosing who to be in rule. They are forced and brainwashed to think that their leader is the greatest,  therefor who else would they even consider choosing, right? This place is really corrupt. 

5. Kim Jong-il drank A LOT 

Cognac was his drink of choice. He drank an insane amount of it and had a huge collection. The cost of it was no issue for him and he reportedly spent roughly $720,000 USD per year just for cognac. The average North Korean’s yearly income didn’t match this whatsoever. His cognac expense was nearly 800 times the annual income of the average North Korean. 

4. Designated living areas

When we say the government literally controls everything, we mean everything. Pyongyang is an area of the country where only a select group of people can live. They are known as the elite and elected officials. You literally need permission to live in that area. You need be extremely healthy, extremely loyal and the government must trust you immensely in order to post up in Pyongyang. 

3. There are invasion tunnels

There is no question that North Korea is majorly prepared for the worst. Four tunnels underground have officially are known as of today. It is highly possible that there are many others just not known yet. If an invasion to the south wanted to be done, they soldiers are so highly trained and there are so many of them that it would be a major danger. It is scary to see how much power this country could actually have if they wanted to branch out. 

2. Weed is legal

This is one of the most surprising facts considering everything we know about North Korea so far. Weed is actually completely legal and is known as leaf tobacco. You can sell and consume it with no problems. The plants grow along the side of the roads regularly and is smoked regularly. The soldiers especially like it, more than cigarettes in fact. 

1. Pornography is off limits

Now you wonder how these residents are really feeling inside, they must be going crazy! Any type of x rated material sends you directly to correctional prison camp. They are able to get material passed around through USB sticks, but it is rare as there is limited access to everything. People have reportedly even been executed for having these types of materials. It can be viewed as something that entered from South Korea also, which is really taboo. 

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