North Korea: Ten crazy myths Kim Jong-un’s family has created
Kim Jong-un’s family has ruled North Korea for more than 70 years and, over the decades, they’ve cooked up some often absurd and downright ridiculous myths to keep their citizens in line.
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President Kim Jong-un and his family – who have ruled North Korea since 1948 – also have a strong line in kooky myths. Here are 10 things their people are told about the three generational Kim dynasty.
1. HAMBURGER CREATOR
Kim Jong-un’s father Kim Jong-il claimed he invented the hamburger, calling it “double bread with meat”, with grand dreams that it would become a new national dish as he unsuccessfully introduced it to the nation’s universities.
2. SPEAKING OF FOOD …
The older Kim was also fond of claiming sawdust was full of nutrients, encouraging his citizens to chow down on the building by-product in their regular times of famine.
3: SUPERNATURAL BODILY FUNCTIONS
Kim’s official biography stated he never needed to use a toilet because his body was so well calibrated he didn’t urinate or defecate.
4. MAGICAL BEGINNINGS
According to his official biography, Kim Jong-il’s birth atop a sacred mountain saw a new star created and winter turn to spring. However records kept by the country’s Soviet allies show he was born in a Siberian village in 1941.
5. FASHION ICON
Shortly before his death in 2011, Kim Jong-il’s signature grey military styling was being celebrated by the world’s top fashion designers, according to state media, who quoted an unnamed French designer saying “Kim Jong-il mode, which is now spreading expeditiously worldwide, is something unprecedented in the world’s history”.
6. EVERYONE LOVES US …
Despite having one of the worst international reputations, North Koreans are told their leaders are beloved around the world and that each country celebrates their birthdays.
7. TIME THIEVES
For decades North Koreans believed the Japanese stole time from them during their 1919 occupation. Kim Jong-un finally righted this injustice and set North Korea’s clocks back by half an hour on August 15, 2015.
8. GREATNESS IS HEREDITARY
Kim Jong-un is just as amazing as his father, according to North Korean state media which revealed he was a gifted sailor as a youth – who also learned to drive at the age of three. The younger Kim is also a celebrated musical composer and artist, who is celebrated around the world.
9. NO SUCH THING AS THE INTERNET
The only people with access to the internet in North Korea are government officials and the state tells its citizens it’s a notion invented by the west.
10. FAKE VILLAGE
Keen to encourage South Koreans to migrate, the North Korean government built Peace Village near the border in the 1950s. Propaganda says 200 families live happily and work in the village, but observers say it houses North Korean soldiers manning artillery stations pointed south.
Originally published as North Korea: Ten crazy myths Kim Jong-un’s family has created