About a year ago we met Perm traveler Elnar Mansurov, who has been traveling to various parts of the world for several years. Now his notes have grown into a full-fledged travel project, mishka.travel. Today FURFUR publishes a report on a trip to North Korea, in which Elnar told how he went to the mausoleum of Kim Il Sung, met Korean girls and was almost mistaken for a spy.
We flew on the plane with Dennis Rodman, who, after staying with Kim Jong-un, decided to lead the DPRK basketball team. It’s kind of surreal: I’m flying on a new AN-124 to Pyongyang, the flight attendant brings a burger for lunch, and sitting not far from me is a big dark-skinned guy whom I remember from playing NBA on the Sega console.
Much that is written in the media about North Korea is not true. Even the information that comes to television and the leading media in Russia is greatly distorted. For example, according to some of them, on Independence Day, September 9, a military parade was held in Pyongyang, which was personally led by Kim Jong-un. In fact military equipment there were no people in the city that day, there are many holidays in this small country, and any military parade is a costly event, so on September 9 we had the labor army of the militia (this is something like an army in reserve) or the workers' and peasants' red guard of the DPRK. I felt like I was in the chronicles of a war film, as if I was seeing off North Korean soldiers to war. Hundreds of ZILs with people in uniform, girls with Kalashnikovs, nurses, a military band and one long black limousine with a portrait of the great leaders on the roof. Koreans cry, launch into the sky Balloons and throw artificial flowers to the militia. There are no real flowers in this country; at the airport we also saw how loved ones were greeted with artificial flowers.
In reports on visits to the DPRK you can read about the cult of personality, the ban on photography from bus windows and the complete absence of cars on the roads. Times change, most of the facts become myths, but the truth is that in Pyongyang we even stood in a small traffic jam. On the roads there are mainly Chinese-made cars, sometimes our UAZs and Prioras. In the villages you can find legendary trucks with a gas generator, they are heated with wood or coal. We met them several times on the way to Wonsan, but Koreans react quite jealously when you start photographing them.
Phones are no longer confiscated upon entry - on the contrary, you can buy a SIM card from a local operator and call home, although it is cheaper to call from a hotel.
It is still forbidden to photograph military personnel, military installations, working people, as well as those places that the guide will tell you about (for example, inside a mausoleum or some museum). Ordinary people You can take photographs, but the guides ask not to scare the North Koreans, but to ask permission to photograph them. I travel all over the world with a bear head, but I was forbidden to take photographs with it against the backdrop of the monument to two leaders. It is also prohibited to remove sculptures that imitate leaders or cut off parts of the bodies in the photo. They may be asked to be removed. We still managed to secretly take photographs of the bear's head.
In the DPRK there is extreme collectivism and snitching, the system of denunciations works smoothly. Therefore, even if you run away from the hotel from the supervision of your guide, ordinary townspeople will immediately turn you in. Near the restaurant after lunch, I went to the tram stop, tried to get to know the locals, chat; the first thing they did was run away. And the next day the guide asked: “Elnar, why did you try to communicate with the Koreans? Realize that they rarely see tourists.” That is, information about this was already reported to her, and they had a friendly explanatory conversation with me.
It is still forbidden to photograph military personnel, military installations, working people,
as well as those places that the guide will tell you about (for example,
inside the mausoleum or
some museum).
Our bus driver was proud that in 25 years he had not been involved in a single accident. Probably because in the last 25 years there have been practically no cars on the roads, and the roads themselves are six- or eight-lane “concrete”. Nowadays you can see taxis on the streets of Pyongyang, and private riders on motorcycles are also starting to appear. It is quite possible that in ten years Pyongyang will not be a half-empty city, but will become an ordinary Asian noisy metropolis with all the exhaust fumes and motorcycle taxi drivers shouting and arguing with each other over the next client.
For me, the whole trip was a solid spy movie. And I must say, I was not disappointed. I sometimes record travel notes in the voice recorder on my phone, but once the guide, after our conversation with her, saw the microphone icon on the phone and suspected me of recording all our conversations. I expected that the special services would be of particular interest to me when leaving the country, so I hid the memory cards with photographs. But it worked out.
But Igor, a representative of the then unknown Ukrainian party “Udar,” was less fortunate. He loved to joke about signs and slogans, jokingly translating them in his own way; the Koreans did not appreciate the humor and suspected him of knowing Korean language. During a visit to the mausoleum, security officers caught Igor and interrogated him about “the real purpose of his visit to the DPRK.”
