100 Interesting Facts About North korea
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Welcome to Countries Facts So Today I'm talking about Narnia under the reign of the white witch Tilda Swinton I am talking North Korea but what can get you killed in North Korea how did these chocolate pies nearly spark international warfare how the hell am I meant to reference Jennifer Lawrence in this week's video oh wait I just did two out of three of those questions going to be answered so get ready for some debriefing on what we know about the most secretive country on earth and keep your fingers crossed it doesn't get us killed in the process this is 100 facts about North Korea okay quick disclaimer before we start as we all know North Korea is a little bit protective and secretive and we don't know a whole lot about it but we have picked them up from very reliable sources to ensure that we are mostly ball free lovely anyway.
1 Before we get into anything with North Korea we have to look back at its history to the year 104 wait the year 104 is now for them it's not 2016 Wow okay screw the history bit then it's not the year 2016 in North Korea it's the year 104.
2 This is because they used a dude check calendar this calendar is based on the birth of Kim il-sung grandfather of current leader Kim jong-un.
3 In case you're one of those people who thinks that size matters I've come across a few of those North Korea is about the same size as Pennsylvania.
4 North Korea doesn't actually view itself as North Korea they see themselves as and call themselves Korea and don't particularly like the North bit no not you North but they probably don't like you either.
5 It's a shame really but North Korean folk probably won't ever see this video the internet in north korea is government-run and mainly consists of propaganda and I'm guessing this video won't exactly fit that brief also you can only have a computer if the government.
6 One thing to note about North Korea is their love of spelling OOP whoops let it change that in fact in 2013 a journalist was imprisoned for making a typo in a web article admittedly he had spelled Kim il-sung's name wrong which is a pretty big deal but six months in prison.
7 A lot of people say that North Korea is communist but the fact is it ain't technically NK an au jus chair like the calendar I mentioned earlier which translates to self-reliance.
8 North Korea is the only neck Rock recei in the world neck rock Racine means a country that still operates under the rules of a dead leader Kim Olsen was given the crazily named position of eternal president in 1994 eternity is still going on from what I gather despite the fact he's dead therefore North Korea is in the craw cracy.
9 Good news for North Korean fans of Snoop Dogg and the Grateful Dead marijuana is legal in North Korea and can be bought and sold pretty easily it's called Epton buy up there if you're ever visiting and fancy a quick puff now the kids.
10 North Korea claims they've invented hangover free alcohol too and I mean why would they lie about that wow this place doesn't sound so bad.
11 However in 2012 a military officer was killed with a mortar for drinking during the 100-day mourning period of Kim jong-il's death kim jungeun said he wanted only his hair to remain visible okay maybe cancel those plane tickets we just burped.
12 In 2012 North Korean archaeologists announced they found a unicorn layer which was meant to be the layer of the unicorn ridden by the legendary King Tong Myung 2,000 years ago so that's why we don't see them everywhere anymore they're all stuck in North Korea.
13 North Korea is often considered quite undemocratic but come on that's complete doo-dah in fact the country holds elections every five years however the ballot cards only have one option on them.
14 Based on your loyalty to the regime you'll be put in a social category consisting of 51 ranks if you're in the lower categories you could be more liable to being watched closely with a big magnifying glass or even killed like a pole covered in Lube this hierarchy is far easier to fall down than it is to climb up what that's a fine simile.
15 All music in North Korea is controlled by the state and has to glorify the regime in order to justify its existence.
16 If you get caught listening to same Pitbull you will be executed for crimes against the state all that counts for all western music by the way not just specifically pitbull.
17 To give you an idea of how unpleasant that would be one of the more gruesome execution methods in North Korea is death by flamethrower so you could be literally burn burn burn burned for listening to Ellie Goulding.
18 North Korea actually built fake villages by its borders they look nice and appealing that's a little bit like sender parks in order to try and get South Koreans to move to North Korea weirdly nobody actually lives in any of these buildings.
19 In the fake village of kiyong dong noir k have used loudspeakers to play propaganda 20 hours a day 20 hours maybe my neighbor is North Korean and the King dance music he plays all King days most propaganda maybe the prick sorry I'm going for a few things at home.
20 Not to be outdone South Korea also play extremely loud propaganda encouraging North Korean troops defect against their own regime they even sometimes play kpop so you know who that means.
21 North Korea has a three generation to punishment rule where if you commit a crime your child and grandchild will also be punished for it even if they aren't born yet.
