North Korea
I’m just confused
12–20–16, Adil
Let me preface this by saying that North Korea is a wild place, and some of this stuff is still pretty unbelievable to me — any of this info could be false (ah, the internet), though I tried to at least use a little filter for what I included in this list of facts. Most things I mention were reported in multiple sources, but please feel free to correct anything if you have evidence to the contrary. Enjoy!
Lemme learn ya sumthin:
North Korea’s GDP per capita is $1,800. That is 57x less than Qatar’s ($102,100) and ~29x less than America (~53k).
North Korea’s GDP is estimated at 40 billion — about half the net worth of Bill Gates. (I found another source saying NK GDP was $17.4 billion, making it 4.5x smaller than Gates’ net worth.)
Of North Korea’s 15,879 miles of roads, only 450 miles are paved. That’s 2.8%. Wtf?
North Korea has the 4th largest standing army in the world at 1.19 million (after China, US, India). The US is comparable at ~1.37 million, but a population ~13x larger.
Kim Jong-il, late father of current leader Kim Jong-un, had an annual cognac expense that was 800 times the average North Korean’s annual income. He spent about $1.2 million on Hennessy per year, while the average North Korean brings in a whopping ~$1,500/year.
Kim Jong-il apparently owned 20,000 video tapes. If you say an average movie is 90 minutes long, that’s 3.5 years of pure move time. His favorites, as you might guess, include Rambo, Godzilla, Friday the 13th, and The Eternal Bosom of Hot Love.
Kim Jong-il was a golf legend. According to his biography, his first trip to the golf course was in 1994 in Pyongyang. On the first occasion the 52-year old ever lifted a club, he hit an impressive 38-under par, with no fewer than 11 holes-in-one. “The report was verified by 17 trusty security guards, who all agreed Kim shot no worse than a birdie on any hole and recorded a score 21 shots better than any professional golfer in history.” Naturally, he retired after this performance.
Haircuts. I’ve found semi-conflicting information. Here is the info I found from 2013–14 reports: There are 28 state-approved haircuts. According to Time, “Women are allowed to choose one of 14 styles; married women are instructed to keep their tresses short, while the single ladies are allowed let loose with longer, curlier locks. Men are prohibited from growing their hair longer than 5 cm (<2 inches) while older men can get away with up to 7 cm (3 inches).”
BUT, it looks like in 2015, things got even better. Kim Jong-il commanded that all men get haircuts mimicking his own, and that they must be under 2 cm (I think it’s just highly encouraged, not necessarily a requirement). This style has been named by its famous OG wearer as “ambitious.” I don’t even understand what that means. Chicks are supposed to copy the bob style worn by his wife. The only people exempt from these rules are actors.
Jeans and piercings are forbidden.
There is a massive 105 story pyramid-shaped building sitting in the middle of the capital Pyongyang — unfinished and empty. It has been 30 years since construction started, and over $750 million have been spent. It is “a glorified telecommunications antenna.”
The North Korean local internet domain (.kp) has just 28 websites registered to it. That’s less than the number you can find in the world of the GTA V video game. The general population doesn’t really have legit internet access (apparently mostly restricted to internet cafes or hotels, according to wikipedia?). “Elite” citizens, though, seem to find workarounds outside state-sponsored media.
North Korea only has 4 TV channels, and 2 of these are only available on the weekend. All channels are state-sponsored. So, South Korean soap operas are one of the most popular things smuggled in. TV is always off until 5pm, except on weekends when it starts at 6am, plus emergency events, live events, and national holidays.
North Korea bases its calendar on Kim Il-Sung’s date of birth: 15 April 1912. So, the year is 104, not 2016. Both get written, so for example, it is currently Juche 104, 2016. Also, because Kim Il-sung died on July 8th and Kim Jong-il on December 17th, neither day is allowed to be celebrated as a birthday.
Kim Jong-un attempted to intimidate the world in 2015 with photos of himself testing submarine-launch missiles (as below), but experts proved these images were photoshopped.
Kim Jong-il ordered the creation of a fake city near the North Korea/South Korea border to entice South Koreans to immigrate. The whole city is hoax: buildings are concrete shells, electric lights work on automatic timers, only human life = street sweepers who give the impression of activity. Until 2004, there were even massive loudspeakers booming out info about how great NK was, encouraging immigration. (Note this did not work; thousands of North Koreans try to escape to South Korea each year as refugees; SK actually does a good job helping them out with citizenship, jobs, money, etc.)
There are almost no working traffic lights. Instead, they have humans stand at intersections and wave people through.
NK created its own time zone, 30 minutes behind South Korea and Japan. It started using “Pyongyang Time” on August 15, 2015 to celebrate the 70th anniversary of Korea’s liberation from Japan.
In 2012, NK scientists confirmed the existence of unicorns. I am not even joking. “Scientists ‘reconfirmed’ the location of the burial site of the unicorn ridden by King Dongmyeong, the founding father of the ancient Korean kingdom of Goguryeo (37 BC-668 AD). According to the broadcast, the unicorn’s grave was rediscovered near a temple in the capital Pyongyang, with a rectangular rock engraved with the words ‘Unicorn Lair’ at its entrance.”
NK hired 23,000 Chinese actors to play the role of NK soccer fans at the 2012 World Cup.
A real doozy: the “3 generations rule.” Basically this means that if you commit a crime, your children and grandchildren will have to pay for it, too. Lifetimes are spent in prison and in labor camps.
Pyongyang has a population of about 2.5 million, but only the “elite” NK citizens can live there. This means “only trustworthy, healthy, and loyal citizens.” What a life of luxury they must live, eh? Compared to the rest of the country, yes. They get electricity for a gleeful 1–2 hours/day. The majority of homes outside of Pyongyang don’t have electricity at all. Here’s a satellite image of NK outlined in white, with China to the north and South Korea to the South.
North Korea’s total electric output per year is, on average, 15 terawatt hours for 24 million citizens. For context, America’s energy output in 2013 was over 4,000 terawatt hours (my quick math puts Americans at ~20x usage per capita). Also, one-fifth of North Korea’s power supply is allocated to its military, so that makes a huge difference as to how electricity is spent for the average person.
All North Koreans are categorized into one of three castes under the system called songbun. The three groups are the core (~25%), wavering (~55%), and hostile (~20%). This label is determined in large part by your family’s history and perceived loyalty to the government. It also dictates, in large part, who receives jobs, education, and even adequate food.
The NK government demands that citizens contribute fertilizer to the regime. Yes, the country uses human feces as fertilizer, supplied by its own citizens. This came after the 2007 change where South Korea stopped giving NK ~300,000 tons of fertilizer a year.
Curveballs:
North Korea, apparently, has a 100% literacy rate (defined as % of people over age 15 who can read and write). I am skeptical of this, but alas it is reported in the CIA Factbook.
Pot is legal.
And my personal favorite: basketball has different rules in North Korea:
- Dunks are worth 3.
- If a 3-point shot doesn’t hit the rim (swoosh), you get 4 points.
- In typical NK fashion, you get one point deducted for a missed free throw.
- And the best: field goals in the last 3 minutes are worth… EIGHT points each. FKIN LOL.
Aren’t you all excited to go visit North Korea now to check all this out for yourself? Luckily, the country has a lenient travel policy: anyone can visit, as long as you’re already in the country!
Sources (besides the linked ones):
http://www.businessinsider.com/strange-facts-about-north-korea-2016-8?international=true&r=US&IR=T
http://www.toptenz.net/10-tragically-funny-facts-about-north-korea.php
