- [Narrator] Of all the
countries in the world, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, more commonly known as North Korea, might just be the most mysterious. Nicknamed The Hermit Kingdom, it's famous for its
isolation and independence, but also for its shocking
lack of human rights. Because it exists under the iron-fisted
rule of a dictatorship, headed by Supreme Leader Kim Jong-Un, its laws are some of the
most extreme in the world. So, with that in mind, let's expose some of the craziest laws that've ever been enforced here, that we know of. (adventurous music) (music stops) - Whoa!
(screen dings) - [Narrator] You Snooze, You Lose. Now, we've all fallen asleep
when we've not meant to. Maybe it was in a Zoom
meeting, or on a school desk. And while you may expect
some sort of punishment, you'd never expect
capital punishment for it. Well, you would in North Korea. In 2015, Minister of
Defence Hyon Yong-chol was reportedly ordered to be dispatched for napping during military rallies. Kim Jong-Un had him removed
from his post immediately, and the sentence was carried out in public to send a message that
laziness and insubordination will not be tolerated to
everyone in the country. The crazy thing is, this isn't
the only time it's happened. Just one year later, in 2016, North Korean Education
Minister Kim Yong-Jin was dispatched in front
of hundreds of people for having bad posture
during a party rally. The supreme leader was so
displeased with his poor posture, Kim Yong-Jin was interrogated
before being labeled an anti-party,
anti-revolutionary agitator, and sentenced to capital punishment. Now that's one heck of a rude awakening. (screen whooshing) Ticket to Ride. Bicycles are an essential transport option for many people that live
or work in busy cities. Yet, in North Korea,
bicycles were actually banned in the streets of its
capital city, Pyongyang. Unlike neighboring China, which over the last century
saw a natural progression from walking to cycling to
motorized transportation, North Korea wanted to
fast-track this progression. How? By banning bikes and
insisting its citizens rely on motor vehicles to get around. This might have worked, if their economy hadn't
completely tanked in 1991, leaving most North Koreans too
poor to afford enough to eat, let alone a car. As such, in 1992, Pyongyang's
bicycle ban was lifted, but even now most citizens
remain too poor to afford a car, so it's mainly bikes that
are used on the empty roads. After this, you'd expect transport options would have improved, but sadly not. From 1995, the state decided to ban women from owning and riding bicycles. The regime's reasoning for the ban was that the sight of an
attractive woman on a bike was deemed too suggestive, and would damage public morality. She's just riding a bike? Well, that says more about the ruling party being
perverts than anything else. They also argued women
were genetically incapable of handling traffic, making them a danger to others. Okay, North Korea, it's
time to sit down, shut up, and pay attention for a hot minute. Men are universally responsible for more traffic-related accidents and fatalities than women. In 2021, in the US alone, women were responsible for
around 6,000 fatal crashes. That number was 3 1/2 times higher at more than 21,000 for men. So, your genetically incapable argument just drove itself into a wall. Anyway, the ban was
briefly lifted in 2012, but then reinstated in early 2013. Today, the rule is flexible, thanks to the lack of
motorized public transportation in the country's main cities. But we can't say as much for the state of women's
rights in the country. Speaking of which. (screen whooshing) Dress Dictatorship. I don't know about you,
but I live in my jeans. I couldn't imagine not
being able to wear them, they're a closet staple! Now, what if I told you they were completely
banned in North Korea? Since mid-2020, Kim Jong-Un has announced a crackdown on Western influences, including all styles of jeans. But why? Well, this stems all the way back to the division of Korea in 1945, where South Korea, backed
by capitalist America, fought the North, backed by
the communist Soviet Union, for control over the country. Ever since the division,
citizens in the North have been taught to view
American capitalism, and the wider Western world, as the enemy; along with all their
influences and values. It doesn't just stop at jeans though. Unless you have a work uniform, women are technically not allowed to wear trousers in North Korea at all. The law is still enforceable to this day, but it's hard to enforce on a
nation of 26 million people. If women are caught wearing them, a patriotic Youth League member can and will interrogate the individual, then force her to write a
letter confessing to the crime. They even have the power to access government-controlled loudspeakers, releasing the woman's name, home address, and place of work to the public! If you can get doxxed
