Hello and welcome back to the Most Amazing Channel on the internet.
I am your host Rebecca Felgate and today we are delving into the enigma that is the Democratic
Republic of North Korea and the world of Kim Jong Un as we discuss the Top 10 Scary North
Korean Mysteries.
North Korea has often been referred to as the Hermit Nation - little is known about
what happens in the country, other than small pieces of information Kim Jong Un Wants us
to know, which means there are plenty of secrets.
Join me as we have a look at some of the more mysterious goings on and try and guess what
on earth is at the bottom of them.
Before we get into the video though, I just want to remind you guys to stick around until
the end where we will be
10 - The Bullet Proof Train Kim Jong Un's dad, Kim Jong Il, was thought
to have died on the North Korean Mystery train, before being transported back to Pyongyang.
Kim inherited the train which he is said to use to slip in and out of China and Russia.
What is inside the mystery train, we don't really know.
From the outside it is unassuming but it is rumoured to be filled with wine, lobster and
karaoke!
9 - Kim's Health Kim Jong Un started his turn as dictator a
lot thinner than he is now.
Reports vary, but many say he has put on as much as 30 kilos, perhaps even more.
He has also gone missing for months on end, only to return looking bloated and yielding
a walking stick.
His ballooning weight and odd behaviour over recent years has led people to speculate he
could be suffering from a breadth of illnesses, including diabetes, gout, high blood pressure,
high cholesterol, possible heart disease and psychological issues.
Some even suspect he has a sexually transmitted disease.
Kim is suspected by western media to be a heavy drinker and smoker and is thought to
love fatty foods!
Why is this such a scary mystery?
Well In such a fragile state as North Korea, the death of Kim Jong Un would cause a lot
of instability in an already tense region.
As American Senior Research fellow for Northeast Asia, Bruce Klinger put it - "Health conditions,
including use of medicines or drugs, can impact a foreign leader's decision-making and an
expected death or debilitation of a leader can cause instability in a country with potential
consequences for U.S. interests."
What he is truly suffering from, we do not know.
How this effects his decision making?
Eesh, We will see.
8 - Life Outside the Propaganda Bubble.
So right now press and tourists alike CAN visit North Korea but they are heavily guarded
by North Korean officials.
Tours of Pyongyang are offered but there are areas that photographers are banned from going
and only The veneer one sees of the North Korean capital is of modernity.
There are also ski resorts and water parks that tourists can visit... but stray off the
beaten path and you could end up in jail.
We don't really know what goes on in the areas tourists cant visit.
From those who have escaped, it seems that a lot of people live in high rise apartment
blocks with no hot water and very patchy electricity.
It is also said that, because Pyongyang needs to appear pristine, if anyone has a dirty
car, they will be fined.
Citizens must report purchases of radios and TVs.
The authorities will make regular inspections to make sure sets are tuned to official programming.
7 - The Sinking of the Cheonan In March 2010, a small South Korean warship
was sunk off the coast of the Korean coast in the yellow sea, leading to the deaths of
46 people.
The cause of the sinking is heavily disputed and despite evidence pointing their way, North
Korea has denied responsibility.
The US, UK, Canada, Australia and Sweden concluded the ship was sunk by a North Korean torpedo,
although this was dismissed by China and Russia.
The findings caused greaaaat tension between the Koreas and we still don't know what exactly
happened.
6 - North Korean Prisons What goes on in North Korean prisons is a
very dark and scary mystery.
The prisons are referred o by defectors as re-education camps - basically concentration
camps.
What exactly people are sentenced for, the judicial system and who is in jail is a total
mystery - The DPRK government has released no information on prisoners or prison camps
and has not allowed access to any human rights organization.
While we don't know for sure, people say that the prisons are home to torture, infanticide
and executions.
Often when people are sent to prison in North Korea, they never return home.
Speaking of these prisons...at number 5 we have - what happened to Otto Warmbier
We just don't know.
What we do know is that Otto, a 21 year old student from the USA who was taking up a study
abroad program in China - for New Year 2016 he decided to take up a tour to North Korea,
where he was arrested on the 2nd January at the airport as he was about to fly away.
North Korea say he was arrested because he tried to steal a sign, which is something
the state made him confess, likely under duress.