We were fascinated by one Korean girl, her name was Un Ha, she was a trainee guide in another tourist group. We asked our guide to organize a date with my single friend, jokes aside, but we managed to pull off the meeting. True, there were four of us on a date: in addition to the two of them, there were me and our guide. On another it is impossible. A friend took some French wine (I think you can imagine how much it costs in a closed country), I took a beer to enjoy watching what was happening. The Korean women drank only water, embarrassment grew, we discussed general topics about whether they were on the Internet, whether they were going to visit Russia again, whether they came across harmful tourists from our country. It looked like everything was like a pioneer camp and getting to know another detachment. After 20 minutes of boring monotonous conversation, our guide felt ill and went to her room, followed immediately by Un Ha.
That evening we invited our guide Dzo, who in his age most resembled a representative of the special services, to celebrate our departure, since our guide, Comrade Pak, was, by all accounts, really a guide, which was confirmed by her appearance in other reports. Our third guide, trainee Kim, was very young, his knowledge of the language was noticeably worse, so Dzo (we called him Jo or Tsoi) in our eyes was from the authorities. That evening our “spy games” continued. After we decided that we were all brothers and went to our room for whiskey, the fun began. It is believed that every hotel room is bugged, Zou turned up the volume on the TV to communicate with us frankly. He asked who was “good” and who was “bad” in our group, and said that Igor was clearly there for a reason. They talked about banned books, about the real state of affairs in Russia, and not about what their propaganda says. Exchanged with him banknotes as a souvenir, which, as it later turned out, went out of circulation.
We were fascinated by one Korean girl, her name was Un Ha, she was a trainee guide in another tourist group. We asked our guide to arrange a date with my single friend.
North Korea, or otherwise North Korea, is the most closed country in the world. It does not submit statistical data to the world information bank, so it is difficult to determine even the exact number of the state's population. Getting into this country is quite difficult, one might say almost impossible. And if you come to North Korea as part of an excursion group ( independent trips prohibited in the DPRK), prepare for the fact that you will be constantly accompanied by an “official guide”, and two more people in civilian clothes will follow in the distance, trying not to draw attention to themselves. But staged photos show us the prosperity and happiness of ordinary workers of the DPRK. What is the real North Korea like? Our article will be devoted to the lives of its ordinary citizens.
A little history and politics
After World War II, the former Japanese colony of Korea became the subject of disputes between the USSR and the United States. The Soviet Union established control over the territory of the peninsula north of the thirty-eighth parallel, and the United States established control over the southern part of the country. Thus, a single people was divided by a demarcation line. When the Republic of Korea was formed in the south of the peninsula in August 1948, the northern part also declared itself a separate country in September of the same year. All political power was monopolized by the protege of the USSR - the Labor Party. In 1950, the DPRK decided to take revenge and, supported by China and Soviet Union, invaded South Korea. The latter was defended by Great Britain, the USA and a number of other states that fought under the UN banner. Over three years of fighting, more than a million Koreans were killed and injured. But after the end of the war, the unification of the people did not occur. While in the south the country's development took a democratic path, life in North Korea became increasingly similar to existence under a totalitarian system. The country has established a personality cult for the rulers of the Kim clan.
Juche
All spheres of life in this state are permeated by a special type of communist ideology. It was developed in the mid-twentieth century by Kim Il Sung. This ideology is called Juche. Over the seventy years of the existence of the DPRK, this ideology has turned into a kind of religion. Any skepticism towards the ruling party, and especially the leaders, is equated to sacrilege. Juche is based on the principles of identity, which led the country to isolation and closedness from the outside world. Life in North Korea is built on myths. Citizens are told that they live better than neighbors and that in other countries the economy is completely stagnant. The country has its own calendar. It begins with the birthday of the father of the nation, Kim Il Sung (1912). According to Juche ideas, citizens are prohibited from “all kinds of servility towards other countries,” which in everyday life is expressed in the extremely cautious communication of Koreans with foreigners. Isolationism, which became one of the main slogans of the country (the so-called “reliance on one’s own strength”), led to the fact that in the nineties, when famine began in the republic due to incompetent management, the DPRK authorities refused to recognize this fact for a long time.