just for wearing trousers, imagine the sentence they'd pass down for what TikTok influencers
think are trendy these days! Well, between banning
bikes and banning jeans, which rule do you think
is the most ridiculous? For bikes, hit that like button, and for jeans, hit that subscribe button. All done? All right, what's next? (screen whooshing) Bad Hair Day. In the West, hair is often used to express your individuality. Some of us choose to have a spiky mohawk or bright blue hair; even the mullet is back in fashion. Never thought I'd see the day. But in North Korea, extreme hairstyles are
heavily discouraged. It's likely you'd find yourself
stopped by the pathetic, sorry, Patriotic Youth League again, and then forced to remove
or cut your chosen style. In 2013, the state released a guide of 28 approved hairstyles: 10 for men, 18 for women. Although there are a few more styles to choose from nowadays, it's still forbidden for men to have hair longer than two inches, and you're only permitted
to grow it as long as three if you're over 60 years old. How generous of them. As a result, young men are
required to cut their hair every 15 days before it grows out! For women, having short hair
is allowed when you're married, with long hair and curled styles, that look similar to those
worn in the West in the 1980's, allowed when you're young and single. Better than the Kim Jong-Un cut, I guess! (screen whooshing) No Kim-itations. With eight billion people on the planet, there's bound to be someone out there who has the same name as you. But Kim Jong-Un decided that
his name should be unique, and now, all North Koreans are
prohibited from sharing it. That's right, everyone called Jong-Un was forced to completely
change their name in 2011; the year he became the supreme leader. He's also recently extended this rule to include his daughter's name, Kim Ju-ae, who, at this point, appears
to be his successor. While there is no exact number on the amount of people who
had to rename themselves, Jong-Un was an extremely common
name amongst North Koreans. So basically, he's made himself the one Kim Jong-Un to rule them all. Man, I wouldn't be surprised if there were a couple
of hobbits out there trying to take this dictator down! (screen whooshing) Cell-ular Offence. Thanks to the advancement
of cell phone technology, you can call just about
anyone anywhere in the world, unless they're in North Korea. As standard, the country's popular domestic mobile phone service, Koryolink, blocks all international calls, signal jammers are used
at the country's borders, and just about all electronic
communications are monitored. While it's estimated that some 80% of North Korean households own at least one mobile phone, making so much as one international call can warrant a death sentence. But why? Well, North Korea's government
specifically censors and prohibits the spread of information so that outside influences don't get in, and vital information can't get out. As such, any form of
international communication without specific government
authorization is forbidden. The fear is that contact
with people from the outside may prompt citizens to realize
how harsh the regime is, undoing the decades of brainwashing from propaganda they've
been fed on a daily basis; and subsequently, their
citizens will either try to flee or rise up against the
government en masse. Back in 2014, a man used a
smuggled phone and SIM card to make several international calls and was dispatched for
contacting his family who'd defected to South Korea. He sadly didn't have enough
time to hide the phone before officials locked onto his signal and came knocking on his door. His demise was used to
make a very public example of those who break the rules, in the worst way possible. (screen whooshing) Regime Real Estate. A lot of us dream of being
able to buy a house one day. Having your own place is considered by most a basic necessity; but not so in North Korea. Like so much else here, the government controls all
property in the country. All buildings are technically
owned by the state, and citizens are assigned to
their housing by them, too. It's even harder to make a life
for yourself in a big city. North Koreans have to
be granted permission to live in the country's
capital, Pyongyang. It's also illegal to
lease or trade your home, but since 2000, North Koreans have utilized a
clever loophole in the system. While they don't have property rights, they do have residency rights. This is confirmed by a
certificate known as ipsajung, a document proving the person
lives in a specific place. North Koreans have been
issuing new certificates under other names and
canceling the old ones, thereby passing on the
ownership to another person. But, because it skirts the law, citizens need enough money
to bribe city officials into looking the other way. A pack of cigarettes or
a good bottle of liquor apparently does the trick. In cash, you may be expected to pay as little as 50 to $100
