7 strange facts about North Korea that are hard to believe

1. In the DPRK, communism coexists with almost religious worship of leaders

According to the constitutionConstitution of the DPRK / "Nenara"The DPRK is a socialist country. But in reality, the state is equally far from both communism and capitalism, and much more like a monarchy. Power in the country is inherited: the current leader Kim Jong-un is the grandson of the founder of the DPRK, Kim Il Sung, and the son of the former ruler of the state, Kim Jong Il.

However, Kims do not just rule from generation to generation - the best of them become demigods. Well, or at least mythical figures. It is no coincidence that the biographies of Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il have acquired amazing details that are far from the truth.

Thus, Kim Il Sung becameJ-C. Lim. Leader Symbols and Personality Cult in North Korea: The Leader State into a rebel hero who during World War II led military operations against the Japanese from Mount Baekdu, sacred to all Koreans. According to North Korean propaganda, for 10 years, Kim Il Sung participated in 100,000 battles with Japanese troops, that is, he fought 28 times a day. In fact, the hero of North Korea spent most of World War II in Khabarovsk, studying military affairs and Marxism.

The birth of Kim Jong Il was legendary in itself, because he was bornGreat Leader Kim Jong Il / Nenara on the same mountain Paektusan in the camp of North Korean partisans. Like his father, Kim Jong Il worked without sleep and rest for the prosperity of the DPRK, improved the life of the people every day and, of course, published many scientific works.

The grateful North Korean people could not fail to note the merits of their defenders and patrons - so statues of Kim Il Sung and his son appeared throughout the country, and they themselves received many high-profile titles and awards. Kim Il Sung, like some eastern emperor, was called during his lifetimeT. Lutz. Cult of Personality: North Korea under Kim Il‑Sung / Senior Capstone Theses The Great Leader, the Sun of the Nation and the Iron All-Conquering Commander. Even after his death, he remained in office: he was recognized as the Eternal President of the DPRK. And the leader’s birthday (April 15) was madeJ-C. Lim. Leader Symbols and Personality Cult in North Korea: The Leader State official holiday, Sun Day.

As expected, after the death of the body of the great rulers were embalmed and placed in an impressive mausoleum in the capital of the country. The memorial was called the Palace of the Sun, and they wrote about the sarcophagiConstitution of the DPRK / "Nenara" in the constitution, where without it.

The DPRK went even further than sculptures, titles and awards - the country changedJuche era available in Korea / KCNA chronology. If in Christian states it is conducted from the birth of Christ, then in North Korea - from the appearance of the Great Leader. 1912, the year of the birth of Kim Il Sung, is the first in the Juche calendar, the national ideology of the DPRK. Not zero, but precisely the first - after all, then the Great Leader was born. Therefore, it is now 111 years in the DPRK, and not 2022. True, in documents and newspapers, the date according to the Julian calendar is still indicated in brackets.

Only a planned economy remained from socialism in the DPRK.

2. Elections from one candidate are held every five years in the country.

Although virtually all power in the DPRK belongs to the Kims and their entourage, the country has a Supreme People's Assembly - a local parody of the parliament. Its members (about 700 people) are elected every five years.

They seldom convene a meeting to resolve some issues, but candidates getHow North Korea's elections work / The Economist into it through demonstrative national elections. They are quite specific: there is only one candidate from each district. Nominates him, of course, the ruling party.

The current leaders of the country also participate in the elections. Usually they come from 111 or 333 districts, because these numbers supposedly bring good luck.

Voters can either vote for a candidate or veto by crossing out the name and putting the ballot in a separate ballot box. As you might guess, such a dissident is easy to figure out. After all, there is no question of any secret voting.

While such elections are obviously formal, North Koreans consistently turn up at polling stations—voting is mandatory and is also used for the census.

3. There are castes and generations of prisoners in North Korea

In addition to the ruling dynasty in the DPRK, there isR. Collins. Marked for Life: SONGBUN, North Korea’s Social Classification System / The Committee for Human Rights in North Korea and caste system. It's called songbun. Citizens are divided into 51 categories and into three groups: enemies, hesitant and loyal. The former include landowners, Christian priests, merchants, lawyers and all their descendants. The latter include participants in the war against the Japanese occupation, as well as workers and peasants. The rest of the North Koreans are considered neutral.

According to the stories of refugees from the DPRK, the situation in songbun affectsR. Collins. Marked for Life: SONGBUN, North Korea’s Social Classification System / The Committee for Human Rights in North Korea on whether a person can join the party, get an education and a position. What's more, even access to food can be determined by songbun. So, when in the 1990s, due to the cessation of support from the USSR and the economic crisis, a terrible famine began in the country, the “enemies” were actually doomed to death.

This status, as it should be in the caste system, is inherited. Even the most capable young man or girl will not be able to become a teacher if someone in the family has been seen in "discrediting» affairs. For example, I went to church. A songbun is awarded at the age of 17, and with rare exceptions it is almost impossible to improve it, but it is easy to worsen it.

And according to the US State Department, within the framework of songbun there is alsoPrisons of North Korea / Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor rule of "punishment of three generations". According to him, not only the political enemy himself, but also his relatives can be sent to the camp: husbands and wives, sisters and brothers, even grandchildren. They spend their whole lives behind barbed wire.