22 In North Korea people have to pick between just 28 haircuts 10 for men 18 for women folk these are haircuts that the government has chosen as acceptable.
23 If you are a married woman in NK you have to have short hair all the single ladies all the single ladies are allowed more options.
24 Since the Korean War ended in 1953 30,000 North Koreans have managed to escape and move to the south.
25 The old leader of North Korea Kim jong-il we should probably show a different picture of him there we are anyhoo he was a big film fan who had a collection of over 20,000.
26 Kim jong-il loved films so much he kidnapped a director and his wife to make them make films for him in North Korea after eight years of making movies shin sang-ok and his wife escaped that's perfectly normal isn't it kidnapping your favorite director I mean if you've wondered why Edgar Wright hasn't made a movie in a while it's because he's in my shed.
27 one of the films he created was pulgasari a propaganda version of Godzilla which was created after Kim jong-il had seen the original and wanted his very own for North Korea Kim jong-il serves as the egg sack producer.
28 Swning a Bible or even watching South Korean movies are both punishable by death.
29 And it's not your [ __ ] American death penalty stuff either in 2013 Kim jong-un killed his apparently defecting uncle by throwing him into a cage naked with 120 starving dogs Wow Ramsay Bolton style.
30 One person who defected from North Korea sent air balloons to airdrop thousands of copies of the famous Seth Rogen movie that legit nearly destroyed the whole world the interview in to North Korea.
31 Kim Jong Il's body is preserved and on public display in fact it's the country's most popular attraction he is buried with an Apple MacBook Pro and his Moulton Liam contains a car a yacht and a train carriage no polgár sorry though lame.
32 You are only allowed to communicate with people inside North Korea if you are inside North Korea international calls are illegal and guess what punishable by death.
33 In 2013 a Korean man was executed by firing squad for calling his friend in South Korea Wow roaming charges can be murder a no come on a man's dead.
34 North Korea only has five TV channels which are of course state-run sadly they're only available after 5:00 p.m. and on the weekends is it weird that I imagine it's this guy presenting all of it.
35 In the 99 okay this fact is really serious and morbid so I'm just going to get professional to do it instead Robin from all-time conspiracies ildo in the 1990s approximately 3 million people died from famine in North Korea some people even resorted to cannibalism.
36 Since 1990 12,000 710 people have migrated to North Korea.
37 School slash University / Hogwarts if you're watching from there consult right well it could be so much worse students in nor K are required to pay for everything apart from their teacher in school this includes desks chairs and even the heating.
38 Students even have to wear their uniform at all times even when not to school at all times does I even mean in the shower.
39 According to a North Korean defector schoolteachers math science music in the arts but by far the most important subject is the history of the Kim family no no the arbic Kim family there.
40 According to a textbook in North Korea Kim jong-un learned to drive at the age of 3 hey me too I mean it was at Legoland that kind of counts right.
41 If you were born on either July the 8th of December the 17th you are not allowed to celebrate your birthday as those are the dates that Kim will soon and Kim jong-il died so cancel that chuck-e-cheese reservation you have if you have those in North Korea wait you're not watching if you're in North Korea.
42 North Korea or are you the meaning of life it is said you can only live in Pyongyang North Korea's capital city if you consider to be among the best people according to the Guardian three million people lived there who were considered trustworthy healthy and loyal in order to keep up appearances to foreign countries.
43 If you are caught criticizing the government you will be sent to a re-education camp here you must endure hard labor and have to relearn the values of the regime which I can't imagine being particularly pleasant.
44 It isn't particularly pleasant Sam in fact they're often horrifying in one of the North Korean camps a mother was forced to drown her child because it wouldn't stop crying.
45 North Korea has a huge lack of natural resources for its fertilizer it often uses human feces which it demands from its people I thought these raw North Korean potatoes desert Appalachia I just assumed Matt Damon to give them to me.
46 The world's largest stadium rain Grado made a stadium is situated in Pyongyang it can hold 150 thousand people perfect for a concert actually.
47 In fact in 2013 80 Christians were publicly executed in a stadium just for owning a Bible.
48 Once captured a boat named the USS Pueblo they are so proud of this achievement they like to show it off at a museum it is the only American Navy vessel still being held captive to this very day wouldn't have happened if Popeye was on board.
49 One of the highest crimes in North Korea is to leave the country without state permission you aren't even permitted to travel in return for a vacation presumably because you then realize that literally everywhere else on the planet is better.