to secure the exchange. I mean, if you're going to limit people's freedom as harshly as this, you've gotta expect people
to fight back in some way! (screen whooshing) Joyless July. Of all the totally unhinged laws enforced by the North Korean government, this next one might be the most insane. Kim Jong-Un and his regime have completely banned smiling
on July 8th, every year. This date is significant in
the country as the death date of founder and former
president Kim Il-Sung, who passed in 1994. On each anniversary of his death, citizens are not allowed
to smile, talk loudly, dance, or drink alcohol. No fun celebrations or
activities can be held either, so if it's your birthday that day, you're completely out of luck. Disregarding these rules will
send you to the labor camp, and may even be cause for your dispatch. Who would have thought smiling
could be a capital crime? Well, in recent times,
it's only gotten worse. The government banned laughing
for eleven days straight in a show of mourning. This rule was enforced to
honor the 10th anniversary of Kim Jong-Il's death, the predecessor and father to Kim Jong-Un. This has got to be the
weirdest family tradition ever. (screen whooshing) Online Off-limits. It's extremely hard to picture our lives without the internet now. Over 65% of the world's
population has access to it, and it's actively used
by 5.3 billion people. You're using it to watch
this video right now, and yet, North Koreans can't
use it the way we do at all. Instead of the internet, North Korea provides its citizens with access to an intranet, a domestic-only network
known as Kwangmyong, which, back in 2014,
boasted it gave its users access to 5,500 websites, including things like video games, though all communication and
activity on them is monitored. No privacy here! Certain state officials can be granted access
to the wider internet, but with the suppression of information being so important to the
regime, even this can be limited. In 2016, a security engineer discovered North Korea had
actually created 28 websites available on the wider internet. These include friend.com.kp, a kind of hyper-political Facebook which apparently has
some 18 million members. There's also cooks.org.kp,
a recipe website, and korfilm.com.kp, where you can watch hundreds
of North Korean films, documentaries, and even anime. Yes, anime. It's believed more sites have
been added in recent years, but still, compared to
the two billion sites on the World Wide Web, it's barely anything at all. (screen whooshing) Job Jail. When you were younger, what did you want to be when you grew up? An astronaut? A ballerina? A YouTuber? Yeah, you can tell which one I was! Unfortunately, North Korean
kids don't get to dream, because everyone's lifelong job is delegated by the government. Why? Well, that's simple. To maintain the rigid control of resources under its collectivism system, the government researches
how many people are needed in each industry and location, then assigns people accordingly. When kids graduate high school, the government assigns each
and every graduate with jobs they think proper or necessary. What the kids or their parents want isn't taken into consideration, unless big bribes are involved. And once you're assigned work, its almost impossible to be transferred. For example, during Kim Jong-Il's reign, he supervised an area
called Taehongdan-gun, which had a good potato supply but had few people living in it. So, thousands of graduates
were relocated to Ryanggang to become lifelong potato farmers. They had to build houses
with their own hands, and knew that their children would also likely grow
up to be potato farmers thanks to the system, but there was nothing they could do. Well, at the very least, I really hope they like potatoes. (screen whooshing) Forbidden Faith. In the West, freedom of religion is a pretty essential human right. You can choose to believe
whatever you want; being that the Son of God walked among us as the Bible teaches, or that galactic warlords invaded our volcanoes
75 million years ago, as Scientology claims. But in North Korea, freedom
of faith isn't a thing. In 2014, an American was
imprisoned for five months for leaving his Bible in a
North Korean restaurant toilet. The outrage this incident
caused stems from the fact that North Korea is a
largely atheist state, with an enormous 70% of its
citizens having no religion. Although there are churches
located in Pyongyang, these buildings are fully
operated by the state. Tourists have reported
that churches can be closed during advertised sermon times, and when they are open, they're filled with political
propaganda and fake believers. Observing the Christian
religion as a North Korean is restricted completely, because having faith in a higher
power or savior-like figure conflicts with having faith
in the reigning regime. You can't believe in both,
according to North Korea, it's the Kim family or nothing. One extreme case in 2023
