- [Narrator] North Korea is a country that's riddled with inefficiencies, all in the name of
making the country appear like a prosperous and powerful nation. And it's the people
that this duty falls on. From stone polishers to puddle sweepers, let's take a look at
some of the useless jobs that actually exist in North Korea. (bright music) Before we dive into this sack
of incredibly corrupt cats, let's find out a bit more
about why North Korea is so determined to appear powerful to the rest of the world. The Democratic People's Republic of Korea, more commonly known as North Korea, couldn't be further from a
real democracy if it tried. A communist dictatorship at heart, the party's ideologies of
communism have wreaked havoc on its people for decades. Collectivized farms have often led to economically mismanaged food shortages, and corruption is rife
within the countries elite, so while the poor starve
on meager rations, the supreme leader has reportedly
suffered ankle fractures because he's gotten too
fat off imported cheese. To maintain control and ensure
the country keeps working, the government designates its
citizens jobs at the age of 16 which are lifelong careers. No promotions, no pay rises,
and with no retirement age, you literally work until you die! But some of these jobs are designed purely to make the country look
better on the outside, despite the enormous
cracks clearly showing to the rest of the world. So, if you're not in the
8.9 million strong military, which make up about a third
of the total population, what are some of the most useless jobs you can be forced to do
for the rest of your life? Street sweepers. With an average per capita
income of just $1,000 a year, most North Koreans are extremely poor. This makes things like cars, motorcycles, even bicycles incredibly hard to come by. So, the streets of the
capital city Pyongyang are eerily silent, despite having been
built so large and wide as a display of prosperity and power. With the streets built to accommodate a lot more traffic than there is, they're usually quiet and clean. But what if your lifelong job was to be a designated street cleaner? Do you just continue to clean the already spotless roads regardless? Well, yeah. Secret footage taken in 2010 shows that, without anything better to do, clean up squads were attempting
to brush away the puddles from the sides of the roads in Pyongyang. Since when were puddles
considered unsightly? That is unless North Korea doesn't want us to think
it relies on anything, not even rain! Political oppositions. Did you know North Korea
holds legitimate elections every five years? No joke. Every half decade, the citizens of the hermit
kingdom are given the opportunity to vote back in their current party, the Workers Party of Korea
or vote against them. Except it's mandatory. And while voting for
the current ruling party is done by a secret ballot, voting against them is done
in a separate ballot box, without secrecy. Your name and information are forfeit for voting against the party
of the respected comrade who is identical to supreme
commander Kim Jong-il. That's a genuine title Kim Jong Un holds. Previous parties that have run against the Democratic People's
Republic of Korea include the Korea Buddhist Federation, the Democratic Independent Party, the Laboring People's Party and the Gonmin Peoples Party. To clarify, none of them
seem to have won any seats in the last 48 years. Almost every election under The Democratic People's Republic of Korea is reported to have a turnout
rate of 99% or higher, with an approval rating
for the party of 100%. It's almost as if these political parties are left running for show to demonstrate just how tight the WPKs political grip currently is. So, in theory, you could try to run against current leader Kim Jong-Un. Just depends on how much
you value your life! Stone cleaner. North Korea gets an
average of around 4,000 to 6,000 western tourists a year, less than .02% of London's
tourist footfall in 2018 and 0.007% in contrast to New York! With so few people visiting, how do you make important
places of culture look like they're popular? Well if you're part of North
Korea's Victorious War Museum, it appears you have a
dedicated stone cleaner. From secret footage in 2010, reporters found a poor lady
scrubbing pathway stones in the museum courtyard. It seems it's considered unsightly to have dirt build up on stones, indicating no one has visited for a while. She was quickly escorted away
from the tourists prying eyes. North Korea's front of
perfection can't be ruined by the idea that most of its
country is unbelievably poor. So poor that cleaning rocks for a living is a government mandated job. Snow path clearer. In the northernmost areas of
North Korea lies Chongjin, the place where Kim Jong-Il, oh sorry, the Eternal General
Secretary of the Party, was born, I promise I'm
not making these up. It's a place designed to be celebrated with large murals honoring
the dead Dear Leader, but is usually off limits. And not just to tourists,
but to locals alike, seeing as the snow is so dense
and dangerous and vehicles are rarely equipped to