Tourism in North Korea
As strange as it may sound, arriving in this most closed state is like entering the mystical Shambhala. You won’t find air tickets to Pyongyang on sale for free - they simply don’t exist. The easiest way to enter the country is from China. The DPRK government, despite “relying on its own forces,” is loyal to its northern neighbor. And after the death of Kim Jong Il, a slight liberalization has been observed. It is expressed, first of all, in the fact that Chinese tourists began to be allowed into the country, and they were also allowed to trade consumer goods from the Middle Kingdom. Let’s not forget that many residents of the northern part of the country have relatives in the south. The liberalization of the last five years has affected them too. Near the border, in the mountainous region of Kumgangsan, a special tourist zone has been established, where citizens from the southern republic come with food and clothing to make life easier for their relatives in North Korea. Every year, about five thousand tourists from Western European countries arrive in the DPRK as part of excursion groups. From Russia you can only get to the closed country by flight Vladivostok - Pyongyang, which is operated by Air Koryo airline. Liberalization also affected residents Far East RF. The Nason free trade zone opened in 2012.
Restrictions for tourists
Foreigners' passports are taken away for safekeeping upon entry into the country. Until 2013, mobile phones were also confiscated. Only embassy employees are allowed to use the Internet. The country has its own network. It's called Intronet. Finding objective information there is just as difficult as hearing it on the radio or TV. All channels in the country, without exception, are state-owned. They sing praises to the current ruler, as well as his father and grandfather, and also tell what a great and prosperous country North Korea is. Real life photos, however, clearly contradict this statement. There are no exchange offices in the country. Citizens are prohibited from owning currency, and foreigners are prohibited from owning local money, the won. Also, strangers are not allowed into shops, train stations, or anywhere outside the excursion route. Tourists live in special reservation hotels. They have their own shops for foreigners, the prices of which are comparable to European ones.
Life in North Korea through the eyes of eyewitnesses
How do tourists characterize the life of local residents? The most frequently used words in reviews of the DPRK are “poverty” and “dullness.” Well-read tourists often compare the country to Orwell's novel 1984. Locals eat mainly rice and vegetables. Fish and meat appear on tables only on major holidays. But for various memorable dates (and there are many of them in the country), the government gives food packages to certain sections of society. These rations contain men's and women's vodka, mineral water, and sweets. For the holidays, discount coupons are also issued for the purchase of clothing. With all this, life in North Korea seems to be unusually pleasing to the population. People endlessly praise their leader, sometimes with ecstatic delight. But how sincere is this?
North Korea: the life of ordinary people
Despite the fact that official guides try to present their country in an embellished way, the sad reality is simply striking. High-rise buildings are being built in Pyongyang, but there are very few of them. The city mainly consists of dull concrete barracks. Along the streets along which excursion routes run, houses are plastered, and residents are instructed to place flowerpots in their windows. But you can notice that a number of buildings on the second line are devoid of this decor. The vast majority of North Korean citizens are thin or even skinny - this is due to eating only rice and vegetables. If you want to show compassion, bring chocolate, cigarettes, and cosmetics to your guide. But most importantly, do not try to secretly leave the hotel and, especially, talk to the local residents. First of all, it won't work. They'll just run away. Secondly, they will immediately tell the authorities about the incident. And in the end, your guide, who is responsible for maintaining the tourists’ faith in the happy present of the DPRK, will suffer.
Liberalization of the last six years
Since Kim Jong Il's death at the end of 2011, the country has seen some positive changes. If you believe the reviews, then life in North Korea through the eyes of those tourists who visited the state under the previous ruler has become more open. This is expressed in Everyday life. First of all, people began to dress not in paramilitary jackets, but in bright Chinese things. There are even cars owned by private individuals. But tourists in excursion groups are still required to bow to the statues of the two rulers of the DPRK.
Of all the Koreas in the world, North Korea had greatest number bloody dictators per capita. North Korea is a country of 25 million people who live, by our standards, a very strange and deprived life.
We wanted to know what life was really like for these people, so we sat down and spoke with a North Korean escapee, an American journalist who spent a lot of time there researching Pyongyang, and the grandson of an Asian country's ambassador to the DPRK. They told us that...
This is blatant propaganda, and all people know about it.
North Korea is home to some of the funniest propaganda in the world, but when you live there and all those bombastic messages in support of Kim Jong Un follow you your whole life, it doesn't seem so funny anymore. For Mr. Lee (the refugee we spoke to), every morning as a child began the same way: a loudspeaker blaring about the accomplishments of the Kim family and their regime.
