North Korea Interesting Facts

1. North Korea Interesting Facts

2. North Korea, independent since 1948, is not recognised by Japan and South Korea. • An American Soldier ran across the border to North Korea in 1962 and has been living there ever since. • In North Korea, the year is counted after the birth of its founder, Kim II-Sung. In 2014, it was the year 102. • North Korea is currently an only nation to have one US ship captured

4. North Korea is officially not Communist. Since 2009 its ideology is called "Juche". • North Korea is the world's only necrocracy: a government that still operates under the rules of a former, dead leader. • Marijuana is legal and is not even classified as a drug in North Korea. • North Korean Archeologists announced the world in 2012 they "discovered" lair of the UNICORN ridden by legendary King Tongmyung 2000 years ago

5. Juche Ideology - created by Kim Il Sung • National ideology of self-reliance: "the ability to act independently without regard to outside interference.” • It focuses on the collective consciousness, the superiority of the collective over the individual, and a fervent nationalism. • Justifies a totalitarian dictatorship as the “Great Leader” protects & promotes Juche. • Juche calendar – based on Kim Il Sung’s birthday - 1912 is Juche Year One

7. Songbun System • Social classification system – divides people into groups according to the actions and status of their paternal ancestor during the time of Japanese occupation and the Korean War. • Determined if one could live in the capital city, quality of education, and employment

9. Classifications: • 1. Loyal “core class” – ancestors of war heroes, • revolutionaries, first peasant and working • families, many become party officials • 1. Wavering Class – average North Koreans, • descendants of small scale merchants, • intellectuals, or those who lived outside of N. • Korea. • 2. Hostile Class – descendants of landowners, • capitalists, religious people, supporters of S • Korea, or those with mixed heritage.

10. To my childish eyes and to those of my friends, Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il were perfect beings…” Kang Choi-hwan • “The magnitude of adulation often borders on fanaticism. His photograph is displayed ahead of the national flag and national emblem, the song of Marshal Kim Il Sung is played ahead of the national anthem; the best institution of higher learning is named after him; and there are songs, poems, essays and stories, and even aflower named after him.” • Dae-Sook Suh - Biographer

14. North Korea has 51 “Socail Categories “ ranked by loyalty to their regime. • In the 50s, North Korea built Kijong-dong, a "nice" city visible from the border, to encourage South Koreans in. It's actually a ghost town. • North Koreans may only choose from 28 approved haircuts. • Kim II-Sung, founder of North Korea, was born on the day the Titanic sank.

15. 28 Haircuts of NK

16. Ghost Town

17. In the last 60 years, over 23,000 North Koreans have defected to South Korea. Only two South Koreans have gone to the North. • In 1974, Kim Il-sung took 1,000 Volvo sedans from Sweden to North Korea and never paid for them. • North Koreans watched the 2014 World Cup on a 24-hour delay. • North Korea has its own operating system called Red Star OS. • In 2013, North Korea's president killed his own uncle by throwing him naked into a cage with 120 starving dogs

18. Uncle Killed

19. Possessing Bibles, watching South Korean movies and distributing pornography may be punished with death in North Korea. • In North Korea, only military and government officials can own motor vehicles • North Korea's space agency is called "NADA", which in Spanish means "nothing.“ • Wearing jeans is illegal in North Korea. • North Korea holds elections every 5 years in which the ballots list only one candidate

20. Jeans are Prohibited

21. 12,710 people have immigrated to North Korea since 1990. • North Korea is outsourcing its forced labor camps to work in Siberia. • In 1953, a North Korean fighter pilot defected to South Korea with his MiG-15 and was rewarded with US$100,000 by the U.S. • North Korea uses a fax machine to send threats to South Korea. • There's an organization that parachutes copies of the Bible into North Korea

23. According to a textbook in North Korea, Kim Jong Un learned to drive at age 3. • In North Korea, people don't celebrate birthdays on July 8 and December 17, since those are the dates that Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il died. • North Korea hosts the World's Largest Stadium seating 150,000 people. • Cuba was caught sending Weapons to North Korea in 2013.

24. World's Largest Stadium

26. Cuba

27. Sympathizing with Kim Jong-un, leader of North Korea, is an illegal act in South Korea. Even blogging can land you in jail. • A defector used balloons to air drop thousands of copies of the film "The Interview" into North Korea. • The 'de-militarized' zone between North and South Korea is the world's most militarized zone. • For 20 years, the World's Tallest Hotel was a 105-story empty pyramid in Pyongyang, North Korea.

29. Empty World Tallest Hotel

30. When a single anti Kim Jong Il graffiti was found in Pyongyang, North Korea, in 2011, they locked down the entire city for 3 days. • The Chollima, a mythical winged horse, is the national animal of North Korea. • In 1978, North Korea kidnapped two famous South Korean filmmakers, a director and a leading actress, and forced them to work on propaganda films. • Only 4 modern countries were never colonized by Europe: Japan, Korea, Thailand and Liberia.

31. Chollima

32. In 2016, North Korea accidentally leaked its DNS data, showing they only have 28 ".kp" domains. In comparison, there are 10 million ".uk" domains. • Malaysia and Singapore are the only two countries on earth that are allowed Visa-free travel to North Korea.

34. Three Generations of Punishment • Kim Il Sung set up kwanliso– secret prison camps to crush all dissent, criticism, individuality, and ”hints of dissatisfaction”. • Extended family members of the accused, for up to 3 generations, are also punished. • Estimated 150 000 prisoners today – subject to torture, “re education”, and death.

47. Cult of Personality • When a leader uses mass media, propaganda, the arts, and education to create an idealized and heroic public image, often through unquestioning flattery and praise. • Demands unwavering loyalty to an all powerful leader, often elevated to the status of a deity.

48. Kim Jong-il : Dear Leader • 1 According to his biography, he first picked up a golf club in 1994, at North Korea's only golf course, and shot a 38-under par round that included no fewer than 11 holes in one. Satisfied with his performance, he reportedly immediately declared his retirement from the sport. • 2 He was a near-obsessive film buff with a reported collection of 20,000 plus video tapes • 3.Kim, thought to be 5ft 2in (157cm) tall, is said to have worn lifts in his shoes and sported a bouffant hairstyle • 4 He was suspected of killing his younger brother Kim Shu-ra when he was five after the child drowned in the family's swimming pool in their Pyongyang mansion. The claims were never proved.

49. Kim Jong-il : Dear Leader • 5.He was born on Feb. 16, 1942, in a secret military camp on Baekdu Mountain, on the North Korean border, his official biography says. But Soviet records claim he was born on February 16, 1941 in the village of Vyatskoye, in Russia, where his parents were in exile during the Japanese occupation of Korea. • 6 North Korea has one of the largest armies in the world. According to the US State Department, it has an estimated active duty military force of up to 1.2 million personnel, compared to about 680,000 in the South, with about one in five of men aged 17-54 in the regular armed forces.

50. Kim Jong-il : Dear Leader • 7 In 1960, he began to study at the politics and economics department of Kim Il-sung University and graduated four years later. • 8 His survivors are believed to include five children. The youngest, Kim Jong-un, is expected to eventually succeed him. • 9 His eldest son, Kim Jong-nam, once believed to be the designated heir, appeared to have fallen out of favour after being arrested in Tokyo in 2001 while travelling to Disneyland on a forged passport .