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How people live in North Korea is a horror, of course! How will the war between the United States and North Korea go and how will it end?

How people live in North Korea is a horror, of course! How will the war between the United States and North Korea go and how will it end?

24.09.2019

In light of the growing tension on the Korean peninsula, the conflict between the US and the DPRK could at any moment go into a "hot" phase. A possible war between Washington and Pyongyang will mean the automatic inclusion of the Republic of Korea (ROK) in it. How the situation on the Korean Peninsula will develop under such a scenario, TASS was told by the authoritative South Korean political scientist and international journalist Meng Chu Sok.

The situation is heating up

Citizens of the Republic of Korea as a whole are watching with habitual calmness the confrontation between Washington and Pyongyang that has unfolded in recent days. People go to work, visit cafes and restaurants, walk in parks with their children - in general, they lead a normal life, not paying much attention to the ups and downs around the nuclear missile program of their northern neighbor and his squabbling with the Washington leadership.

"Over the long years of coexisting with the DPRK, people have become accustomed to the fact that about once a year or two a similar situation arises," says Meng Chu Suk. "It usually happens just in August."

But although South Koreans have long learned to ignore such aggravations, the situation is now beginning to change. "The situation on the Korean Peninsula is heating up, and it is impossible not to notice. In addition, compared with previous aggravations, the situation has changed radically," said Meng Chu Suk. After the DPRK developed and tested an intercontinental ballistic missile and probably created a compact nuclear warhead for it, citizens began to worry, he said.

"Pyongyang has announced that it is going to launch four missiles towards Guam, where the American military bases are located. It is impossible to predict how the situation will unfold if this happens," the expert said. In his opinion, the United States and Japan, over whose territory the trajectory of their flight lies, will most likely try to shoot down these missiles.

"Much will depend on whether they succeed in intercepting them. If so, then Pyongyang will lose face and, in response, may escalate the conflict even further, undertake other provocations, for example, by shelling South Korean territory," Meng Chu Sok argues. If the missiles fail to shoot down and they reach Guam, Washington will sit in a puddle, which may force it to take active steps against the North. “For example, a decision can be made on a preventive strike against the DPRK, especially since the United States has already said that they have prepared a list of targets on its territory,” the expert believes. “In any case, after the launch of missiles on Guam, the situation can very easily get out of control.” and turn into a real armed conflict, in which South Korea will inevitably be drawn."

The TASS interlocutor found it difficult to answer the question of whether Washington would consult with Seoul if it decides to launch a preventive strike on the North. “I hope so. But given the unpredictability of US President Trump, he can make a unilateral decision without informing the South,” the political scientist said.

He cited the 1994 nuclear crisis as an example, when the then head of the White House, Bill Clinton, was about to order the start of the bombing of the DPRK: “Then South Korean President Kim Yong Sam dissuaded Clinton from this step, convincing him that in this case the North would attack the South and "thousands of innocent people will die. But at that time the situation was completely different: now Pyongyang has both nuclear weapons and delivery vehicles."

Given all these factors, the United States may conclude that North Korean provocations cannot be stopped and that the time has come for active action, whether it is an attempt to change the regime by eliminating the leader of the DPRK, Kim Jong-un, or destroying nuclear missile facilities through a preemptive strike, the expert believes.

"Despite the fact that ordinary citizens of South Korea are unlikely to take such steps with glee, our government has already spoken in the sense that it will support the United States," he added.

Patience running out

A day earlier, a spokesman for the ROK Chiefs of Staff said in Seoul that North Korea would pay a heavy price for attacking South Korea or the United States. In this way, he commented on Pyongyang's threats to launch a preemptive strike on the American military base on the island of Guam in the Pacific Ocean.

"If the North ignores our warnings and continues provocations, it will face a decisive and powerful Allied retaliation," the colonel said. He criticized Pyongyang's "militant rhetoric", noting that "this is a serious challenge for the South Korean people, as well as the military alliance between the United States and the Republic of Korea."

According to Meng Chu Sok, in the event of a conflict between the United States and the DPRK, the latter "almost with a 100% probability" will strike at South Korea as well. "I think that Washington understands this and some consultations with Seoul will take place before the start of active actions on their part," the expert believes. He recalled that Joseph Dunford, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) of the US Armed Forces, is due to visit the Republic of Korea next week. He will hold talks with the country's leadership and representatives of the military circles.

"The patience of both the United States and South Korea with regard to Pyongyang's antics is already running out," said Meng Chu Sok. According to the expert, the South is getting louder and louder about the need for the country to acquire its own nuclear weapons, or at least allow the deployment of American tactical nuclear weapons in the country. "If necessary, the Republic of Kazakhstan can create its own atomic bomb in six months, we have all the conditions and technologies for this," Meng Chu Sok emphasized. However, this move could lead other neighboring countries such as Japan and Taiwan to follow the same path. "This will lead to a nuclear arms race in Northeast Asia and even more instability in the region," he said.

Two scenarios

"The best way out of the crisis would be for the North to abandon its nuclear missile program. If such influential states as China and Russia put pressure on the DPRK, it would do so," said Meng Chu Sok. Responding to a remark by a TASS correspondent that the Russian Federation does not have sufficient levers of pressure on the DPRK, including economic ones, he expressed the opinion that "if President Putin and President Xi Jinping talked to Kim Jong-un, this would become possible."