Sun is up? “Kim Jong Il invented the hamburger!”
Sunset? "Kim Jong Il is the greatest golfer in the world!"
Combine that with a radio that never turns off and you have an entire nation of captive listeners. AND next question, which immediately comes to the mind of a Westerner: “Do people there really believe that Kim Jong-un has magical power? No, not all of them. For example, Mr. Li grew up with a great-aunt who suffered a lot of abuse and humiliation from the government. When they turned on the loudspeaker, she said: “Oh, they are doing their own thing again, they like to spread their lies.” Mr. Li's family has never been one of those who supported the ruling party's policies, so he is still adolescence realized that he national government He lies a lot to his people. He knew that many of his countrymen believed much of the propaganda. Although Michael Malice, an American journalist who spent some time in Pyongyang, has a slightly different opinion. He believes that most North Koreans know the propaganda is ridiculous, but they are too scared to say it out loud. “When you're in a public place, you better sound like a true believer. After all, when an actor is completely immersed in his role, he copes better with it.”
And this training begins very early. Overall, Mr. Lee says that about 30 percent of his education was completely useless because it only concerned the Kim family. When he was younger, he had full lessons on the lives of Kim Jong Il and Kim Il Sung. But as he got older, the teacher would only spend 10 minutes talking about Kim (who ruled at the time) and his achievements, and then tell many other stories about him during other lessons.
North Korean schools treat world history as an afterthought, just like American schools treat art classes. He was taught at school about the First and Second World Wars, about the Allied Powers and the Fascists, but not about the Italian Renaissance. He knew about things like Sputnik, but didn't know that an American was the first man on the moon (he was aware that someone had landed on the moon, but the teachers never specified whether it was Americans or Russians). And starting from middle school, he was also forced to participate in mass games and processions.
Have you ever wondered how these children can perform all the joint movements so precisely? This is because they begin preparing for them as early as at a young age(including on weekends), and North Korean teachers do not hesitate to resort to corporal punishment if something happens.
And parents know that they are also obliged to contribute to the common cause. Another of our informants who had previously lived in North Korea for several years (namely, the ambassador’s grandson) told us this story:
“There are photographs of the Great Leader all over Pyongyang, lavishly decorated with flowers, and surrounded by regular groups of adoring citizens...they go to these little kiosks, buy flowers, and then arrange them around their 'shrine.' Later that day, other people come here with handcarts, collect all the flowers and return them to the stalls to resell them to even more people.”
“One day I saw a girl, maybe 4 or 5 years old, who brought a rather large bouquet here (almost the same size as herself), but she put it near a photograph with one hand. Her parents started yelling at her... her dad hit her in the face. Is this a crime? Do not use two hands to place flowers near a place of worship. Then her parents bought her an even larger bouquet (this one was even larger than the girl herself), and she placed it on Right place with both hands."
This is what happens when public punishment resembles a prisoner of war camp. Because, you see...
There is almost no resistance, and the punishment for any offense is very cruel
People in North Korea are taught from childhood to report on those who even remotely resemble a dissident. So forget about organizing a mass protest or sit-in here, because you have no right to raise any objections even in a private conversation. As Mr. Lee explained: “It's something you can never talk about in public unless you might discreetly tell your closest friend that you're not happy with the Kim regime, and then only after one or two beers. Even with your wife you have to be careful.”
Before Mr. Lee fled his country, he saw several of his neighbors deported to camps. There is no ceremony here, and the soldiers simply take away entire families in front of everyone. People are forced to watch as neighbors who have just been doomed to deportation load their belongings into government vans.
Local residents know that this practice is used only in their country. But what can you do about it? If you want to imagine yourself as Braveheart going up against an evil king, keep in mind that crimes such as “treason” and (as most often happens) “being like someone who is about to commit treason” are punishable by life imprisonment or death penalty...both the accused himself and three generations of his family. You are not just condemned for some behavior or careless words, but even for a simple change in intonation during a conversation.
Our interlocutor from the [anonymous country] embassy recalled a time when a high-ranking North Korean officer took him aside and - in English - began to utter an opinion that was shockingly close to outright criticism of the regime:
"He said, 'What's happening here is a disgrace... but our leader is putting us on the right path.' He paused in the middle of his sentence, and I think that in the first part he sincerely told me his opinion, and in the second he said what he had to say... I saw his assistant look at him during the pause, and Now I'm a little worried about him. Because I never saw this guy again.”
