North Korea is a relatively unique country, and it still implements a completely planned economy at home and exercises strict control over foreign exchanges.
Under such a system, there are many strange rules, and there are five strange rules, each of which is strange, and if you do not pay attention, you will go to jail. So what exactly is this bizarre rule? Why is it so powerful?
1. Carelessness in North Korea will result in a sentence for espionage
Korea was actually a whole part of the Korean Peninsula in ancient times, but due to the historical legacy of the Cold War in modern times, two countries were born on the Korean Peninsula, one is North Korea and the other is South Korea.
The two countries have a relatively large difference in the level of development. South Korea is following the pace of Europe and the United States, developing its own tourism and advantageous industries, so South Korea is now a developed capitalist country. But North Korea in the north is completely different from South Korea, and North Korea is a socialist country in the traditional sense.
For a long time, contradictions and conflicts between the two countries have also been indispensable, and if they set foot on each other's opposite fields, they may be used as spies. However, with the opening up of South Korea to the outside world, basically all aspects of society will be displayed to the outside world. On the contrary, North Korea does not understand, and North Korea exercises strict foreign exchange control and planning control, and it is difficult to know something within North Korea from North Korea.
In the most typical point, North Korea prohibits tourists from outside to take pictures of some areas of North Korea. Traveling in North Korea must not maintain a strong curiosity, because in some parts of North Korea it is not completely possible to take pictures, and the places where tourists can take photos are limited to some scenic areas.
As long as it is out of the scenic area, taking pictures may be considered an offense and may be punished for some offences. A foreign tourist was once sentenced to seven years in prison by North Korea on espionage charges for accidentally taking a photo of Kim Il Sung's statue.
In the eyes of North Korean officials, taking pictures in some sensitive areas is undoubtedly suspected of spies, and it is better to kill a hundred by mistake than to let one go. North Korea's definition of sensitive areas is relatively broad.
Except for some purely natural scenic areas, other areas may be counted as sensitive areas, such as taking pictures of North Korean roads, and this photo may also be counted as an illegal photo.
It may reveal to the outside world some of the shapes of North Korean roads and the specific situation. It may provide some convenience for some spies abroad to carry out certain actions that are unfavorable to North Korea.
Why wouldn't pure nature be defined as a sensitive area? Some beautiful natural scenery is not only in North Korea, but also in other countries, so there will be no obvious difference in what they have.
It's not just about taking pictures, it's possible to take a closer look, and you may be sentenced to prison. The most typical example is the example of John, a foreign tourist, when he lived in a hotel, he found that the hotel obviously has five floors, but the highest floor of the hotel's elevator reaches the fourth floor.
Driven by curiosity, he fled his tour guide and walked alone up the stairs to the fifth floor of the hotel, where he found a large number of North Korean political pamphlets and picture albums on the fifth floor of the hotel. One person was very addicted to watching, and as a result, the tour guide immediately caught him.
There is complete surveillance inside every hotel in North Korea, and it is easy to detect a person fleeing a team. At that time, he still felt that he had not done anything particularly illegal and criminal, and as a result, he was officially sentenced to ten years of labor reform. North Korean officials believe he may be involved in plotting espionage crimes.
John was stunned in the courtroom and cried all the time, but the matter was already settled, and there was nothing to redeem it. The most frightening thing is that John did not actually complete ten years of labor reform, and after two years in North Korea, his health deteriorated sharply, and he was finally terminally ill.
As a last resort, North Korean officials sent John home. John died more than a month after returning home. For North Korea, not only are there obvious strict rules in the photographic area, but you may not even be able to look at it.
Another more bizarre rule is the prohibition of cohabitation without marriage. In the more open era, unmarried cohabitation was allowed, and now free love and personal choice are advocated.
What seems like something that takes place in other countries is explicitly banned in North Korea. North Korea believes that if it agrees to live together without marriage, it may have a serious negative impact on North Korean traditional customs and other social mores.
In many traditional beliefs of the North Korean people, cohabitation before marriage is regarded as immoral and unacceptable. North Korea attaches great importance to marriage, believing that marriage is a relatively sacred agreement between husband and wife and two families, which is a relatively big thing, and it is not a decision that two young people can make casually.
In terms of law, it is directly stipulated that cohabitation without marriage is illegal, and all forms must be carried out on a family basis. How can North Korea support this provision? Quite simply, when applying for a house, you must use a marriage certificate as proof.