The expert also considered the worst - military - scenario. "North Korea has been saying for decades that if something happens, it will easily turn Seoul into a 'sea of fire'. This is possible because the capital of South Korea is completely within the range of their artillery," Meng Chu Suk said. "If the US attacks the North, then it will inevitably attack the South. Many people will die. We do not want war. But if it starts, we will simply follow the United States and fight with them, because we have no other choice," he said. He.

The expert believes that the DPRK is capable of inflicting significant damage on South Korea at the first stage of hostilities, but in the end, the victory will still remain with the latter. "We have a powerful army, high-tech weapons, a military alliance with the United States and time on our side," he concluded. At the same time, he expressed the hope that Pyongyang's latest threats are nothing more than belligerent rhetoric and that things will not come to a real clash.

Stanislav Varivoda

Not to express deep respect for the image of the leader is to endanger not only yourself, but also your entire family.

Human society is constantly experimenting - how to arrange it in such a way that most of its members are as comfortable as possible. From the outside, this probably looks like the attempts of a rheumatic fat man to get comfortable on a flimsy couch with sharp corners: no matter how the poor fellow turns, he will certainly pinch something for himself, then serve time.

Some particularly desperate experiments were costly. Take, for example, the 20th century. The entire planet was a gigantic training ground where two systems collided in rivalry. Society is against individuality, totalitarianism is against democracy, order is against chaos. Won, as we know, chaos, which is not surprising. You know, it takes a lot of effort to spoil the chaos, while destroying the most ideal order can be done with one well-turned bowl of chili.

Order does not tolerate mistakes, but chaos ... chaos feeds on them.

The love of freedom is a vile quality that interferes with orderly happiness

The demonstrative defeat took place on two experimental sites. Two countries were taken: one in Europe, the second in Asia. Germany and Korea were neatly divided in half and in both cases the market, electivity, freedom of speech and individual rights were created in one half, while the other half was ordered to build an ideally fair and well-organized social system in which the individual has the only right - to serve the common good.

However, the German experiment was unsuccessful from the very beginning. The cultural traditions of the freedom-loving Germans were not completely destroyed even by Hitler - where is Honecker! Yes, and it is difficult to create a socialist society right in the middle of the swamp of decaying capitalism. It is not surprising that the GDR, no matter how much strength and means were poured in, did not demonstrate any brilliant success, raised the most miserable economy, and its inhabitants, instead of being filled with a competitive spirit, preferred to run to their Western relatives, disguising themselves at the border under the contents of their suitcases.

The Korean site promised great success. Still, the Asian mentality is historically more disposed towards subjugation, total control, and even more so when it comes to Koreans, who have lived under the Japanese protectorate for almost half a century and have long forgotten all freedoms.

Juche forever

After a series of rather bloody political upheavals, the former captain of the Soviet Army, Kim Il Sung, became practically the sole ruler of the DPRK. Once he was a partisan who fought against the Japanese occupation, then, like many Korean communists, he ended up in the USSR and in 1945 returned to his homeland to build a new order. Knowing the Stalinist regime well, he managed to recreate it in Korea, and the copy surpassed the original in many ways.

The entire population of the country was divided into 51 groups according to social origin and degree of loyalty to the new regime. Moreover, unlike the USSR, it was not even hushed up that the very fact of your birth in the “wrong” family could be a crime: for more than half a century, exiles and camps here officially send not only criminals, but also all members of their families, including minors children. The main ideology of the state was the "Juche idea", which, with some stretch, can be translated as "reliance on one's own strength." The essence of ideology is reduced to the following provisions.

North Korea is the greatest country in the world. Very good. All other countries are bad. There are very bad ones, and there are inferior ones who are enslaved by very bad ones. There are other countries that are not that bad, but also bad. For example, China and the USSR. They took the path of communism, but they perverted it, and this is wrong.

The characteristic features of a Caucasian are always signs of an enemy

Only the North Koreans live happily, all other nations eke out a miserable existence. The most unfortunate country in the world is South Korea. It has been taken over by the damned imperialist bastards, and all South Koreans fall into two categories: jackals, vile servants of the regime, and oppressed pathetic beggars who are too cowardly to drive the Americans away.

The greatest man in the world is the great leader Kim Il Sung. (By the way, for this phrase in Korea we would have been exiled to a camp. Because Koreans are taught from kindergarten that the name of the great leader Kim Il Sung should be at the beginning of the sentence. Damn, they would have been exiled from this one too ...) He liberated the country and expelled the damned Japanese. He is the wisest man on earth. He is a living god. That is, it is already inanimate now, but it does not matter, because it is eternally alive. Everything you have, Kim Il Sung gave you. The second great man is the son of the great leader Kim Il Sung, the beloved leader Kim Jong Il. The third is the current master of the DPRK, the grandson of the great leader, the brilliant comrade Kim Jong-un. We express our love for Kim Il Sung with hard work. We love to work. We also love to learn the Juche idea.

