Bizarre stories from inside North Korea

Even if you don’t know much about North Korea, you know it’s it one very different place. The country is infamous for nuclear threats, political tension, and its strict dictatorship under Kim Jong-un. Few have managed to escape or enter the North Korean bubble, but those who did it have some very strange stories to tell.

Click through the gallery to find out what really goes on in the “Hermit Kingdom.”




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The “Ambitious” haircut

It’s said that North Korean citizens are allowed to pick from a pre-defined list of 28 hairstyles.




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The “Ambitious” haircut

Apparently Kim Jong-un’s infamous hair-do is extremely popular among men. The style has been named the “Ambitious.”




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The “poop balloon” incident

In 2016, North Korea carried out a hydrogen bomb test which sparked outrage in South Korea.




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The “poop balloon” incident

South Korean activists released balloons covered in criticisms of North Korea as it was the only way to get messages across the border.




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The “poop balloon” incident


The North retaliated by sending back balloons full of garbage. Disgusting items such as used toilet paper rained down on South Korea when they burst.




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The amazing talents of Kim Jong-un

The ridiculous propaganda North Korea releases about Kim Jong-un has provided laughs all around the world. For example, North Koreans supposedly believe that he never needs to use the bathroom. 




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The amazing talents of Kim Jong-un

It was reported that school textbooks in North Korea now teach children that Kim Jong-un learned to drive a car at the age of three.




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The Lincoln letter

North Korea has a long history of making dramatic insults against the US and their military forces. In 2016 it took a strange turn.




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The Lincoln letter

In a bizarre publicity stunt, they created a fake letter from deceased US president Abraham Lincoln. The letter was addressed to President Obama.




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The Lincoln letter

“Lincoln” criticizes Obama’s aim to build a nuclear-free world, and even portrays himself as a bad leader.




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The unicorn lair


In 2012, the North Korean media released a genuine report claiming that archaeologists in Pyongyang had discovered a unicorn’s lair.




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The fake fans

During the 2010 World Cup in South Africa it was revealed that the North Korean supporters were not really North Korean.




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The fake fans

It’s common knowledge that there are tight travel restrictions for North Koreans, so how did they have thousands of fans cheering at the games?




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The fake fans

The answer, apparently, is that they paid thousands of Chinese actors to go to the football games and cheer for North Korea!




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The socialist Godzilla

Kim Jong-il was reportedly a huge fan of cinema and dreamt of creating amazing movies that would convince the world of North Korea’s greatness.




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The socialist Godzilla

To achieve this he kidnapped the famous South Korean director Shin Sang-ok, who is sometimes referred to as the Orson Welles of Korea.




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The socialist Godzilla

Shin Sang-ok attempted to escape and was punished with four years in prison where he survived on a diet of grass, salt, and rice.

Eventually he created the movie that Kim Jong-il wanted, a socialist propaganda knock-off of the movie ‘Godzilla’ called ‘Pulsari.’




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The propaganda posters

Visitors of North Korea always note the massive amounts of propaganda found on every street. The usual themes are the glory of the Kim family or Kim Jong-un frolicking with his happy citizens.




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The propaganda posters


Some of the posters are considerably more violent. The prowess of the North Korean military is often purported through violent cartoons of their greatest enemies, South Korea and the US, being killed. The scariest fact is that these posters are found in schools. There seems to be an active effort to mould the minds of young North Korean children.




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The North Korean time zone

In 2015, North Korea decided to create their own time zone, now known as Pyongyang Time.




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The North Korean time zone

They simply turned the clock back by 30 minutes.




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The North Korean calendar

This wasn’t the first time they decided to be different. According to their calendar, the year 2020 is known as Juche 109.




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The North Korean calendar

They decided to count from the year the original leader Kim Il-sung was born, instead of the birth of Christ.




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The fake village

 The border between North and South Korea is one of the most heavily guarded borders in the world. There is a stretch of land in between the two countries which is know as the demilitarized zone.




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The fake village

On their side of this zone, North Korea built a town known as Peace Village.




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