4. In the country, all benefits are free, but it is difficult to get them without bribes

Until the 1990s, the DPRK operated a state distribution system. The state distributed all the benefits depending on the status of a citizen. So money in North Korea had almost no value, and bribes were meaningless. Because neither one nor the other helped to get a new TV or get an apartment out of the queue. Even officials could not buy a car, because only top leaders and the military were supposed to have them.

But after the collapse of the USSR, the death of Kim Il Sung, economic upheavals and famine, everything changed. The DPRK economy could no longer maintain the established order, and the distribution system collapsedNorth Koreans trapped in ‘vicious cycle of deprivation, corruption, repression’ and endemic bribery: UN human rights office / UN News. In order to survive, people began to create their own private enterprises. For example, secretly grow vegetables in a garden in the mountains or sew clothes.

The state, although it did not recognize the changes taking place in the country, also made some concessions. So, stores began to sell goods not only on cards, but also for money. It also became possible to buy an apartment or a car for won.

That is, they appearedA. Lankov. How Corruption Became a Salvation for North Koreans / Carnegie Moscow Center money, acquired goods and the shadow economy, not recognized by the state, but with the help of which everything is basically bought. Now the officials had an incentive to extort bribes - there was something to spend money on.

Today, almost any issue in the country can be solved with the help of bribes.

In 2019, the UN Commission on Human Rights even releasedNorth Koreans trapped in ‘vicious cycle of deprivation, corruption, repression’ and endemic bribery: UN human rights office / UN News special report. It explicitly states that corruption in the DPRK is the main way to get medical care, housing, work, and even food. One refugee interviewed said that anyone in North Korea who does not give or take bribes is likely to starve to death.

essentials and promotion in the service, access to foreign media and escape from the country, conditions in prisons and even release from arrest - everything can be bought. There would be money.

According to the international organization against corruption Transparency International, in terms of bribery, the DPRK ranksOur Work in North Korea / Transparency International 174th place out of 180 countries of the world. For comparison: Russia isOur Work in Russia / Transparency International on the 136th.

5. You can come to North Korea as a tourist and then never come back

It is quite possible to go on a tour of North KoreaNorth Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) / smarttraveller.gov.au. True, this is not easy to do: you need to get a visa, permission and lay out a round sum of one of the approved travel agencies.

But do not flatter yourself: you will not be allowed to chat with the locals, bring a banknote with Kim Il Sung as a souvenir, or even just deviate from the permitted route. Tourists are usually taken around the capital Pyongyang (including the Kumsuan Palace), as well as taken to natural attractions and the coast.

All foreigners outside the hotel room are accompanied by a guide-interpreter - he is is followingso that tourists do not see or do anything extra. The country has strict laws that apply to everyone. When entering and leaving, all things and equipment are inspected: God forbid, you decide to bring in or take away something prohibited. For example, it is impossible to take away the money in circulation - won, only old banknotes are sold as souvenirs.

It is also impossible to take photos and videos as you please. Filming without permission can be mistaken for espionage.

Do not disregard the rules. There are a lot of sad stories with the participation of foreign tourists. So, the American Otto Warmbier was sentencedS. Svrluga, A. fifield. Otto Warmbier dies days after release from North Korean detainment / Washington Post to 15 years in the camps for "crimes against the state". According to the North Korean security service, the tourist wanted to grab a propaganda poster from the hotel as a keepsake, so the offender was detained at the airport and refused to leave the country.

A year and a half later, Warmbier fell into a vegetative state, the cause of which, apparently, was brain damage. Only then did the North Korean authorities allow the American to be returned home, but in the United States, Otto died without regaining consciousness. It is possible that there was no theft, and the case itself was a political provocation by the North Korean government. But it's better not to risk it.

6. Residents of the DPRK are lower than their neighbors from the south

On average, 3-8 centimeters. Came to this conclusionD. Schwekendiek. Height and weight differences between North and South Korea / Journal of Biosocial Science researcher from Sungkyunkwan University (South Korea) Daniel Schwekendik, who used UN data on the growth of 2,880 boys and 3,112 girls from the DPRK.

Apparently, the difference is caused by nutrition. And it's not just the famine of the 1990s. diet North Koreans are generally poorer. For example, they receive 1.4 times fewer kilocalories. And it doesn't look like the situation is changing for the better. So, according to the Common Hunger Index, a special methodology for calculating the level of hunger based on data from the UN and WHO, today the DPRK is undernourishedNorth Korea / Global Hunger Index 42.4% of residents.

7. North Korea has its own girl band

The current leader of the country, Kim Jong-un, is still young - he is 38 years old. And he is aware of current trends. Therefore, now the DPRK has its own k-popgroup, so to speak. It's called Moranbong. Participants (only girls perform in the ensemble), who themselves play musical instruments, were selectedA. Cathcart, C. Green, S. Denney. How Authoritarian Regimes Maintain Domain Consensus: North Korea’s Information Strategies in the Kim Jong-un Era / The Review of Korean Studies in 2012 personally Kim Jong-un. He wanted to modernize the pop scene of the country, to make it more like a Western one.

This was partly successful: the participants appear on stage in short skirts and evening dresses and dance, which is why the Moranbong performances vaguely resemble the performances of foreign artists. This is largely why the group has become very popular in North Korea.

But overall, Moranbong still sounds and looks very North Korean. Girls most often perform in military uniform and are accompanied by a military band. In the background, a video with rockets can be broadcast. In their songs, the group sings about devotion to Juche, the Motherland and the Party. And the music is pompous and looks more like an academic symphony than a popular one.