We North Koreans are great happy people. Hooray!

magic levers

Kim Il Sung and his closest assistants were, of course, crocodiles. But these crocodiles had good intentions. They really tried to create a perfectly happy society. When is a person happy? From the point of view of the theory of order, a person is happy when he takes his place, knows exactly what to do, and is satisfied with the existing state of affairs. Unfortunately, the one who created people made many mistakes in his creation. For example, he put in us a craving for freedom, independence, adventurism, risk, as well as pride, the desire to express our thoughts aloud.

All these vile human qualities interfered with the state of complete, orderly happiness. But Kim Il Sung knew well what levers could be used to control a person. These levers - love, fear, ignorance and control - are fully involved in Korean ideology. That is, in all other ideologies, they are also involved little by little, but no one can keep up with the Koreans here.

Ignorance

Until the beginning of the 80s, televisions in the country were distributed only according to party lists.

Any unofficial information in the country is completely illegal. There is no access to any foreign newspapers and magazines. There is practically no literature as such, except for the officially approved creations of contemporary North Korean writers, which by and large amount to praise of the Juche idea and the great leader.

Moreover, even North Korean newspapers cannot be stored here for too long: according to A.N. Lankov, one of the few experts on the DPRK, it is almost impossible to get a fifteen-year-old newspaper even in a special depository. Still would! The policy of the party sometimes has to change, and there is no need for the layman to follow these fluctuations.

Koreans have radios, but each unit must be sealed in the workshop so that it can only pick up a few state radio channels. For keeping an unsealed receiver at home, you immediately go to the camp, and together with the whole family.

There are televisions, but the cost of a device made in Taiwan or Russia, but with a Korean brand stuck on top of the manufacturer's mark, is equal to about a five-year salary of an employee. So few people can watch TV, two state-owned channels, especially when you consider that electricity in residential buildings is turned on for only a few hours a day. However, there is nothing to see there, unless, of course, you count the hymns to the leader, children's parades in honor of the leader and monstrous cartoons about the fact that you need to study well in order to fight well against the damned imperialists later.

North Koreans, of course, do not go abroad, except for a tiny layer of representatives of the party elite. Some specialists can use Internet access with special permissions - several institutions have computers connected to the Network. But in order to sit down for them, a scientist needs to have a bunch of passes, and any visit to any site, of course, is registered, and then carefully studied by the security service.

Luxury housing for the elite. There is even a sewage system and elevators work in the mornings!

In the world of official information, fabulous lies are being created. What they say in the news is not just a distortion of reality - it has nothing to do with it. Do you know that the average American ration does not exceed 300 grams of cereal per day? At the same time, they do not have rations as such, they must earn their three hundred grams of corn at the factory, where they are beaten by the police, so that the Americans work better.

Lankov gives a charming example from a North Korean textbook for the third grade: “A South Korean boy donated a liter of blood for American soldiers to save his dying sister from starvation. With this money, he bought a rice cake for his sister. How many liters of blood must he donate so that he, an unemployed mother and an old grandmother also get half a cake?

The North Korean knows practically nothing about the world around him, he knows neither the past nor the future, and even the exact sciences in the local schools and institutes are taught with the distortions required by the official ideology. Of course, one has to pay for such an information vacuum with a fantastically low level of science and culture. But it's worth it.

Love

North Korean has little to no idea of the real world

Love brings happiness, and this, by the way, is very good if you make a person love what is needed. The North Korean loves his leader and his country, and they help him in every possible way. Every adult Korean is required to wear a badge with a portrait of Kim Il Sung on his lapel; in every house, institution, in every apartment there should be a portrait of the leader. The portrait should be cleaned daily with a brush and wiped with a dry cloth. So, for this brush there is a special box, which takes pride of place in the apartment. On the wall on which the portrait hangs, there should be nothing else, no patterns or pictures - this is disrespectful. For damage to the portrait, even if unintentional, until the seventies, execution was supposed, in the eighties it could already get by with exile.

The eleven-hour working day of a North Korean begins and ends daily with half-hour political information, which talks about how good it is to live in the DPRK and how great and beautiful the leaders of the world's greatest country are. On Sunday, the only non-working day, colleagues are supposed to meet together to once again discuss the Juche idea.

The most important school subject is the study of the biography of Kim Il Sung. Each kindergarten, for example, has a carefully guarded model of the leader’s native village, and the children are required to show without hesitation under which tree “the great leader at the age of five thought about the fate of mankind”, and where “he trained his body with sports and hardening to fight Japanese invaders. There is not a single song in the country that does not contain the name of the leader.

All young people in the country serve in the army. There are simply no young people on the streets

Control over the state of mind of the citizens of the DPRK is carried out by the MTF and the MPS, or the Ministry of State Protection and the Ministry of Public Security. Moreover, the MTF is in charge of ideology and deals only with serious political misdeeds of the inhabitants, and the usual control over the life of Koreans is under the jurisdiction of the MSS. It is the MOB patrols that raid apartments for their political decency and collect denunciations of citizens against each other.

But, of course, no ministries would be enough for a vigilant vigil, so the country has created a system of "inminbans". Any housing in the DPRK is included in one or another inminban - usually twenty, thirty, rarely forty families. Each inminban has a headman - a person responsible for everything that happens in the cell. On a weekly basis, the head of the inminban is obliged to report to the representative of the Ministry of Defense on what is happening in the area entrusted to him, whether there is anything suspicious, whether anyone has uttered sedition, whether there is any unregistered radio equipment. The headman of the inminban has the right to enter any apartment at any time of the day or night; not letting him in is a crime.

