8 facts about North Korea that will surprise you

Usually in the media, North Korea is portrayed as a completely isolated country that is ready to destroy everything and everyone because of its own ambitions. There may be some truth in all this, but still North Korea is something more than just an isolated world.

We offer you to find out 8 interesting facts about this country, which, we are sure, few people know.

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1. Marijuana/hemp is not banned

In fact, in North Korea, marijuana is not considered a drug, you can even transport it in haystacks, smoke it, eat it - no one will say a word. Many locals smoke cannabis regularly. By the way, hard drugs are banned in North Korea under pain of death.

If North Korea were easy to get into, hundreds of thousands of pot smokers would probably flock there.

2. Six American soldiers defected to North Korea in 1962 and still live there.

Yes, not only the northerners defect to the side of the southerners, but enemy soldiers also crossed into North Korea. So, back in the 60s, six American soldiers left for North Korea. Moreover, some of them left their relatives, relatives and friends in their homeland.

Now six Americans live in North Korea together, participating in various kinds of propaganda programs for Koreans. The most interesting thing is that in 1966, four soldiers wanted to leave North Korea and tried to contact the Soviet embassy. However, nothing happened, the embassy refused to help them. So all these people remain in North Korea to this day. Of course, some of them got married and are doing well.

3. There is a captured American ship in North Korea.

And yet it is North Korea that remains the only country in the world that has a captured US ship. The takeover took place in 1968. This is a reconnaissance ship that was discovered in time by North Korean intelligence and captured. The team, of course, was treated very badly. Only a year later, the American government was able to return the sailors to their homeland.

4. Korea is not a communist country

Yes, yes, in 2009 the terms "communism" and "communist" were removed from the country's constitution. Now in the country the official course, ideology is Juche. This doctrine replaced Marxism-Leninism when the country adopted a new constitution (in 1972).

According to this ideology, the citizens of the country of North Korea are the builders of a new world, including political, economic and other spheres. According to Juche, North Korea is a self-sufficient country or, in any case, should become one.

5. It's 103 years old in North Korea

The Juche calendar was introduced in 1997 and remains the country's official calendar today. The starting date in this calendar is the birthday of the first leader of the new country, Kim Il Sung. He was born on April 15, 1912. This year is listed as Juche 1. The whole system is built on the Gregorian calendar, only the system for counting years, as we see, is shifted.

6. North Korea has the largest stadium in the world.

This outdoor stadium in Pyongyang can accommodate 150,000 people. Believe it or not, it's always packed during official holidays when there are really unique performances. In addition, Koreans love to cheer for football teams, as well as follow other sports. The stadium was built in 1989.

7. In 2012, North Korean scientists found the remains of a unicorn.

And this is not a joke - North Korean scientists really announced their discovery to the whole world. They claim that the unicorn belonged to the founder of the medieval Korean kingdom of Dongmen. The found remains belong to the time interval 918-1392. ad.

Of course, all this does not stand up to criticism, and foreign colleagues only laughed at the North Korean scientists. Now the leader of the nation is often depicted sitting on a unicorn (and sometimes he also holds a magic wand in his hands).

8. Korea has "tables of ranks"

There are 51 such ranks in total, and they are based, so to speak, on the degree of trust of official authorities in citizens. In other words, the more trust a citizen inspires, the more he is committed to his country and its leaders, the higher his rank. Well, this, in turn, has consequences for the citizens themselves. The level of salary, the number of benefits, the ability to buy food - all this is determined by ranks.