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Ten Of The Craziest Things About Life In North Korea - Foreign Affairs - Nairaland

Nairaland ForumNairaland GeneralPoliticsForeign AffairsTen Of The Craziest Things About Life In North Korea (75047 Views)

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Ten Of The Craziest Things About Life In North Korea by Vianna(op):
If you commit a crime, your entire family goes to jail
When it comes to punishing citizens for misbehaviour, North Korea is about as hardline as countries get. Take the case of Jang Song Thaek, Kim Jong-un’s uncle, whom the Supreme Leader had executed in 2013. As part of a government purge by Kim, Uncle Jang was reportedly stripped and fed literally to the dogs.
For ordinary citizens, things aren’t much easier. If someone commits a crime, for example, they might not be the only ones who go to prison.
In North Korea, an apparent ‘three generations rule’ means that, if one person is jailed, their entire family might be too.

Credit

Re: Ten Of The Craziest Things About Life In North Korea by Vianna(op):
Sanitary pads and tampons are not available in North Korea

Women resort to using re usable fabrics or cloths. They simply use, wash and reuse again.
Re: Ten Of The Craziest Things About Life In North Korea by Vianna(op): 9:43am On Oct 02, 2020
8; The North Korean diet includes tree bark and grass
Food shortages in North Korea are so severe, the people occasionally have to resort to desperate measures simply in order to survive. One popular way of making it through the year is to introduce ‘wild foods’ to the diet. Wild foods are just as they sound: if getting hold of store-bought goods isn’t an option, there are foods that North Koreans can simply pick up naturally. Such things as wild grass and poisonous mushrooms and plants have been known to make already-starving North Koreans seriously ill.

Re: Ten Of The Craziest Things About Life In North Korea by Vianna(op): 9:48am On Oct 02, 2020
Women often offer sex in exchange for rice

Poverty is so severe in this country some women often offer sex in exchange for a few grains of rice.
Re: Ten Of The Craziest Things About Life In North Korea by gwafaeziokwu: 9:50am On Oct 02, 2020
Na waoo
Re: Ten Of The Craziest Things About Life In North Korea by uniqueboi1(m):
Op complete the story. Number 2 reminds us of Buhari '84.

That country is truly the worst world over. The people may clamour for a revolution that would wipe out the entire Kim dynasty.
But them no dae chop well, no strength for revolution.
Re: Ten Of The Craziest Things About Life In North Korea by Vianna(op): 9:51am On Oct 02, 2020
6: There are no condoms in North Korea
Condoms are banned from manufacture or sale in North Korea, and are blocked from entry at customs posts. That's little wonder STDs seems to be rampant in the country.

Re: Ten Of The Craziest Things About Life In North Korea by Vianna(op): 9:56am On Oct 02, 2020
5. Cold noodles are commonly served on wedding days
It is quite usual for someone on a wedding day to ask: “when can I eat your cold noodles?” which just sounds like a horrible innuendo to us.
As if there weren’t enough rules, you cannot hold a wedding whenever you fancy in North Korea. They are usually only held in the spring and autumn.
Korean newlyweds must visit the statue of Kim Il-sung on their wedding day to honour it with flowers and then take pictures. Also you can forget about having a honeymoon. Weddings are also prohibited when Kim has an upcoming important event. People also cannot marry on 15th April or 16th February because these are the birthdays of former leaders Kim Il-Sung and Kim Jong-Il.
On those days you can sit and think about how great your glorious leaders are instead!
Re: Ten Of The Craziest Things About Life In North Korea by Yaldee(m): 9:56am On Oct 02, 2020
So the only good thing in north korea is nuclear weapons. Still better than some place in west africa
Re: Ten Of The Craziest Things About Life In North Korea by Vianna(op): 9:58am On Oct 02, 2020
4. You’re only allowed to date someone if you plan on marrying them
Many things that we take for granted in the West, North Koreans are not allowed to do. This includes things like public displays of affection (including hugging and kissing, even for marries couples,) getting tattoos and having piercings.
North Korean men expect their brides to be chaste and to have been in no previous marriages. They must also be without child.
In the DPRK, if a woman gets divorced then it is always her fault and as such, she has very little chance of ever finding another husband. Domestic violence is not frowned upon and many men who abuse their wives will be supported by the government.
Again, Kim Jong-un gets a free pass to do what he likes with women. Female defectors from the country have described how school girls are pulled out of high school and taught how to become sex slaves and pleasure the notorious leader.
Re: Ten Of The Craziest Things About Life In North Korea by Vianna(op): 10:04am On Oct 02, 2020
Visiting your family in another village requires a government pass