Every person who has come to a house or apartment for more than a few hours must register with the headman, especially if he intends to stay overnight. The owners of the apartment and the guest must provide the headman with a written explanation of the reason for the overnight stay. If unaccounted guests are found in the house during the MOB raid, not only the owners of the apartment, but also the headman will go to the special settlement. In especially obvious cases of sedition, responsibility can lie on all members of the inminban at once - for non-information. For example, for an unauthorized visit by a foreigner to the house of a Korean, several dozen families may end up in the camp at once if they saw him, but concealed the information.

Traffic jams in a country where there is no private transport is, as we see, a rare phenomenon.

However, unrecorded guests in Korea are rare. The fact is that moving from city to city and from village to village here is possible only with special passes, which the elders of the inminbans receive in the MOB. Such permits can be expected for months. And in Pyongyang, for example, no one can go just like that: from other regions they are allowed into the capital only on official business.

Fear

The DPRK is ready to fight against the imperialist reptile with machine guns, calculators and volumes of "Juche"

According to human rights organizations, approximately 15 percent of all North Koreans live in camps and special settlements.

There are regimes of varying severity, but usually these are simply areas surrounded by barbed wire under voltage, where prisoners live in dugouts and shacks. In strict regimes, women, men and children are kept separately, in ordinary regimes, families are not forbidden to live together. Prisoners cultivate the land or work in factories. The working day here lasts 18 hours, all free time is devoted to sleep.

The biggest problem in the camp is hunger. A defector to South Korea, Kang Chol-hwan, who managed to escape from the camp and get out of the country, testifies that the dietary norm for an adult camp resident was 290 grams of millet or corn per day. Prisoners eat rats, mice and frogs - this is a rare delicacy, a rat corpse is of great value here. Mortality reaches about 30 percent in the first five years due to starvation, exhaustion and beatings.

Also a popular measure for political criminals (however, as well as for criminals) is the death penalty. It is automatically applied when it comes to such serious violations as disrespectful words addressed to the great leader. The death penalty is carried out in public, by execution. They lead excursions of high school students and students, so that young people get the right idea of what is good and what is bad.

This is how they lived

Portraits of precious leaders hang even in the subway, in every carriage

The life of a North Korean who has not yet been convicted, however, cannot be called raspberry either. As a child, he spends almost all his free time in kindergarten and school, since his parents have no time to sit with him: they are always at work. At seventeen, he is drafted into the army, where he serves for ten years (for women, the service life is reduced to eight). Only after the army can he go to college, and also get married (marriage is prohibited for men under 27 and women under 25).

He lives in a tiny apartment, 18 meters of total area here is a very comfortable home for a family. If he is not a resident of Pyongyang, then with a probability of 99 percent he does not have any water supply or sewerage in his house, even in cities there are water heaters and wooden toilets in front of apartment buildings.

He eats meat and sweets four times a year, on national holidays, when coupons for these types of food are distributed to residents. Usually, he feeds on rice, corn and millet, which he receives on cards at the rate of 500–600 grams per adult in “well-fed” years. Once a year, he is allowed to get 80 kilograms of cabbage on cards to pickle it. A small free market has sprung up here in recent years, but the cost of a skinny chicken is equal to a month's salary of an employee. Party officials, however, eat quite decently: they receive food from special distributors and differ from the very lean other population in pleasant fullness.

Almost all women cut their hair short and do a perm, as the great leader once said that such a hairstyle suits Korean women very much. Now wearing a different hairstyle is like signing your own disloyalty. Long hair in men is strictly prohibited, for a haircut longer than five centimeters they can be arrested.

Experiment results

Parade kids allowed to be shown to foreigners from a privileged Pyongyang kindergarten

Deplorable. Poverty, a practically non-functioning economy, population decline - all these signs of a failed social experience got out of hand during Kim Il Sung's lifetime. In the nineties, a real famine came to the country, caused by drought and the cessation of food supplies from the collapsed USSR.

Pyongyang tried to hush up the true scope of the catastrophe, but, according to experts who studied, among other things, satellite imagery, about two million people died of starvation in these years, that is, every tenth Korean died. Despite the fact that the DPRK was a rogue state that committed nuclear blackmail, the world community began to supply humanitarian aid there, which it is still doing.

Love for the leader helps not to go crazy - this is the state version of the "Stockholm syndrome"

Kim Il Sung passed away in 1994, and since then the regime has been creaking especially loudly. Nevertheless, nothing fundamentally changes, except for some market liberalization. There are signs that the North Korean party elite is ready to give up the country in exchange for personal security guarantees and Swiss bank accounts.

But now South Korea does not immediately express readiness for unification and forgiveness: after all, taking on board 20 million people who are not adapted to modern life is a risky business. Engineers who have never seen a computer; peasants who know how to cook grass perfectly, but are unfamiliar with the basics of modern agriculture; civil servants who know the Juche formulas by heart, but who have no idea what a toilet looks like... Sociologists predict social upheavals, stock traders predict a St. Vitt dance on the stock exchanges, ordinary South Koreans reasonably fear a sharp decline in living standards.