The last he was seen was in 2016, when he was sentenced to 15 years hard labour.
He was returned to his family in the States in June 2017 in a coma.
North Korean officials said he was suffering from Botulism from bacteria, but when he was
taken to hospital in America, no sign of the illness was found.
Otto was in a persistent vegetative state and died six days after his arrival back to
the US, after his parents removed his feeding tube.
We still do not know what caused him to be in such a state and if he ever really did
attempt to steal a sign.
4 - Kim Jong Un Wife WELL this one really is a mystery!
Kim Jong Un has a wife, Ri Sol Ju, but we cant pinpoint exactly who she is.
She sort of pops up, then disappears.
People say that Hyon Song-Wol, Kim Jong Un's former singer girlfriend was murdered and
his wife was to blame.
It is thought that she was among 12 performers killed by firing squad and their immediate
families were made to watch and then sentenced to hard labour as a result of the regimes
guilty by association rule.
Hyon was a North Korean sweetheart known for hits such as I Love Pyongyang, We are Troops
of the Party and, everyone's favourite, Excellent Horse-Like Lady.
Some say that the Mysterious wife, Ri Sol Ju was to blame.
She reportedly was married to Kim Jong in 2012, just a year before this reported mass
execution that included his ex and some say she was jealous.
Weirdly, others say his wife IS Hyon Song Wol, but rebranded so that people don't think
Kim Jong married a performer.
Hyon Song Wol mysteriously reappeared earlier this year during the Winter Olympics looking
somewhat different...so....I mean who knows What is going on!
3 - The Disappearance of Megumi Yokota Megumi was a 13 year old Japanese girl who
was abducted by North Korean Agents.
In 1977, she was stolen as she walked home and forced onto a boat.
The reason was reportedly so she could help train North Korean spies in how to pass as
Japanese citizens.
North Korea did admit the abduction in 2002, but they said she had committed suicide in
1994 after suffering a mental illness.
North Korea then returned what they said were her ashes, but after DNA testing they turned
out not to be.
Some say that she married a fellow captured South Korean national, and he confirmed her
death, but many critics say he was simply reiterating the party line under threat and
duress.
It is widely believed in Japan that Megumi is still alive.
Her parents have never accepted her death.
2 - What Weapons do they have ? One of the biggest and most terrifying mysteries
of North Korea is deciphering what weapons they have.
We know that the hermit nation has been experimenting with nuclear testing despite this being against
UN regulations.
They began, it seems, in 2006, when Kim Jong Il was in charge and in 2018 it was suspected
his son, Kim Jong Un, tested a Hydrogen bomb more powerful than the one that obliterated
Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
We also aren't totally sure what intercontinental ballistic missile capability they have, so
it is hard to know how real the threat of a nuclearized North Korea is.
Some say their ICBMs can reach 13,000 kilometres away, which threatens basically the whole
world.
Others think that is a massive over estimation.
1 - The Corpse Ship Mystery This is one of the weirdest and the scariest
of all.
In November 2017, 28 boats filled with dead bodies washed up off the coast of Sakata,
as well as a number of floating bodies found face down washed up on the beach.
The bodies had pins that identified them as North Korean.
It seems vessels filled with dead people have been floating from North Korea to Japan since
2013 and we are still none the wiser as to why.
Were they defectors trying to flee or is there something else going on?
Either way - it is terrifying.
SO that was the Top 10 Scary North Korean Mysteries....which of these scared you
the most?!
Let me know .... Should we do mysteries from other countries?
Comments from Top 10 Scary Nasa Urban Legends Part 2 - Ethan Wilson said:
Amazing Video!
But I doubt any of these were true...no offence!
??? OH Ethan, none taken!
Urban legends aren't always the most truthful of folklores...and also finding 20 SCARY urban
legends about a modern scientific organisation is quite the feat.
With that one I was mainly aiming for entertainment!
TCT Lunar wrote: I stopped watching at Astronauts wear diapers.
HA probably fair.
Ebony Perkins said: could have sworn that rebecca was a red head????
Either way she's the best.?
- thank you!
Yes, I did....
But like a year or so ago!
I grew it out and now its ombreish!