People here only get a glimpse of the outside world.
The strangest thing about North Korea, besides all the other strange things we already know about it, is its position as an isolated country in the 21st century. At a time when Ukrainian protesters are lively commenting on their revolution on Twitter, and half of us have many online friends living on the other side of the planet, it is very strange to think about people existing in complete isolation, who are not aware of anything that is happening behind them. border of their country.
Although, in truth, some news does reach their ears. A North Korean, our diplomatic source, whom we met at Kim Il Sung University, told us about how they share their “smuggled” knowledge:
“One guy told me to read 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.” I was surprised: “Is this book allowed? - No!” - He secretly brought it here. And he asked me if people had already built any underwater settlements. I told him that there are underwater hotels in the world, and a very pleased smile appeared on his face. She looked like the one I see on my face younger brother At Christmas".
But in general, provocative devices such as mobile phones, DVD players and modern films are not always available to local residents. Possession of any of these items is punishable by death, which will be applied to you and anyone who happened to be standing nearby when you were detained. You might assume that North Korean citizens can get by without any of this. But if you think so, then you're grossly underestimating the human need to watch poorly dubbed bootleg episodes of the latest installment." Iron Man».
Mr. Lee told us that foreign films and gadgets are regularly smuggled into North Korea, but this is of course not publicized. Dealers look for likely buyers and approach them in the market. “They start with Chinese films, and then, if they see that you are not at all against such a product, they move on to American things.” In other words, Hollywood movies are like heroin on the North Korean black market (along with actual heroin, of course).
All this suggests that the Hermit Kingdom is actually much less isolated than you might assume based solely on the news about its life. Mr. Lee was able to talk to members of his family in South Korea, including his sister, who fled several years before him. North Koreans are quite aware that hunger is not an everyday factor in life in America, or even in South Korea. And instead of shooting everyone who understood this, the North Korean government should start changing its propaganda.
Michael Malis, Kim Jong Il's unofficial biographer and one of the few Americans who visited Pyongyang, explained: "Their propaganda used to say that 'we are not jealous of anyone.' Now, as the outside world has slowly begun to creep into their country, they have begun to claim that they support the ideas of North Korea, while South Korea is completely destroyed by America.”
After Mr. Lee's sister reached South Korea and confirmed that this "destruction" by America was more like a "friendship with benefits" between the countries, he began planning his escape from the DPRK.
Leaving the country is a long, terrifying flight
Any North Korean who decides to escape knows that his entire family could end up in a labor camp if the government catches him. Mr Lee (who used a fake name and only spoke to us via Skype with his face hidden in the shadows) had to work out a complex web of lies before he could leave the country. He said it was essentially the same as telling your parents you were "staying at a friend's house" while you went to a party. Only here, instead of continuing to live in peace, your entire family risks ending up in a forced labor camp, where all its members will have to work literally until death if anyone finds out about your trick.
Mr. Lee escaped two years ago. Fortunately, the illegal removal of refugees from the personal murderous Disney World created by the Kim family is not a random incident at all, it is an established international mechanism. Sister Lee saved him with the help of male smugglers and paid for all the services herself, because people who live in North Korea do not have the money to pay for something like that. And if you think all it takes is someone sneaking you across the border into South Korea, think again. Even if you have a specific location designated, you'll have to walk a very long way to get there unless you want to get shot several thousand times before you even see the border fence itself.
Mr. Lee was smuggled out of the country through a network of undercover agents on a long train journey consisting of walking, riding buses and passenger cars from North Korea to China, then to Vietnam, and then to South Korea. Each part of the trip was handled by a different intermediary who specializes in smuggling North Koreans along one specific route. Mr. Lee followed the instructions of each secret agent and had to trust that none of them would send him back straight into the hands of the “thought police.” At various points throughout his trip, he called home saying, “I'm safe in Beijing” or “I'm safe in Saigon.” After his sister heard these words from him, she transferred another portion of cash to the intermediaries’ account, and he could move on.
Obviously, the business of smuggling North Koreans is illegal in North Korea, although it is also illegal in each individual country. If you can get to South Korea, you'll be safe, but these brokerage networks are also illegal there, so you won't have any claim against them if they, say, sell you into slavery. As a South Korean sponsor, you risk paying them thousands and thousands of dollars for the privilege of having a loved one by your side who will not one day be betrayed or killed.