Visiting your extended family or friends who resides in another location requires a government pass. As if that is not enough , making international calls and prohibited, there is not internet available to the ordinary citizen, no wifi. North Korea also offers only three television channels for people to choose from and all of them are government-controlled.
Re: Ten Of The Craziest Things About Life In North Korea by ismail4sure: 10:04am On Oct 02, 2020
For the first time, I'm proud be a Nigerian
Re: Ten Of The Craziest Things About Life In North Korea by NobleAngell(f):
I know this is coming late but Happy Independence Nigeria. I'm sorry for not valuing what we have here. At least this frying pan is better than fire (North Korea).
Re: Ten Of The Craziest Things About Life In North Korea by Vianna(op): 10:06am On Oct 02, 2020
2: North Korea is an atheist country
There is no official state religion in North Korea and most people are atheists.
The cult of the Kims uses the Juche philosophy to run the country. It is governed based on the rules of its dead leaders. The country’s calendar actually revolves around their leader’s birth date.
Some North Koreans do practice their own religions behind closed doors (primarily Buddhism) but if you’re caught then you’ll probably end up paying the harshest penalty.
Re: Ten Of The Craziest Things About Life In North Korea by Nobody: 10:07am On Oct 02, 2020
Yaldee:
So the only good thing in north korea is nuclear weapons. Still better than some place in west africa
Actually, many West african countries are much better than NK
Re: Ten Of The Craziest Things About Life In North Korea by Nobody: 10:09am On Oct 02, 2020
Vianna:
2: North Korea is an atheist country
There is no official state religion in North Korea and most people are atheists.
The cult of the Kims uses the Juche philosophy to run the country. It is governed based on the rules of its dead leaders. The country’s calendar actually revolves around their leader’s birth date.
Some North Koreans do practice their own religions behind closed doors (primarily Buddhism) but if you’re caught then you’ll probably end up paying the harshest penalty.
OFFICIALY speaking that is. In reality they worship the Kims, or deify them to some extent.

But private religious practice, not allowed.(They have one church open, but that's for the benefit of foreigners....)
Re: Ten Of The Craziest Things About Life In North Korea by Vianna(op): 10:09am On Oct 02, 2020
1. Women use opium-soaked tampons to protect against STDs
Opium is legal and cheap in North Korea. It comes in handy as a shield against the rampant spreading of STDs.
Women will soak a cotton ball in a light mixture of water and opium which they will insert and carry like a tampon until the next day.This is because there are no condoms available. One defector has claimed that the government is profiting directly from the opium trade and many local peasants are hooked. Yoon Yong Sol explained that during the famine, “there were some complaints that we should be growing grain, not poppies.
Re: Ten Of The Craziest Things About Life In North Korea by Vianna(op): 10:11am On Oct 02, 2020
Honorable mentions

In 2013, Kim Jong Un released a list of haircuts that people in the country are allowed. There are 28 (18 for women, 10 for men) state-approved hairstyles that people can keep.

Tourists visiting the country have to deposit their phones and computers and are allowed to take them back only before returning. Guides accompany tourists who must religiously follow the what guards say.

Falling asleep in a meeting while Kim speaks could fetch a capital punishment. North Korean defence minister Hyon Yong-chol was executed in 2015 with an anti-aircraft gun in front of over 100 people for having fallen asleep during one of Kim Jong Un's events.
Re: Ten Of The Craziest Things About Life In North Korea by Nobody: 10:11am On Oct 02, 2020
Vianna:
If you commit a crime, your entire family goes to jail
When it comes to punishing citizens for misbehaviour, North Korea is about as hardline as countries get. Take the case of Jang Song Thaek, Kim Jong-un’s uncle, whom the Supreme Leader had executed in 2013. As part of a government purge by Kim, Uncle Jang was reportedly stripped and fed literally to the dogs.
For ordinary citizens, things aren’t much easier. If someone commits a crime, for example, they might not be the only ones who go to prison.
In North Korea, an apparent ‘three generations rule’ means that, if one person is jailed, their entire family might be too.
Depends....your family may be ostracised or banished to a distant region sometimes.
Re: Ten Of The Craziest Things About Life In North Korea by solmus: 10:12am On Oct 02, 2020
cool




. Western Media Propaganda again



.
Re: Ten Of The Craziest Things About Life In North Korea by Nobody: 10:13am On Oct 02, 2020
solmus:
cool




. Western Media Propaganda again



.
I wish it was, but no

NK is an absolute dictatorship. Ruled for the beneft of the Kims and the Kims alone.
Re: Ten Of The Craziest Things About Life In North Korea by Vianna(op): 10:13am On Oct 02, 2020
Choice of the profession of an individual is decided by the government based on the country's needs. Those who do not comply are sent to concentration camps for forced labour.