Kim Il Sung

In 1945, Soviet and American troops occupied Korea, thus freeing it from Japanese occupation. The country was divided along the 38th parallel: the north went to the USSR, the south - to the USA. Some time was spent trying to agree on the unification of the country back, but since the partners had different views on everything, no consensus, of course, was reached and in 1948 the formation of two Koreas was officially announced. It cannot be said that the parties surrendered like this, without effort. In 1950, the Korean War began, a little like World War III. From the north, the USSR, China and the hastily formed North Korean army fought, the honor of the southerners was defended by the United States, Great Britain and the Philippines, and among other things, UN peacekeeping forces traveled back and forth in Korea, which put sticks in the wheels of both. All in all, it was pretty hectic.

In 1953 the war ended. True, no agreements were signed, and formally both Koreas continued to remain in a state of war. The North Koreans call this war the "Patriotic Liberation War", while the South Koreans call it the "June 25 Incident". Quite a characteristic difference in terms.

In the end, the division along the 38th parallel remained in place. Around the border, the parties formed the so-called "demilitarized zone" - an area that is still crammed with uncleared mines and remnants of military equipment: the war is not officially over. During the war, about a million Chinese died, two million South and North Koreans each, 54,000 Americans, 5,000 British, 315 soldiers and officers of the Soviet Army.

After the war, the United States brought order to South Korea: they took control of the government, banned the shooting of communists without trial or investigation, built military bases and poured money into the economy, so that South Korea quickly turned into one of the richest and most successful Asian states. Much more interesting things began in North Korea.

Photo: Reuters; Hulton Getty/Fotobank.com; eyedea; AFP / East News; AP; Corbis/RPG.

Recently, interest in the "hermit kingdom" - North Korea - has grown sharply in the world. This is not surprising, because the country claims to be the most closed and very exotic, and the forbidden fruit is known to be sweet.

We present to your attention 30 entertaining facts that, we are sure, few people know:

1. The average literacy rate of the population in the DPRK reaches 99%

True, given how literacy is defined, this is no wonder. The literacy of the population is determined by the ability of a person to write the name of the leader.

2. There are only 28 government-approved hairstyles and haircuts allowed in the country.

Girls are allowed to wear 14 different haircuts; married women are supposed to wear short hair, and single women can let their hair grow longer. Men are prohibited from growing their hair longer than 5 centimeters, while older people can afford hair lengths up to 7 centimeters.

3. Former North Korean leader Kim Jong Il spent 800 times the average annual income on high-end cognac

The father of the current leader of the country, Kim Jong-un, Kim Jong Il spent 700 thousand euros a year to buy Hennessy cognac. The median annual income in North Korea is estimated to be between $1,000 and $2,000.

4. The leader was an avid movie fan, and his collection was about 20 thousand films - in general, the man enjoyed life

Among his favorites were "Rambo", "Godzilla" and "Friday the 13th".

5. Less than 20% of all North Korean land is suitable for crops

The share of arable land in the DPRK accounts for only 19.08%.

6. Residents of the DPRK, especially those born after the Korean War, are almost 6 centimeters shorter than South Koreans.

It is likely that the difference in height is due to the lack of nutrition during the war, as well as the chronic malnutrition of one in three children in the DPRK. Citizens of the DPRK eat mainly corn, and those who are richer can afford rice

7. North Korea has the fourth largest army in the world

Up to 1.190 million people are under arms in North Korea.

8. The number of people who are ready to join the ranks of the North Korean army is approximately equal to the population of the state of Senegal

6.515 million men and 6.418 million women are fit to serve in the armed forces of the DPRK.

9. The total length of roads in the country is 25,554 kilometers, of which only 724 kilometers are paved

That is, only 2.83% of all roads in the DPRK are covered with asphalt. This happens because few residents in the country have personal vehicles.

10. Almost 6 million people in the DPRK suffer from food shortages, and 33% of children are chronically malnourished

According to some reports, 23.4% of North Korea's GDP comes from agriculture. It includes the cultivation of rice, corn, potatoes, legumes, pigs, and cattle. However, according to the World Food Program, due to natural conditions and lack of arable land, the DPRK is experiencing a chronic food shortage.

11. North Korea is called the most corrupt country in the world - along with Afghanistan and Somalia

According to the results of the Corruption Perceptions Index, in 2013 North Korea, Somalia and Afghanistan were countries where corruption reached a critical level. A score ranging from 0 (maximum corruption) to 100 (no corruption) is given to 177 countries. North Korea received an 8.

12. There is a "punishment of three generations". This means that when a person is sent to prison, his whole family goes with him, and the next two generations of the family are born in prisons and live their lives there.

This fact is absolutely, terrifyingly true, and you can read about what it means to be the second generation in Escape from Camp 14. We don't claim it will make you cry non-stop, but if you can read it without a single "Damn it, I can't take it anymore..." then you must be a robot. If you're wondering what a North Korean must do to end up in one of these prison labor camps, the answer is simple - a political crime. And a political crime is understood as criticizing the government or trying to escape from the country.

13. A six-day work week and one more day for forced "volunteer" work ensure that the average citizen has virtually no free time.