But nothing like this in this case Did not happen. Mr. Lee was brought to a part of the world where soap operas are held instead of mass games, where Internet cafes are held instead of labor camps, and where food competitions are regularly held instead of constant hunger.
For those who fled the DPRK, the outside world is a real shock
"It's like being in a completely different reality," Mr. Lee said. In North Korea they teach that capitalist countries are filled with people dying in the middle of the streets. Even if he was skeptical about this (he had seen many American cities on DVD, and many of the car chases depicted in the movies did not feature piles of starving hobos), he still had the feeling that capitalism was "bad teaching." He was shocked to see that South Koreans, for the most part, lived as they pleased, and quickly adopted the new concept of work that he was, in fact, paid for his work.
Mr. Lee also came here with a rather negative view of South Korean women, after decades of seeing them portrayed as sex-crazed, clueless young ladies. He always believed that South Korean women wore makeup that made them look like "clowns or prostitutes" (basically, government propaganda convinced him that Seoul girls looked exactly like the rich people in The Hunger Games).
He was also surprised to learn about human rights. Particularly the very notion that people have rights and that they can claim them from their government. The North Korean government solved its "human rights" problem by simply choosing not to tell its people they existed. After all, you cannot demand something that you don’t even suspect exists.
Remember, Mr. Lee grew up in a country where people are taught from childhood that even simple curiosity about the lives of their leaders is immoral. That's why his arrival in South Korea also brought him a shocking realization of some facts about the Kim family. He did not believe all the crazy propaganda about the achievements of Kim Jong Il, but the real facts from the life of the glorious leader were very different from what he attributed to himself. “During the famine, government propaganda said that Kim Jong Il was suffering along with the people, eating only one bowl of rice a day.” The reality is that it is now impossible to say how much rice Kim ate during the famine, but we do know that he spent $600,000 a year to replenish his personal supply of brandy.
If this were a movie, the evil dictator with an iron fist would get his due before the end credits. But in real life, the Kim family endlessly oppressed their starving little country for 65 damn years and got crazier every day they lived.
North Korea recently created its own time zone: Pyongyang Standard Time.
Starting August 15, the country reverted to the time used on the Korean Peninsula before Japanese rule.
It costs $8,000 to defect from North Korea.
That's exactly what it takes to get to China.
North Korea's per capita GDP is $1,800.
North Korean citizens born after Korean War, on average 2 inches shorter than South Koreans.
This altitude difference is explained by the fact that 6 million North Koreans need food and one third of children are chronically malnourished.
North Korea claims to have a 100% literacy rate.
The CIA says that literate people in North Korea are those who are 15 years of age or older and can read and write.
There are 28 state-approved haircuts.
Women are allowed to choose from 14 styles.
Men "are prohibited from having hair longer than 5cm, while older people's hair can be longer than 7cm (3").
Bill Gates is estimated to be worth five times the entire GDP of North Korea.
Bill Gates's estimated net worth is $795,000,000,000.
North Korea's GDP is estimated at $1545 billion.
The North Korean football team scored a goal against Brazil at the 2010 World Cup.
But the match was still lost with a score of 2:1.
If Pyongyang were a US city, it would be the 4th most populous city.
The population of Pyongyang is 2 million 843 thousand people.
This is more than the fourth largest US city, Houston (2.23 million).
North Korea is approximately the size of the US state of Pennsylvania.
Pennsylvania - 119,283 square kilometers.
North Korea - 120,538 square kilometers.
Less than 20% of North Korea's land is arable.
It's about the size of New Jersey.
Only 19.5% of North Korea's land is arable.
It's 8,800 square miles.
Number of people ready for military service in North Korea, 2.5 times the population of Norway.
These are 6.515 million men and 6.418 million women.
That turns out to be 12.933 million military personnel.
Norway's population is about 5.1 million.
Only 2.83% of roads in North Korea are paved.
All of North Korea has 25,554 kilometers of roads, but only 724 kilometers are paved.
Qatar's per capita GDP is 51 times greater than North Korea's per capita GDP.
At $92,400, Qatar's GDP per capita was the highest in the world in 2014.
North Korea's GDP per capita is estimated to be $1,800 in 2013.