North Korea cuts power every night due to the energy crisis in the country. Using electricity needs permission and owning a microwave is illegal.

In 2008, citizens were asked to give their stools to help with agriculture when South Korea suspended fertilizer supplies.

Mothers are not allowed to give birth if anyone is around and must go into labour alone. They are not allowed to meet their family or even husband for a week after giving birth. If triplets are born, they are given to the state as there are reportedly concerns over low birth rate in North Korea. They are returned on reaching four years of age.
Re: Ten Of The Craziest Things About Life In North Korea by iamyemiakins(m): 10:14am On Oct 02, 2020
Vianna:
Sanitary pads and tampons are not available in North Korea

Women result in using re usable fabrics or cloths. They simply use, wash and reuse again.

Re: Ten Of The Craziest Things About Life In North Korea by solmus:
lazypenguin2000:
I wish it was, but no
Oh!! it isn't so... I have had privilege of chatting NorthKorean Hackers, and counterfeiters on Darkweb with the aide of a translator, they are even more sufisticated than Russian and Ukrainian hackers, and their prices are cheap

Now before I started using deepweb, I was of the opinion that NorthKoreans are completely locked out of internet, and they all leave in labour camps

The NorthKorean was also of the impression that Nigeria was an undeveloped rural village with huts , malnourished kids, HIV everywhere

.
Re: Ten Of The Craziest Things About Life In North Korea by Nobody: 10:18am On Oct 02, 2020
solmus:
Oh it isn't so... I have had privilege of chatting NorthKorean Hackers, and counterfeiters on Darkweb with the aide of a translator, they are even more sufisticated than Russian and Ukrainian hackers, and their prices are cheap

Now before I started using deepweb, I was of the opinion that NorthKoreans are completely locked out of internet, and they all leave in labour camps


.
Those hackers work for a government office called Room 39. Their job...to raise money for the Kims

They don't work in the country, most of them are based in China.

Most of NK uses a self contained intranet. CAN'T have them exposed to dangerous ideas.. wink
Re: Ten Of The Craziest Things About Life In North Korea by iamyemiakins(m): 10:22am On Oct 02, 2020
Nawa o
Re: Ten Of The Craziest Things About Life In North Korea by Nobody: 10:22am On Oct 02, 2020
Do you know why I’m here?” he asked.

“Yes, I do,” she said.

“So where did you hear that?” he said.

She told him she’d heard the rumor from her husband’s Chinese uncle, who had heard it from a friend.

“What do you think of it?” he said.

“It’s a terrible, evil rumor!” she said, most sincerely. “It’s a lie told by our enemies who are trying to destroy the greatest nation in the world!”

“What do you think you have done wrong?” he said, flatly.

“Sir, I should have gone to the party organization to report it. I was wrong to just tell it to an individual.”

“No, you are wrong,” he said. “You should never have let those words out of your mouth.”

Now she was sure she was going to die. She kept telling him she was sorry, begging to spare her life for the sake of her two babies. As we say in Korea, she begged until she thought her hands would wear off.

Finally, he said in a sharp voice that chilled her bones, “You must never mention this again. Not to your friends or your husband or your children. Do you understand what will happen if you do?”

She did. Completely.
The above is a conversation between a NK secret police agent and a woman citizen. Th woman was being scolded for repeating a 'depraved rumor' about Kim Jong ill. Note that she did not approve of the rumor, yet is being threatened with punishment for thinking about such things.

From; In order to live by Yeonmi Park (a NK defector)
Re: Ten Of The Craziest Things About Life In North Korea by iamyemiakins(m): 10:23am On Oct 02, 2020
Which kain country be this
Re: Ten Of The Craziest Things About Life In North Korea by Antoeni(m): 10:26am On Oct 02, 2020
Living in Bondage
Re: Ten Of The Craziest Things About Life In North Korea by solmus:
lazypenguin2000:
Those hackers work for a government office called Room 39. Their job...to raise money for the Kims

They don't work in the country, most of them are based in China.