This fact periodically appears on the Internet, but its source is unknown. However, one can easily learn a little about how jobs are organized in North Korea. It seems that everyone after high school is automatically given a job by the government, and assigned to this job for life. However, the system is breaking down and the North Koreans are now forced to earn their own money by bribing their factory bosses. There are other jobs in state-run "companies" where you can earn foreign exchange, but you can't get there without a bribe.

14. In North Korea, the production, possession and use of marijuana is completely legal and is recommended by the "Ministry of Health" as a healthier alternative to tobacco. "Tourists tell stories of marijuana bushes growing loose on roadsides."

Surprisingly, this is 100% true and in fact even more. Marijuana is not the only drug that is legal in North Korea. The government encourages people to grow opium on land they don't use. As for marijuana bushes growing freely on the side of the road, it turns out that marijuana is often planted along railroad tracks to support the rails with its deep roots. Denatured alcohol, on the other hand, is strictly prohibited - and it is possible to "face a firing squad if you are caught drinking meth".

15. According to official documents, Kim Jong Il learned to walk at the age of three weeks. While studying at the university, Kim, also according to official documents, wrote 1,500 books, including six major operas. According to his official biography, all of his operas are "the best in the history of music". Further his sporting achievements. In 1994, the Pyongyang media reported that when Kim first visited the golf club, he completed 38 holes with brilliance, 11 of them in one stroke. All this in front of 17 personal bodyguards. After that, he decided to leave the sport forever.

These facts were widely reported even by the Western media immediately after the death of Kim Jong Il. While it is not possible to verify how many holes Dear Leader completed at a time, we assume that the actual number is slightly lower than official documents state. But Kim didn't just take sports seriously, the North Korean soccer team was allegedly publicly ridiculed for losing the 2010 FIFA World Cup for six hours. Better not to play football in this country.

16. If North Korea had launched its largest nuclear warhead to explode in Times Square, then it simply would not have reached him.

This fact is hard to confirm or deny without a real pilot launch, but it is worth remembering that in 2012 the reclusive country successfully launched its own satellite. On the other hand, as everyone knows, Korea simply does not have a launch vehicle powerful enough to lift something heavy enough off the ground. So this is mostly true, but the US should not be complacent.

17. The success of the space company of this country is 20%

This is a very strange statistic, as it is not clear what kind of success is meant. We think it refers to satellite launches, because of the five launches made by North Korea, only one successfully reached orbit. However, the North Korean government claims there is another satellite that went into orbit in 1998 and is currently sending patriotic songs into space. For science, I guess!

18. In the Hoeryong concentration camp in North Korea, 50,000 men, women and children are being held as slaves, tortured and experimented, as during the Holocaust.

The number quoted here appears to be from an Amnesty International report in the 1990s. One ex-guard who defected from North Korea suggested that approximately 2,000 people die of malnutrition in the Hoeryong concentration camp each year, but the number of residents remains constant at 50,000 thanks to an equal number of newly "elected" prisoners. The same guard estimated that 30% of prisoners have physical deformities such as missing limbs.

19. "Researchers" from North Korea have concluded that North Korea is the second happiest country after China.

This study was widely reported around the world in 2011, so you've probably heard of it before. What you may not have heard was the US happiness ranking. Researchers from North Korea placed the United States at the very bottom with a brief description: "Long dead." Hmm... we always suspected that all Americans were secretly repressed. I think we will agree with the Korean scientists… 😉

20. All teachers in the 1990s had to be able to play the accordion - and they had to pass an accordion exam before getting a teaching certificate.

This fact appears to be taken from the 2009 book Nothing to Envy, which chronicled the lives of six North Koreans over 15 years. Among them was one school teacher. Apparently her accordion exam was delayed due to the death of Kim Jong Il, although she was able to find a job as a kindergarten teacher until she could pass the exam.

21. Kijong-Dong is a propaganda town that was built by Kim Jong Il's father in the 1950s on the country's border. It was supposed to show the superiority of the North over the South and inspire people to desert from the South to the North.

But in fact it had no inhabitants. The government spent heavily and every effort was made to create the appearance of a functioning city, including lights on the streets. It was enough to look into good optics to expose the city, the glass buildings of which were essentially just boxes with a complete absence of any interior. The city also hosts the world's largest flagpole.

In addition to the empty buildings, North Korea also had loudspeakers blaring propaganda for its southern neighbors. Those, in turn, repaid the same coin. Luckily for everyone, both countries agreed to end their hype in 2004.

22. Every North Korean household and business is equipped with a government-controlled radio that can't be turned off, it can be turned down.

This is another fact that cannot be fully confirmed. Many websites report this, but the original source is unknown. But the fact that electricity is constantly cut off in the country, at least, suggests that the fact cannot be 100% true.

23. Idolatry in North Korea is such that a portrait of Kim Jong Il is the second thing that ordinary citizens have to save in case of fire after themselves (there are even special bunkers for statues in case of war).

It is impossible to say for sure about the paintings, but the 100% truth is that all the statues of the leaders are guarded by the armed forces, like the real leaders of the country. Even we, with our worship of cats, did not go that far!