50 If you're caught by the authorities on a holiday you will be forcibly returned to the country and sent to labor camps so probably not worth a trip to Ibiza.
51 Put away those apple bottom jeans as it's illegal to wear jeans in North Korea the boots with the fur probably aren't a great idea either.
52 The zone between North Korea and South Korea is called the Demilitarized Zone which technically speaking is actually the most militarized Zone in the world the lesson here is don't judge a book by it's cover.
53 In 2011 a piece of graffiti against Kim jong-il was found in Pyongyang as a result they locked down the whole city for three days Wow if banks he lived there nothing would ever get done.
54 The national animal for North Korea is the chily mer a mythical winged horse that's so silly what other country with other mythical animals there.
55 In 2013 Kim Shingen reportedly had his ex-girlfriend executed in front of her family by a firing squad for making a sex tape with an orchestra I'm trying really really hard not to make an American Pie joke here by the way anyway the year afterwards she was seen on TV very much alive Kim jong-un claimed the execution rumor was the work of the South Korean government.
56 North Korea had over 1 million people in their military your art showing off.
57 Kim jong-un's older brother Kim jong-nam was arrested in 2001 when traveling to Disneyland in Tokyo on a forged Passport oh man he just wanted to ride the Space Mountain.
58 Kim jong-il was recognized by over 50 titles including supreme leader our father the general and Generalissimo which are all things that I make my assistant Clive call me weirdly.
59 Kim jong-il had a fear of flying which is why he ordered a private train to be made to allow him to visit certain areas of the country to be fair if I had that kind of power I never to blind going from my flat to a Domino's restaurant which don't even exist I'd also make those exist too.
60 The average salary in North Korea is $1,500 compared to the American average of $50,000.
61 The Rio Kyung hotel is the tallest building in the country but despite construction beginning in 1987 it still isn't finished it has 105 floors with 3,000 rooms which are all empty.
62 As we all know South Korea and North Korea aren't on the best of terms but can you guess what one of their disputes has been about well it's this at choco-pie.
63 In 2014 kim jungeun ban choco pies because they were becoming so popular and so valuable on the black market he believed they may encourage an uprising against him somehow an uprising led by chocolate and marshmallow now that is something I can get behind Nintendo.
64 The reason they were so popular as big as North Korean workers who worked at the choco pie factory owned by South Korea were paid bonuses in choco pies which they would then sell on for more to try and make money.
65 According to the Washington Post North Korea authorities claimed South Korea was trying to invade the stomach's of the Korean people and so banned them.
66 Because of this South Korea launched 50 balloons carrying choco pies into North Korea viewing this as an ideological threat North Korea did the classic North Korea thing are threatening to shell anybody who sent any more pies.
67 After the death of Kim jong-il thousands of people face six-month sentences in prison camps due to not being sufficiently upset enough Wow imagine if it was like that in Britain the stiff-upper-lip would kill us all.
68 According to a 2013 BBC documentary North Korea a state of mind some residences in North Korea have a radio tuned to government controlled frequency that can't be turned off only down.
69 After hearing all this I bet you're thinking hey I want to move to North Korea and become a teacher right well if you want to be a teacher within North Korea you have to have one very specific qualification the ability to play the accordion.
70 In 2015 North Korea created its own time zone called Pyongyang time eight eight and a half hours ahead of GMT in case you want to set your watch.
71 Kim jong-un reportedly imports vast quantities of Swiss cheese into North Korea as he is addicted to it.
72 In 2015 South Korea stated he weighs 180 kilograms that's 20 stone if you're watching this jongen South Korea said that okay not me don't shoot the messenger.
73 Basketball hoop hopper isn't that what they called Dennis Rodman is apparently friends with Kim jong-un.
74 Kim jong-un and has even been over to visit Kim jong-un loves ball and even played it with him while offering a vow of eternal friendship oh how sweet and not all weird or creepy.
75 In North Korea basketball rules have been changed so you were able to get four pointers and you can lose points for missing free throws I mean I don't know what any of that means I'm more of a squash guy but I just thought I'd let you know North Korea is tied with Somalia as the most corrupt country in the world scoring an 8 out of a hundred on the corruption perceptions index scale by the way one is very corrupt and a hundred is not corrupt at all just in case you were confused like me and thought oh actually that's quite good.
76 Christmas our Christmas it is not a thing in North Korea instead they celebrate the birth of Kim Jong Il's mother's birthday on December the 24th happy.