Most of NK uses a self contained intranet. CAN'T have them exposed to dangerous ideas.. wink
My brother all this things are European and American propaganda... NorthKoreans have access to internet routed through Chinese servers, it's simply western propaganda that paint others weird

Typical US media or mainstream media give you the illusion that Iran is under very strict sanction and though regime ... But there are several Business to Business Transaction conduct accross many platform under US nose and Iran is doing quite fine... A picture attached is that of an Iranian B2B group one of the countless ones they conduct International trade with

you can't be a hacker, nuclear scientist , Missile lunching weapon maker and not have far better education and standard of living US portrays , they even went low to call them grass and tree bark eater


.

Re: Ten Of The Craziest Things About Life In North Korea by KingAzubuike(f):
solmus:
My brother all this things are European and American propaganda... NorthKoreans have access to internet routed through Chinese servers, it's simply western propaganda that paint others weird

Typical US media or mainstream media give you the illusion that Iran is under very strict sanction and though regime ... But there are several Business to Business Transaction conduct accross many platform under US nose and Iran is doing quite fine... A picture attached is that of an Iranian B2B group one of the countless ones the conduct International trade with




.
olioxx:
.
You are very correct at the bolded words.
NK is a presumably useless country, simply because that is what US wants us to believe, but let NK denuclearize and support US, then the tone go change.
.
I have made it a goal never to allow myself be fooled by the propaganda of the West.
Osama bin Laden worked with US(CIA), but when he renounced support, the US labelled him terrorist.
Libya was doing fine during Gaddafi, but after NATO invasion, Libya's became a mess
Russia has being portrayed badly in western media, but the truth is Russia is a fine country, doing well for her self.
.
A principle in psychology called "Social Proof" is what the US love using. They and NATO will portray a sovereign nation as bad and then seek support from other gullible vassal nation and then start unleashing unfounded propaganda against a country, thereby indirectly enriching themselves.
.
OP my direct question to you is: Have you lived in North Korea for you to say all this about North Korea?
Have you also done your own investigation about all the alleged vices perpetrated by the US and her allies?
Abeg OP nor go fall for Western Propaganda ooo!!
Peace Out
They might not be propaganda. There are alot of documentaries I watched on natgeo about NK. Undercover agents with the aid of secret cams. Some of those things are real. And below is a quote from quora



North Korea is a very isolated nation, and deliberately so - I hope you will agree with me on that much? It is therefore nearly impossible to know anything in detail. Most of what we do know comes from defectors - people from North Korea who escaped. There are many books and documentaries about their experiences if you want to know about life in North Korea.

Needless to say, you will need to work very hard to disprove their accounts.

We also have things like satellite imagery, DPRK state broadcasts, and a handful of people who risk much to smuggle technology into the country who can report on what people tell them. The rest is a process of fitting the pieces together and making deductions.

As for why there might be lies and propaganda: I really can’t think of a reason. North Korea just isn’t that important.


Cc solmus hustla
Re: Ten Of The Craziest Things About Life In North Korea by Nobody: 10:35am On Oct 02, 2020
[quote author=solmus post=94530223]My brother all this things are European and American propaganda... NorthKoreans have access to internet routed through Chinese servers, it's simply western propaganda that paint others weird
They don't.

If you want more about life in North Korea, read the works of Andrei Lankov. Especially his 'the real North Korea'. You'll get the real stuff.(I chose Lankov because he is a Russian, and he is not Western influenced.)

Those hackers are from the NK elite part of the population. It is like you saying that the children of Otedola and Dangote are representative of all Nigerian children. They get trained at top NK universites.....and then get sent to china and some other countres with interent to use their hacking skils for the government

Because NK is a command ecoomy it is not as prosperous as South Korea, so they try to get money by a lot of illegl means. In the ppre-interent days it was by smuggling.


Typical US media or mainstream media give you the illusion that Iran is under very strict sanction and though regime ... But there are several Business to Business Transaction conduct accross many platform under US nose and Iran is doing quite fine... A picture attached is that of an Iranian B2B group one of the countless ones the conduct International trade with




.
Compared to NK, Iran is realtively free. Iranians have access to the net freely, and there is some freedom of beleief...albeit limited, but it is there.And Iranians can travel freely
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