24. It's not 2014 in North Korea. It's now 103 years old because North Korea is counting years since the birth of Kim Jong Il, not Jesus.

And what about those things that happened before Kim Jong Il was born?

25. Tourists in North Korea are only allowed to photograph what the party allows.

Each tourist is assigned a "KGB officer" who asks to remove photos in which the inhabitants of the country or the landscape does not look the way they should, and also indicates objects that should be photographed.

26. Mortar execution in North Korea.

It's just awful, isn't it? Yes, mortar execution is used in North Korea and that's a fact, but it's not particularly common. It was used on a senior government official who did not wait long enough to have a party after Kim Jong Il's death and was executed for lack of proper mourning.

27. The North Korean constitution states: “Citizens are guaranteed freedom of speech, press, vote, demonstration and association.”

This is of course true, and you can even read the North Korean constitution if you like. If you think this is defying reality, you are completely wrong, but the document also contains some "buts" that will not seem very "democratic" to foreigners. For example: "Citizens must firmly guard the political and ideological unity and solidarity of people", and "Work is a noble duty and honor for a citizen."

28. North Korea's economy was larger than South Korea's until the 1970s. Now GDP is only 2.5% of South Korea's.

North Korea's economy is even smaller than its own shadow. In 2011, the estimated GDP per person was approximately $1,800 per year, slightly less than, say, South Korea, which has a GDP per person of approximately $30,800. On the other hand, we assume that there is not much to buy in North Korea…

29. North Korea holds elections every 5 years in which only one candidate is listed on the ballot.

This fact hardly seems surprising, although we should note that while there is actually only one candidate for any seat in government, voters can, technically, veto a candidate. This means that they can vote against someone by crossing out their name - but to do so, the voter must enter a special box where everyone can see that he is making a choice and no doubt his last name is already on the "black" lists.

30. In North Korea, the number of Internet users is only 605.

We haven't been able to find up-to-date numbers for this fact, but we suspect it might be a little outdated. The use of computers and the Internet seems to be growing day by day, although it is mostly limited to upper class officials and students. For example, North Korea recently debuted its own Linux-based operating system called Red Star. In addition, some even say that North Korea is undergoing a digital revolution - although on such a small scale that we think "deviation" would be a better word than "revolution". However, it has been claimed that the North Koreans have a hand in developing software for everyone from Middle Eastern banks to... Nintendo and Sony? Mmm... let's just say we're a little... not believing this.

According to mixstuff.ru and muz4in.net

North Korea is a state located in the northern part of the Korean Peninsula. North Korea is the informal name of the country. In fact, the full name sounds like this: the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, or DPRK for short.

If you love, then be sure to read this article. Surely you will learn a lot of new things, although we do not intend to tell dizzying tales about the incredible life of the DPRK.

In fact, you can find tons of false information about North Korea on the Internet. It is certainly interesting to read such things, but if you want to know the facts, and not the fakes invented by talent, then welcome.

First, some data. North Korea borders China, the Republic of Korea (South Korea). It is washed by the Yellow and Japanese seas. The capital of North Korea is Pyongyang.

The DPRK as a state was founded on September 9, 1948, after the Republic of Korea was proclaimed on September 9. All power in North Korea belongs to the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) and its current leader, Kim Jong-un.

The main state ideology is called Juche. Its key principle is to rely on one's strength in all spheres of human and state life.

Kim Il Sung - the founder of the North Korean state and its de facto leader in 1948-1994. It was he who became the ideologue. He, in fact, is the main cult figure of North Korea, both in the USSR - and in China - Mao Zedong.

An interesting fact is that Kim Il Sung is officially the eternal president of the DPRK. The preamble to the new constitution, adopted in 1998, contains the following words:

"The DPRK and the Korean people, under the leadership of the WPK, honoring the great leader Comrade Kim Il Sung as the eternal President of the Republic, protecting, inheriting and developing His deeds and ideas, will successfully lead our Juche revolutionary cause to a victorious conclusion."

Moreover, since July 8, 1997, the chronology in North Korea takes the year of birth of Kim Il Sung (1912) as a starting point. Year zero is missing. When writing dates in documents, in order to avoid errors, both reckonings are used together in the form (May 1, Juche 106).

The day is a public holiday in North Korea. It is celebrated on April 15 to commemorate the birthday of Kim Il Sung, who is known in North Korea as the "Sun of the Nation".

In other words, among the North Koreans there is not just a cult of personality of the founder of the republic, but a real deification of him. Something similar can only be compared with the Egyptian pharaohs, who were officially considered demigods.

After the death of Kim Il Sung, who ruled the country until the end of his life, the DPRK was headed by his son Kim Jong Il. He strengthened the cult of personality, surrounding himself with the glory of the superman, along with his father.

However, in 2011 he died, leaving the reign to his son. There is a dynastic succession.

North Korea today

Now the supreme leader of the DPRK is Kim Jong-un, the grandson of the founder of the republic. He was born in 1982, and it was under his rule that relations with the United States practically reached a nuclear conflict. In one of his interviews, he said this about Kim Jong-un:

“Being very young, he got the power and was able to keep it. I am sure that many, including his uncle, tried to take away this power from him. But he kept her. So obviously he's a pretty smart kid."