deal with the conditions. But even here, large monuments and paths are kept clear at all times of the year. Not by gritters or snow
plows, but by hand. The job of snow clearers
once again falls to the poor, who continue to work in the harsh weather even when there are no visitors. Shoveling your driveway doesn't
seem so bad now does it? Traffic conductor. In most societies, beautiful women have
the world at their feet. They can be actresses,
CEO's, models, entrepreneurs, but in North Korea, they
get to be traffic ladies. These weirdly iconic women have to meet three main requirements. They must be single, beautiful and tall. There are about 300 of them in total, and they're are designed
to be a front for Pyongyang to maintain the idea of a
perfect looking society. There are even rumors that these beauties are handpicked for their job
by the Dear Leader himself! But remember how before we saw that there aren't huge
amounts of traffic around? Well, these women are instructed
to carry on regardless. It's like the macarena gone
mad in the middle of the road! On top of this, once they reach the age
of 26 or are married, they're relieved of duty. It's a declining profession as they're losing out to the
introduction of traffic lights. You know, like the rest of the world? Better 90 years late than never I guess. Fashion police. The fashion police are real
and they live in North Korea. In a country where it's a priority to quash all foreign influences, fashion comes in high on the list. The Kimilsungist-Kimjongilist Youth League make it their duty to ensure
that their fellow comrades are maintaining ideological purity, and play a role in making
sure the youth of North Korea are kept from rebelling or
opposing their Glorious General, who descended from Heaven,
yep, that one's real too. So how do they do this? They critique street fashion. Deviating from dark suits and flat shoes, or anything too decorative or unusual, could be considered foreign influence and can be a punished by
a stint in a labor camp. But here's a thought. If your entire regime can
be broken by a mini skirt, maybe you need a new regime? Religious figureheads. In North Korea's constitution, it promises a right to faith. But officially, North
Korea is an atheist state. Defectors claim that the
promise of this right is mainly for show, with persecution and severe punishments for practicing religions
such as Christianity outside of state-controlled churches. Anything that would divert
the people's full attention, respect and worship from the party or its Highest Incarnation of
the Revolutionary Comradeship can be judged as a religious coup d'état. If that's the case, how would
you get by being a priest? Or any kind of religious
figurehead for that matter? Well usually, you don't. In Pyongyang, there are
grand total of four churches: Christian, Protestant,
Catholic and Russian orthodox. In a city of similar size such as Lisbon, there are over 19 churches. Or take Geneva, with 18 churches. With everyone indoctrinated since birth to treat the Kim family
as near-godlike figures, what use is there for religion? Musician. In 2015, Outstanding Leader
of the Party, Army and People, Kim Jon-Un, seriously
what's wrong with President, ordered a ban on music. House-to-house searches
were put into place not just in the search of foreign jams, but local tunes as well. CD's and cassettes were incinerated if found to contain newly
lawed prohibited material. Why? Concern arose within the party that certain lyrics
could motivate dissent. Musicians and their music must
be given state authorization to be distributed to the masses, making musicians almost irrelevant within the country's confines. But it's not as if they were
being paid royalties anyway! To date, around 15 civilian bands are authorized by the state, but there's no guarantee they won't be censored in the future. Mosaic board holder. Most of the world has become enamored with Augmented Reality features
at their sporting events. South Korea in particular have
used the stunning technology in PyeongChang's Olympic opening ceremony to show a map of constellations, as well as bringing dragons
into their baseball games. But just a stone's throw
away in North Korea, well, it's a little more
of a hands-on experience. Literally. At the Arirang Mass Games, you can see a wide range of human sports and acrobatics performed, but take another look at that
impressive mosaic at the back. It's not a giant screen, those are people! Human pixels, if you will. Acting each as one piece
of an ever-changing puzzle, the 10,000 citizens here aren't
doing this for a pay-check. It's an example of
volunteers showing commitment to their party and hoping to
grace the states good books. Why bother with a jumbotron? I'm never complaining about my job again. If you were given the choice, which of these jobs would you prefer to spend the rest of your life doing? Or do you know any other useless jobs in the hermit kingdom I missed out on? I know I'd make a great traffic conductor, but I doubt the supreme leader would consider me voluptuous enough. So, let me know your thought
in the comments below and thanks for watching.