North Korea was named the most corrupt country.
In the annual Corruption Perceptions Index for 2014, North Korea was named the most corrupt country.
Corruption scores for 174 countries range from 0 (very high level corruption) up to 100 (no corruption).
North Korea received 8 points.
The late Kim Jong Il's annual expenditure on cognac was 800 times the annual income of the average Korean in the DPRK.
Kim Jong Il, Kim Jong Un's father, reportedly spent £700,000 on Hennessy every year. That's about $1.2 million.
The average annual income in North Korea is estimated to be between $1,000 and $2,000.
“The last months have become a time of mass escapes of North Korean diplomats, employees of foreign trade organizations and mid-level officials. They have not escaped in such numbers for 60 years.”
http://tttkkk.livejournal.com/298199.html
“Most likely, these escapes are a somewhat belated reaction to the “Jang Song-taek case” and the execution of the generals, because in such quantities as in the last 2-3 years, the DPRK’s big bosses haven’t shot for 60 years. At the same time, the Supreme Leader , it seems, does not even feel any special respect for the families and descendants of the Manchu partisans, who from 1958-60 constituted the hereditary elite of the country and were practically untouchable (as a rule, it is impossible to shoot, demoted and sent to the village for labor re-education is possible , but in most cases - with subsequent rehabilitation and return to approximately the previous level).
Of course, there was talk again that “the regime is on the verge of collapse.”
However, Andrey Lankov, who wrote this on his blog tttkkk
, being a specialist on the DPRK, is skeptical about such rumors.
He adds: “... in the fear of God, the Young Marshal holds the elite, and its very top, and the people, as well as the lower and middle layers of the elite, including new business, is now living rather poorly by our standards, but still better than he has ever lived, and therefore has considerable hopes with the new Kim for further improvement of the situation.”
The closed nature of North Korea gives rise to many myths about this country, and in this case, many of them often turn out to be not myths at all, no matter how implausible they may be...
The most common stories tell about the total control by the state of everything and everyone, as well as the total poverty of ordinary citizens. Against the backdrop of all this, a rather unexpected discovery for many is the fact that in North Korea there are also rich people who visit luxury restaurants (yes, they exist in North Korea) and drive luxury foreign cars.
Feasting in preparation for famine
They can afford to pay $50 for a steak, despite the fact that the national average salary is about $10 a month. They also resort to the services of plastic surgeons to change the shape of their eyelids and give their faces European features; they go to expensive fitness clubs where they show off well-groomed body and a fashionable sports wardrobe.
According to human rights activists Walk Free Foundation, there are now about 46 million people in the world who live in virtual slavery. The organization counted the most “slaves” in India and North Korea. It is possible that, according to human rights activists, almost the entire population of the country fell into this category. The key word is “almost”, because 1% of the DPRK population live in luxury. Of course, special, North Korean luxury, but still they are astronomically distant in terms of consumption from the average North Korean. These are mainly the children of high government officials who, over the years of the regime's relaxation in terms of its bias towards the market, managed to make fortunes.
About 10-15 years ago the country began to move smoothly towards a market economy. The authorities are trying their best not to advertise this trend, but “the process has begun” and is moving confidently. The changes gained particular intensity with the coming to power of Kim Jong-un. The young ruler actively took on changing the appearance of Pyongyang, and during his reign in the North Korean capital, much changed in a Western way. Modern skyscrapers began to rise in wealthy areas, and expensive restaurants and fitness clubs appeared. All this constituted its own parallel universe for the local rich.
In the spring of 2016, the South Korean media reported the call of the DPRK leadership to its citizens to “prepare for famine.” The country's authorities called the reason for this depressing prospect “the difficult path to revolution.” It is difficult to judge how accurately the South Korean media conveyed the statements of the authorities of their bellicose neighbor, but even without this, a lot of other reputable world publications have repeatedly described the difficult conditions in which ordinary citizens of the DPRK live.
“Difficult” citizens are not affected by all these difficulties. For the “new North Koreans” there are sushi bars, gourmet coffee shops and chic restaurants, where wealthy millennials and their parents can order anything for the price of the annual salary of the average citizen of the country and wash it down with any of dozens of local beers. Fans of home cooking will be served in Pyongyang restaurants a traditional dish- bibimbap. This is rice with boiled egg, vegetables and, optionally, with the addition of meat. A serving will cost about 7 US dollars - this is even more expensive than in the capital of the “other” Korea – Seoul. Coffee prices in the capital's coffee shops range from $4 to $8, meaning a cup of coffee costs half the average North Korean's monthly salary. It is not difficult to understand exactly what kind of audience can afford such luxury.