From left to right: Kim Il Sung (founder of the DPRK), his son Kim Jong Il, and his grandson and current leader of North Korea, Kim Jong Un.

The population of North Korea is 24.7 million people (51st in the world).

Recently, the DPRK has become increasingly popular among tourists. And this is no coincidence, because the forbidden fruit is always sweet.

An interesting fact is that this country is considered the most isolated in the world. This is largely due to ideology, and not just objective factors.

Well, now let's move on to the dark secrets of the DPRK.

There is absolutely no internet access in North Korea. Of course, not for everyone, but for the bulk of the population. The chosen ones have access to the domestic Internet, which is called Gwangmyeong.

There are about 1,000 websites approved by the country's leadership that do not contradict the Juche idea. Just think, there are just over 1,000 IP addresses for 25 million North Koreans.

Many facts about North Korea sound simply anecdotal. For example, the country's government declares that it does not give its citizens free access to the Internet so that they ... do not completely become disillusioned with the West. How!

Mobile communications were completely banned from 2004 to 2009. There is currently no such ban. However, due to prices that are unthinkable for ordinary North Koreans, the vast majority of residents do not have mobile phones.

Diversity is good, but only within the limits set by the government. Guided by this principle, as many as 10 types of male hairstyles are allowed in North Korea. Women are more fortunate: they have as many as 18 hairstyles at their disposal.

Any “illegal” hairstyle has very negative consequences. Again, on the net you can find information that supposedly for the “wrong” hairstyle people are shot. In fact, this is a myth that has long been exposed, although no one wants to stand out with an original haircut anyway.

An interesting fact is that labor camps are widespread in North Korea. Any unfortunate joke about the current regime or a really serious crime can be a reason for arrest and sent to a labor camp for forced labor.

According to rough estimates, they contain about 200 thousand prisoners.

If we talk about the death penalty, then there are many fictions and rumors associated with it. Many of them are intentionally distributed by South Korea - the sworn enemy of the DPRK. Despite the fact that most of them are officially debunked, often, even highly respected sites publish completely fake messages under the headings “What you can be executed for in North Korea”, “15 misdemeanors due to which you can be sentenced to death in North Korea " and so on.

Therefore, we consider it necessary to provide reliable information on this matter.

What is the death penalty really provided for in a state isolated from the world? Here are all the criminal articles for which capital punishment is imposed:

Terrorism (art. 61)
Treason to the motherland (art. 63)
Wreckers and sabotage (art. 65)
Nation betrayal (art. 68)
Smuggling and drug dealing (art. 208)
Intentional murder (art. 266)

All other crimes are punished, as a rule, by exile in the camp. An interesting fact is that, according to various sources, executions are often carried out in public. Convicts are deprived of their lives by firing squad.

Pornography in North Korea is considered a serious crime. Therefore, she is severely punished.

From 1995 to 1999, there was a severe famine in the DPRK due to unprecedented rains and other natural disasters that destroyed almost the entire crop. It is believed that at that time from 220 thousand to 3.5 million people died of starvation. Terrible stories of cannibalism are associated with this period.

The extreme militarization (militancy) of North Korea is well known. The DPRK army ranks 4th in terms of numbers after China, the United States and India. It has about 1.2 million people, plus 7.7 million in reserve.

On January 23, 1968, USS Pueblo was surrounded and captured in international waters 15 miles off the coast of North Korea. The sailors ended up in prisoner of war camps, and the ship is still standing at one of the piers, being an important military symbol.

US ship captured by North Korea

At the time of 2016, North Korea, Afghanistan, Venezuela, Cuba, Nicaragua and Syria recognized the annexation of Crimea to Russia.

Curiously, the literacy rate in the DPRK is 100%.

North and South Korea are separated by the so-called neutral, demilitarized zone (DMZ). Its width is 4 km, and its length is 241 km: it runs through the entire Korean Peninsula.

It is on this territory since its creation in 1953 that negotiations have been held between the two republics of the peninsula. Despite its name, this is the most militarized border in the world.

79th Anniversary of the Establishment of the Korean People's Army

In North Korea, marijuana is not banned and is freely available. There is information that it is even recommended as a healthier alternative to tobacco.

The Seungnado May Day Stadium, located in Pyongyang, the capital of the DPRK, is the largest stadium in the world. It accommodates 150,000 people.

In 2011, North Korean researchers found that the citizens of their country are the second happiest country after China. They placed the United States at the very end of the list with a short note: "Long dead."

There are few cars on the roads of the republic. As a rule, these are either Chinese cars, or Russian UAZs and even Priors.

According to the reviews of many tourists in North Korea, the mechanism of denunciations of "strangers" is ideally adjusted. That is, if you, being a tourist and contrary to the ban, slip away from a vigilant escort from the state security agencies, ordinary citizens will immediately report this to the right place. This is done not at all because of personal hostility, but for reasons of the highest goals of the security of their state.

With all this, almost everyone who was lucky enough to visit North Korea says that this is a real historical reserve that has survived both and the Berlin Wall. What cannot be taken away from the North Koreans is sincere hospitality and naive, charming simplicity.

In the end, I would like to add that there are so many tales about North Korea that any dubious fact must be carefully checked. In 99% of cases, this will turn out to be a myth.