involved the arrest of a family, including their two-year-old daughter, for possessing a Bible. All family members, including the toddler, were apparently sentenced
to life in prison. Yep, Kim Jong-Un's definitely
going to hell for this one. (screen whooshing) Three's a Crowd. Many things may be considered good luck: a symbol, a number, or even
worshiping a particular god. In North Korea, triplets are supposed to
represent good fortune. Not only are they venerated because of the falling
birth rate in the country, but they're also signs
of luck and prosperity. This is why, when triplets are
born, they're automatically, taken away by the state? The regime will have the
mother fly into Pyongyang to receive the best
care when giving birth. The government will then
give the parents gifts in exchange for the kids, a gold ring for girls and
a silver knife for boys. The children are only
given back to their parents at the age of four, after being raised in
a state-run orphanage or nursery school in the city. Even after they've grown, being a triplet will give
you better access to money, success, and quality
of life in North Korea, with better chances of being
admitted to the military or attending university. Handing out special benefits is nice, but taking away the
kids from their families because they're considered lucky? Ironically, I'd say that's
actually pretty unlucky. (screen whooshing) Mortal Kin. If you have siblings, you've probably been blamed for something they did at some point. Whether it was deliberate or an accident, taking the heat for your
family's mistakes feels unfair. But in North Korea, you can be jailed just for being related to a criminal! This is what's known as the
three generation sentence, or kin punishment. This means that committing a crime will also condemn three
generations of your family, which could be your
children and grandchildren, or your parents and grandparents. With a rule like this,
the government deters the vast majority of
people from rebelling, as it's not uncommon for a whole family to receive a life sentence
for one criminal's actions. Children born in prison are actually raised as prisoners too, because their blood is
deemed guilty by association. Jeez. This law began after World War II ended, in an effort to eliminate
the blood lineage of North Korean rebels. The only thing is, World War
II ended almost 100 years ago, and this rule is still in effect, making it as old as it is horrifying. (screen whooshing) The Time Warp. It's the early 21st century. That's what it says on
all the calendars, right? Wrong. 168 countries use the Gregorian calendar, but some use their own, and
North Korea is one of them. They have their own system called Juche; an ideology centered on self-reliance and independence from the outside world. The Juche calendar is unique, in that it only goes back
as far as April 15th 1912. Why? Because that's the birth date of North Korea's founding
father, Kim Il-Sung. This was turned into year number 1, and all the years since
are now numbered that way. For instance, the year 2010 was actually the year 99 in North Korea. There are also no before Juche days, which means history before 1912 is not well spoken of or learned. Yeah, that's right, children's education is
full of propaganda, too. The calendar was officially implemented on 9th September 1997, and on that date, all
North Korean newspapers, radio stations, birth certificates, and other media were converted. Like keeping track of the date
wasn't hard enough already! (screen whooshing) No Laughing Matter. When the president of the United States was asked if they were worried
about the national debt, do you know what they said? "Nah, it's big enough
to take care of itself" (crowd laughing) Yeah, that was a pretty bad joke, although the worst I'll get is some keyboard warriors
in the comments down below. In North Korea though, a joke like that could
have cost me my life. Seriously, anything that disrespects the Kim family in particular
is considered blasphemy, and would be met with severe consequences, even a minor jibe. This doesn't have to be
verbal disrespect, either. Portraits of the leaders
Kim Il-Sung and Kim Jong-Il are hung in every house, and it's obligatory to wear party badges with their images on their clothes. Not taking the care to maintain them or even dust them properly
can get you in trouble. To combat this, each family
is given a special duster specifically for cleaning these portraits. The Kim family and their
government are meant to be revered, almost looked up to as gods, so it's no surprise some people
bow to them every morning. Luckily, we're outside
this insanely egotistical joke-free jurisdiction, so take a hike, Kim Jong-no fUn. (screen whooshing) DVDon't. Back in the 1960's, TV became must have item in Western homes, with a total of just
three channels to watch. Of course, there's
hundreds of TV broadcasts to spoil yourself with now, but, unsurprisingly, North