77 The government strictly controls all levels of education in North Korea so it's unlikely this video is going to be shown in any classroom unlike everywhere else in the world am i right students yeah anyway according to the CIA the literacy rate of those aged 15 plus in North Korea is 100% although this is a number given by the North Korean government themselves but why would they lie.
78 Kim jong-il was only 5 foot 2 and wore chunky shoes and sported a springy haircut to make him appear taller hear that Clive that's a tip there if you make.
79 On the rare occasion Western visitors are actually allowed they are situated in a hotel on an island in Pyongyang where power heat etc etc are available 24/7 Wow fantastic service according to Huffington Post this is the stop the visitors seeing the things the government doesn't want them.
80 Apparently upon entering the country your laptop is searched for movies that they deem controversial such as again the Seth Rogen movie that nearly destroyed a life from a planet at the interview and pornography so make sure you pack your very vest oh they're checking you don't have any not the quality of the stuff you have okay I've got it now.
81 You are not allowed to take photos of the poor as the country feel it will ruin their image like pretty much everything in nor K it's a punishable offense.
82 On top of that tourists aren't allowed to talk to locals they can't even try as they are kept under watched by a tour guide the entire time they are there and can't explore anywhere on their own.
83 The country is very anti-us surprise surprise blaming a lot of their problems on Uncle Sam the country not your Uncle Sam or indeed me.
84 However despite all the hatred North Korea has a favourite in the 2016 US political race and that candidate is right-wing human Cheeto Donald Trump a propaganda website back to him saying he is a very wise man and that the US should vote for him over the thick head Hillary hmm a country that hates America endorsing Donald Trump.
85 Even walking about in North Korea is dangerous many of North Korea's traffic lights don't work and somehow traffic ladies to direct all the traffic.
86 North Korea has nukes and it wants you to know about it they've openly admitted that they have nuclear weapons and have bragged about it too hmm your art showing off.
87 The first test of these weapons were in 2006 and it's been tested again in 2009 2013 and 2016 experts slightly doubt the size of the explosions registered.
88 Their main reason for having these weapons wasn't because Kim jong-il particularly liked fireworks they claim it's to guarantee the security of their regime in the face of their enemies.
89 Apart from the few that had been tested it is unknown how many nuclear weapons North Korea owns it wants you to think it's loads oh like that kid at school who bragged about having all the pokemon cards ever but the only ones who ever saw were a man keenest army.
90 It was reported in 2014 that North Korea told their people they won the World Cup this was then revealed to be a hoax but the fact we all believed it probably says a lot.
91 The elite in North Korea can chow down on McDonald's burgers which are delivered every day from Beijing by plane cranking I've heard of a sausage and Eggman often run but that is ridiculous.
92 The only people allowed to use vehicles in North Korea are government and military officials top gear North Korea must be being boring.
93 Allegedly according to defectors North Korea's officials have 2,000 women recruited as part of a kippah mojo or a pleasure squat it's exactly what you're thinking it is each performer is paid fairly highly in actual money and um home appliances apparently.
94 North Korea regularly released pictures to the world to glorify their power a bit like we all do on snapchat come on we've all done it one of these images is Kim jong-un at the test for missile launch however some of these photos have been proven to be photoshopped.
95 North Korea's space programs abbreviation is na da which in Spanish translates are nothing hilariously nada.
96 The constitution of North Korea states the citizens are guaranteed freedom of speech of the press of assembly demonstration and Association I don't think they've um read that recently.
97 North Korea has allegedly been selling its citizens as slaves to other countries around the globe for instance to Russia.
98 Kim jong-il used to spend 1.2 million dollars on Hennessy each year now that he's gone I bet they could put that one point two million dollars to better use now for example I don't know feeding all the starving people at all no way they're just going to use it for Kim jong-un's cheese.
99 According to Business Insider and the CIA out of twenty five thousand five hundred fifty four kilometers of road only seven hundred and twenty four kilometers it's actually paved at least it Samsung I guess.
100 Seems right no one takes me see and so I'm running Wow quite how we won or killed of this I honestly will never know and it cost approximately $8,000 to defect and escape from North Korea into China considering those lucky enough to have salaries on an average of 1.5 thousand a year that's a lot of sailing up to do but probably worth it you can finally wear jeans and not be scared of dying all the time for instance that was 100 fact about North Korea and I don't hurt you but I had a lovely but harrowing time.
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