What is the punishment for
napping in North Korea?
Well, for defense minister
Hyon Yong-chol,
it was being publically executed
by anti-aircraft guns
in front of hundreds of people.
If you think napping is a dumb thing
to be killed for,
you're clearly not familiar
with the North Korean legal system.
Under their rules,
you're always
just one wrong haircut or chuckle away
from being the next public example.
Today, we've compiled
the most shocking laws
that exist only in North Korea.
These guys do not mess around.
It's reported that they executed
over 1,400 citizens between
2000 and 2013 alone.
All households must keep portraits
of the country’s
former leaders
and hang them on the most visible
wall of the house at a height
that no one is able to stand
taller than the leaders.
Most importantly,
you need to keep them extremely clean.
Inspectors are sent door to door
to assess
whether you're
taking proper care of them.
If they find even the slightest
layer of dust,
your whole family can face jail time.
It’s weird that a guy with
this haircut would be allowed
to tell other people what hairstyles
they can wear,
but this isn't your usual country, right?
Men are only allowed to wear
about 10 strict,
not-too-sexy haircuts,
while women can choose from these 18.
Fussy.
I know, you love your cowboy look,
but it's strictly
forbidden here,
especially wearing blue jeans.
Jeans are considered
a symbol of the “demonic”
western lifestyle, even worse,
the American culture.
If for some reason
you’re allowed to enter
North Korea,
never try to get the country's currency,
the “won”.
You can use euros, American dollars
or Chinese yuan for shopping,
but if you try to exchange them
for the North Korean won
as a souvenir,
things can end up...
well, very badly.
If you think castes
are a thing of the past,
well, you’re right,
but not in North Korea.
A complex
system of 51 categories determines
if you are considered
“loyal,” “wavering,”
or “hostile” to the regime.
The “Loyal” families are descendants
of soldiers who fought against Japan
for the country's
independence,
and against South Korea in the fifties.
Loyalists get all the advantages,
like the ability
to live in the capital
and the highest-paid jobs.
“Wavering” families have low-paid jobs
and are mostly left alone.
But if your ancestors opposed
the communist regime imposed in 1948,
a life of pain awaits you.
You’re considered “hostile,”
and your entire family can
be sent to labor camps.
After the death of his father,
Kim Jong Il in 2011,
Kim-Jong Un
ordered the country to mourn
for a whole week.
No one was allowed to laugh,
drink alcohol, exercise
or even go shopping.
Inspectors patrolled the streets
to make sure people
were complying with the rule.
For the 10th anniversary of
Kim Jong Il's death in 2021,
a mourning period
of 11 days was imposed.
Since North Korea claims
to be an “atheist state,”
practicing any religion is considered
an ideological crime,
especially if it's Christianity.
The Bible is
not only considered a foreign book,
which is a crime in itself,
but something even worse:
a symbol of, again American culture.
Yeah,
living under
the rule of a dictator is hard,
but now imagine being sentenced
to the toughest prison
in the United States.
Even the most infamous cartel leader
in the world
cried when he found out
he would be sent there.
Wanna know how to live through it?
Stick around.
Here, on How to Survive.