Korea is stuck in the past. It offers just four state-owned
TV channels to choose from, exclusively showing programs glorifying the regime
and its achievements. Anything else is banned. This goes for all foreign media, including movies, music and even books. If the propaganda department
finds just one article from the big, banned list
in a citizen's possession, their entire collection can be destroyed! Punishments vary depending on the content and background of the contraband, too. Watching an Indian film
may get you sent to prison, but an American movie can sign
your dispatch certificate! In 2021, a man was dispatched
for distributing copies of the South Korean thriller
series "Squid Game." This offense was particularly serious as the show mentions North Korea's regime, and paints it in a negative light by including a fictional
defector from the country. However, experts have debated whether this report is real or not, as COVID lockdown of the country, which saw its boarders close to all trade, would have made it
impossible to smuggle in. And yet, the government
haven't denied this, so it's possible the story was spread to prevent anyone in North
Korea from acquiring it. That's as smart as it is sinister. (screen whooshing) Banned Brands. Nowadays, you won't find many things without a huge brand slapped on it; we drink Coca-Cola often, we pick up McDonald's now and again, but North Korea hates brands,
especially American ones. Branding is related to capitalist living, the exact opposite of the
communist, socialist dream the Kim dynasty is striving for. Because of this, the country is one of the
only places in the world that doesn't sell Coca Cola, and you'd be hard-pressed to
find a McDonald's there, too. They do have fast food
chains of their own, such as Samtaesong; a burger joint whose locations are limited exclusively to Pyongyang. But this is only for
tourists and the elite, as it's a business venture owned and operated by Kim Jong-Un's aunt. Instead of relying on fast foods, the vast majority of the population relies on traditional staples
like kimchi and potatoes. While this is due in part to the avoidance of everything Western, the economic sanctions placed
on North Korea by America means that trading
between the two countries is practically non-existent. However, there's a huge
Mount Everest-sized level of hypocrisy to this rule. The Daesong Department Store caters to the elite in Pyongyang, by selling luxury brands
such as Rolex, Dior, Chanel, and even more common brands like Adidas, which are all Western, capitalist labels. Kim Jong-Un's wife, Ri Sol-ju, likes wearing these expensive
Western brands herself. So, brands are banned if you're poor, but fine to buy if
you're part of the elite? I don't know about you, but
that sounds less like communism, and more like a new brand of capitalism! (screen whooshing) Portrait Protectors. In a fire, what's the
first thing you grab? Obviously, it would be what's
most precious to you, right? A parent would instantly grab their child, or a loving owner might grab their pet. Well, in North Korea, the first thing you have to take with you are those damned portraits. No, really. When disaster strikes, the
first thing citizens must do is save the pictures of Kim
Il-Sung and Kim Jong-Il, and only after this can they save their own
lives and belongings. Respect for the leaders, as
we've all come to realize, is no joke. Back in 2020, it was
reported that a mother of two actually faced jail time after saving her children from a fire and leaving behind the pictures. We can hope that she's no
longer being held by the state, but something tells me the
North Korean government loves to hold a grudge. (screen whooshing) Rules of the Game. If you're a basketball fan, you might feel a little confused when watching a North Korean game. As we've learned, North Korea has its own
way of doing things, so, naturally, their basketball
games are vastly different. Firstly, the famous three
pointer is worth four points if the ball passes through the net without striking the basket or backboard, and a slam dunk acquires an extra point, making it worth three instead of two. That's not all. A point can be deducted for
every missed free throw, and any field goal made in the
last three seconds of a game can not only earn your team extra, it can completely change the outcome, with a bump up of eight points! Games can also end in a
tie against opponents, something that's rare
in the normal rulebook. Kim Jong-Il supposedly
added these amendments because he thought it could
improve the rules of the game. By God, this man's ego is unbelievable. Also, it turns out he was a fan of the 1990s Chicago Bulls team, you know, that famously American team. That's a slam dunk for
hypocrisy right there. (adventurous music) Which of these rules and laws did you think was the
craziest of them all? And, controversially, are
there any you agree with? Let me know down in the comments,
and thanks for watching! (adventurous music)