If there is no marriage certificate, they can only return to their parents' home and live in their house. This is actually quite strange, because in many countries, houses can be bought and sold, and may involve applications, generally speaking, people who are more difficult in society may apply to the government for some houses to live in.
In North Korea, houses cannot be bought and sold, all listings are firmly controlled by the government, if you want to live in an additional house, you need to provide a certain application to the government.
This provision is not only for North Koreans, but also for foreign tourists. If foreign tourists want to live together with a man and a woman, they also need to show a certain marriage certificate, and the hotel will open a room.
There is no such thing as a North Korean, because North Koreans have their own place to live, so the hotel issuance is for foreign tourists, not for North Koreans, which is also a local consensus.
Some foreign tourists have said that they would have liked to live with a North Korean guide, which is more convenient. Since North Koreans have no way to book a room at a hotel, they can only give up and meet the next day at an agreed location.
Second, North Korea's strange regulations are still so "feudal"
Another bizarre rule is that jeans are prohibited. The North Korean people believe that wearing jeans is a custom that represents Western capitalism and is not a good custom, so North Korean officials prohibit people from wearing jeans.
North Korean officials believe that if you wear jeans, it is easy to be corrupted by some bad capitalist atmosphere, which will bring bad influence to the entire national order.
It's not just jeans, but the clothing of the North Korean people is not diverse. Generally speaking, their clothing is only black, gray and white.
Some of the various colors are actually very rare and may be found in some traditional performances, but most of them are these three colors. This has been hit by some young North Koreans in recent years, some of whom believe they are entitled and free to wear a wide variety of clothing and clothing.
Although the actual situation in North Korea has been relaxed, North Korean dress is still strictly regulated on formal occasions. Jeans are still a big problem, not only can North Korean people not wear jeans, even tourists from other places can not wear jeans to North Korea, otherwise they may be arrested on certain charges.
In contrast to clothes, there are strange rules on hairstyles, and North Korean people are not allowed to perm all kinds of hair, and there are also clear official rules for hair.
Some of the women we see in reality may have big waves or curly hair, which is banned in North Korea, and they believe that such hairstyles will have a capitalist atmosphere and will challenge some women's norms.
Most women in North Korea are more conservative, believing that their husbands should work from home, and women should manage the housework at home, and the simpler the dress and dress, the better. In this way, it can reflect that a hostess is relatively orderly at home and is an image of a "good wife and good mother".
North Korean officials have given women 18 hairstyles, most of which are relatively simple and mainly short. The characteristics of these hairstyles are somewhat similar to the hairstyle characteristics of China in the fifties and sixties of the last century, emphasizing the overall image of working people. Similarly, North Korea designs ten male hairstyles, most of which are mainly short.
Men's hair is usually no more than 5cm, which is the official North Korean rule. You can dye your hair on coloring your hair, but you can't dye too bright colors. This color must match the color of the clothes, most of which can only be dyed dark gray, dark brown and black.
The last bizarre rule is simply too bizarre to be allowed to go out at night. Many modern countries can actually go out at night, as long as there is no war or some other extreme event.
In North Korea, whether in peacetime or wartime, you are not allowed to go out at night, and if you go out at night, you may be punished as espionage and arrested at any time.
For example, for students, if they can't go out at night, their school time will be very early, and there will be no domestic evening self-study, which may be the envy of domestic students.
The downside is also obvious, if the people of a country do not go out at night, it means that the country's night economy will not develop.
Many cities in China now rely on night-time economies, such as bars in first-tier cities and shopping activities in shops at night.
However, North Korea is not a so-called market economy, North Korea is a completely planned economy, all materials do not need to be purchased by residents, only need to apply according to certain procedures can be obtained.
In this regard, North Korea does not actually have any problems. However, economic vitality may be hampered and cannot be sustained for long. It is only short-lived, otherwise the country will be in poverty for a long time.
III. Conclusion
Over the years, North Korea has actually reformed some of its own strange regulations, but the voice of reform is very weak, and most of them are some young people in North Korea. North Korea's official government still has not given a relatively clear answer, and it may develop a new atmosphere in North Korea in the future.
References: "New Development of Socialism in North Korea Since Kim Jong-un came to power", "History of the Development of North Korean Socialist Economy"