Interesting and Unusual Facts about North Korea

here are some interesting and unusual facts about North Korea:

1. Calendar Difference:

 North Korea uses the Juche calendar, which starts from 1912, the birth year of Kim Il-sung, their founding leader. So, while it's 2025 in most of the world, it's Juche 114 in North Korea.

2. Three Generations of Leadership:

 The country has been ruled by the Kim dynasty for three generations—Kim Il-sung, Kim Jong-il, and now Kim Jong-un—making it a hereditary dictatorship.

3. Mass Games: 

North Korea hosts elaborate Mass Games, where tens of thousands of people perform perfectly synchronized gymnastics, dance, and displays for propaganda purposes.

4. No Internet for Citizens:

Ordinary North Koreans don’t have access to the global internet. Instead, they use a national intranet called Kwangmyong, which is heavily monitored.

5. Fake Villages:

 Along the border with South Korea, there’s a place called Kijong-dong, also known as the “Propaganda Village.” It's an empty village built to appear prosperous and encourage South Korean defectors—though no one actually lives there.

6. Restricted Hairstyles:

There are officially approved lists of hairstyles for men and women. Citizens are expected to follow these styles as a show of conformity.

7. Elections with One Candidate:

 North Korea holds elections, but there’s only one state-approved candidate per district. Voting against the candidate is technically possible, but incredibly risky.

8. Mandatory Portraits:

 Every home must display portraits of Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il, and it’s mandatory to clean them regularly—inspections are common.

9. World’s Largest Stadium:

 Rungrado 1st of May Stadium in Pyongyang is the largest stadium in the world by capacity, reportedly seating around 114,000 people.

10. Time Zone Change:

 In 2015, North Korea created its own time zone, called Pyongyang Time, setting the clocks back 30 minutes to distance itself from South Korea and Japan. They later reverted back in 2018.