Striking Differences Between North And South Korea
Geographically sound or not, you surely have heard about Korea, a historical country in
East Asia.
At the end of World War 2 in 1945, Korea gave way to a partition which created two separate
countries, Democratic People's Republic of Korea and Republic of Korea.
Shocked?
Those are the official names of North and South Korea.
Strange, we never knew that!
Anyway, coming back to them, since separation, the two countries went their separate ways
and looking at them now, it is hard to say that they were once a single unit!
If Kim Jong-un has managed to ignite your interest in his country with his claims of
owning a powerful military, you might want to know about the striking differences it
has from its Southern companion?
Number 10.
Food Starting with the most obvious and out there
difference and that is food.
North Korea is facing its worst drought in 16 years and undergoing huge food shortages.
It is sad that the citizens of the country have to bear the brunt of this disaster but
the rich are showing no signs of a tough time.
Restaurants are still open for them where they can have their fill at $10-40 for a plate
depending upon the standard of the food joint.
While you may think this is economical, you’d be shocked to know that the average annual
income in North Korea is $1000!
On the other hand, South Korean citizens can choose from a variety of food joints and eat
exotic meals without having to worry about shortages.
Number 9.
Military North Korean women between the ages 17-21
are required to serve in the armed forces, come what may.
The right to choose a career path is stripped off them, that’s sad.
Move down south and you would realize that no such compulsions are placed on women in
the neighboring southern state.
Though the men have to serve the army, women have a right to choose whether or not they
want to do it.
But in 2010, a record number of women enrolled in the services as a response to the increasing
tension between the two states.
The major difference is that one part of Korea forces women into military while the other
provides them choice.
Number 8.
Education South Korea stresses on the importance of
education and so much that they pay their teachers 25% more than their US counterparts.
In fact, 93% students in the country pass high school in contrast to US where 25% students
fail to do so.
Aren’t we impressed by this country?
On the other hand, North Korea claims of a 100% literacy rate in both men and women but
the truth about their education system is hard to digest.
The studies revolve around their own nation, the leaders and their rules.
Foreign books aren’t allowed and the ones made in the country are full of factual errors.
Another strange thing is that as soon as you are born you are given a social class and
depending upon that, it is decided where you will study and what jobs you can apply for.
Are they in the same century?
Number 7.
Pop culture We all know about South Korea’s K-pop music
genre and have enjoyed their songs.
They always come up with shocking songs that have a sense of freshness, admired by people
around the world.
While the South Korean bands enjoy freedom of singing what they want, it’s not the
same for people in North Korea.
Though they do have music groups in the country, their songs revolve around praises for the
nation and Kim Jong-un.
That’s too much of patriotism or they aren’t allowed to sing anything else, we don’t
know!
Number 6.
Entertainment You can watch television in North Korea and
if you think there was no need to mention such a basic thing then know that the North
Koreans have access to only 5 channels!
Uhmm, something is better than nothing.
Anyway, one of the channels is devoted to athletic competitions because the nation is
a big sports fan.
Even though the country creates a hype about its love for sports, the practicality falls
short of waving the magic on others.
In April, 2017 when their Ice hockey team went to Auckland for an international tournament,
they had such battered equipment that they had to be given new sticks to play with for
the game!
Even though the country promotes sports like soccer and hockey, training and playing is
reserved for the wealthy which is in contrast to South Korea where sports facilities are
for everyone to enjoy!
Number 5.
Internet Which country has the fastest internet speed
in the world?
Yes, it is South Korea with 29MBPS a lot more than what you would get in the USA, 15.3MBPS
to be precise!
Population density in South Korea is very high and hence it is easier to give a good
internet speed to a large group of people.
The government also puts in effort to make internet accessible to everyone and has so
far be able to do so for 92.4% population.
Whereas North Korea lies on the other side of the speed spectrum with only 2MBPS speed
and an access to less than 30 websites for the population!
If anything is left, you also need the government’s permission to own a computer.
Unbelievable!
Number 4.
Fashion We can call South Korea as a fashionable country
because people over here love to portray their own style and experiment with it.
Talking about their northern neighbors, people have to pick from a few state approved haircuts
and clothing trends termed as western are discouraged in the country to an extent where
wearing such clothes can lead you to a labor camp!
The weirdest thing is that Kim Jong-un has appointed people to go around streets and
look for people making fashion mistakes and punish them!
Number 3.
Night Life In a country where there are rules on television,
fashion and even education, you don’t expect much in terms of night life.
Consider it strange if you find a night club open past midnight and when you step inside
it, you’d get the shock of your life.
Firstly, they aren’t open to locals and then you can’t dance in there because dancing
in non-state sponsored events is frowned upon!
South Korea’s take on clubbing is the complete opposite because people over there love booze
more than any other country!
And then big names in the music industry fly to this country so dancing all night is no
problem.
There are plenty of clubs to choose from especially in their capital Seoul.
If you want to dance away a night with alcohol flowing, you know where to go!
Number 2.
Height Do you that North Koreans are shorter than
their Southern friends?
This isn’t a myth people, a professor in a university in Seoul conducted a research
on North Korean refugees in South Korea.
It was found that the average adult North Korean was 1.2 to 3.1inch shorter than their
neighbors in the Southern state.
This height difference was visible in the children as well where the children from the
north were 1.2-1.6 inch shorter than the ones in South Korea.
What according to you is the reason of difference in their heights?
If you said genetics, you are entirely wrong.
Researchers have found that the population of both the countries are almost the same,
so we call rule out genetics as a possibility.
The real reason is diet, yes, it might be shocking but the malnourishment in North Koreans
is the major reason of their tiny stature!
Number 1.
Poverty People in North Korea are battling famines,
crop shortage, malnutrition and deficiencies.
They have corn and kimchi on their plates and don’t know any other food actually exists.
In 2010 the country scored 10.4 on the global hunger index.
Illnesses are widespread and the worst thing is that even though the government claims
of health facilities, people are unable to afford medicines that can cure them.
If this isn’t poverty, what it?
But Kim Jong-un portrays a picture in front of his subjects as far from truth as possible.
As per him, South Korea is battling poverty and the northern state is in a much better
position.
Can you believe that?
Which of these differences between North and South Korea shocked you the most?
Tell us in the comment section below.
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