The UN has been sounding the alarm for several years now about the humanitarian situation in North Korea, which is, to put it mildly, difficult. As many as 70% of the country's citizens cannot even afford the diet necessary to maintain health, not to mention all sorts of goodies and delicacies for pleasure. The diet of the “average” North Korean is meager and monotonous - rice, wheat and corn. Ordinary people can afford a small piece of meat only on holidays, and even then not always. The main holidays in the country, naturally, are the birthdays of Ki Il Sung and Kim Jong Il.
But again, these are problems ordinary people. There are no restrictions for wealthy North Koreans. After all, in Pyongyang you can buy anything - European cheeses, marbled beef, and Norwegian salmon. There are also no problems with good alcohol. You can buy anything from craft beer to fine champagne. All this is there, and all this can be freely purchased at the Potongan Rügen department store, but only for foreign currency, since that is the only currency they accept there.
Has changed significantly over last years car situation. No, you won’t see any traffic jams on the streets of Pyongyang—not a quantitative, but a qualitative jump is clearly visible. There are more imported expensive cars luxury class. According to UN sanctions, it is prohibited to import luxury goods into the territory of the DPRK - executive cars, yachts, jewelry, but all this, nevertheless, “leaks” into the country without any problems. For the first time in almost the entire history of the country, the first taxi services began operating in Pyongyang. Now there are about five to seven of them in the capital, according to The Independent.
Beauty will not show itself
What deserves special consideration is what North Koreans dress in, and what cognitive dissonances this may cause to a thinking and independent observer.
It is not difficult to guess that rich citizens of the DPRK prefer well-known Western brands. Most popular are Zara and Uniqlo. Even the “budget” H&M is considered (and in fact is) a brand for the rich. They are bringing famous clothes brands from neighboring China.
As in many other countries, the first lady, Lee Sol-ju, is a role model for local women. Unlike her husband, she likes to appear in public in bright suits, often wears lace, and even shoes with an open toe, which in North Korea is considered very daring, bordering on shocking. Continuing the theme of cognitive dissonance, it is worth saying that Lee Sol-ju, without any ideological problems, wears things that largely personify the West, which is so hated by the North Korean regime, namely a Tiffany & Co necklace and a Dior handbag.
But, back to mere mortals. North Korea still has a certain dress code, especially for women. So, even quite wealthy North Korean women can wear far from just any of the seemingly harmless things when going out in public. So, just the day before, in April of this year, a government ban on wearing “Western clothing” was introduced in the country. It is clarified that short skirts, sleeveless tops, etc. are now illegal.
The daughter of a former high-ranking North Korean official, whose family was able to escape to the United States, said that on the streets of Pyongyang they can easily stop any woman for wearing too flamboyant a style of clothing. The inspector in such cases writes down the name, which is then broadcast over the radio in the appropriate context. Lee Si Hyun added that due to the requirements for conservative clothing, people who can afford it go to fitness gyms, and only there can they demonstrate beautiful body and fashionable things. Among sports brands and styles, girls prefer Elle, leggings and short tops, while men wear Nike and adidas, says Lee Si Hyun.
Another undeniable sign of a rich North Korean is the “traces” (in a good way) of blepharoplasty on his face. Eyelid surgery is the most popular operation among wealthy North Koreans. In almost 100% of cases, this operation is performed in order to make the eyes “European”. The operation itself is not the simplest, and even in the DPRK all plastic surgery prohibited. As Lee Si Hyun says, you can leave the country for medical reasons for treatment, but “plastic surgery” is not included in this category. Therefore, those interested often turn to underground surgeons, where blepharoplasty costs from 50 to 200 US dollars. Only the rich can pay such money, but many North Koreans of middle income are ready for such expenses, since, according to Lee Si Hyun, in North Korea beauty is a serious competitive advantage, much more serious than in “free” countries.
As you can see, North Korean luxury is very specific and differs from “Western” luxury. However, everything is learned in comparison, and if we do not forget that in a country with a population of 25 million people, only 3 million citizens can afford mobile phone, eat your fill and go to the fitness room, such a “special” luxury looks quite organic.