10 facts you don't know about North Korea

Most of us know that North Korea mistreats its citizens . Kim Jong - people suffer from hunger at a time when his net worth estimated at $ 5 billion . His wife , Ri Sol - you seen carrying a handbag " Dior " , which costs 1594 dollars , which is equal to the average annual salary of a citizen of this country . Even though the country remains one of the most isolated in the world , some facts that brings online century are interesting and little known to the general public .
1 . Marijuana is legal and is not classified as drugs
There is no taboo about smoking marijuana in North Korea . Many locals use regularly . Use and distribution of hard drugs was sentenced to death , but marijuana is classified as herb of Bohemia and is not considered a drug .
2 . Six American soldiers remained in North Korea from 1962
" I was fed up with my childhood , my marriage , military life , everything . I was a goner . I had only one place to go , "says James Dresnok , recent defector alive in North Korea . In August 1962, he stepped into a minefield and marched into North Korea . Shortly after his arrival , he met with Dresnok Larry Allen Abshier , another American spy . There are four of them : Abshier , Jerry Parrish , Charles Robert Jenkins , and Dresnok . Men have lived together and have participated in propaganda efforts on behalf of the government of North Korea . They appeared on the covers of magazines and used loudspeakers to persuade American soldiers to desert .
3 . North Korea is the only country in the world that has captured a U.S. Navy ship
On January 23, 1968 , in international waters more than 15 miles from North Korea , the USS Pueblo , an electronic intelligence ship , was surrounded by a submarine and torpedo boats , MiG aircraft from above . Sailors in Pueblo were rounded up and imprisoned . While propaganda picture emerged showing the right treatment , the reality was much worse . The crew endured hunger and torture for nearly a year . Finally , the North Korean government decided to release all the crew members . Pueblo is still held by North Korea .
4 . North Korea is not " communist " officially
In 2009 , references to communism , were removed from the country's constitution and " Juche " became the official state ideology , replacing Marxism - Leninism , when the country adopted a new constitution in 1972 . Created by Kim Il -sung , it states that the Korean masses are the masters of the country's development , with an emphasis on politics, economics and sustainability of self- defense .
5 . It is not 2013 , but 102 !
Juche calendar was introduced in 1997 and is based on the date of birth of Kim Il Sung : April 15 , 1912. This year 's referred to as Juche 1 and the system starts there , and kept the traditional Gregorian calendar months and the number of days in a month .
6 . North Korea has the biggest stadium in the world
Currently used for football and sport , but more often for performances as " Mass Games" . May 1 Stadium filled with 150 thousand people . The stadium is located in Pyongyang and was built in 1989 . In the late 1990s , a number of army generals implicated North Korea in an assassination attempt on Kim Jong - il was executed by firing at the crowd .
7 . In 2012 , North Korean archaeologists announced they had discovered a settlement of a unicorn
In November 2012 , North Korean archaeologists claimed to have discovered a fabulous njëbrirëshi grave , belonging Tongmyong King , founder of the ancient Korean kingdom . The announcement was made by the Institute of History of the DPRK Academy of Social Sciences , which reported that the tomb was found 220 meters from a house in Pyongyang . " A rectangular rock tomb inscribed with words before . Words engraved believed to date back to the period of the Koryo kingdom (918-1392) " , the report said . " Temple has served as a palace for King Tongmyong facilitation , in which Buffalo also has his tomb . "
8 . There are 51 " social categories " which ranks their loyalty to the regime
Based on the background of political , social and economic direct ancestors and relatives of behavior , " Songbun " - a system of North Korea from the status attributed - is used to determine whether an individual is entrusted with the responsibility , is likely within the country , or to receive social assistance . Songbun affects access to education and employment , especially if a person is eligible to join the party of North Korea's ruling Workers' Party of Korea.
9 . At the border , there is a ghost town
According to the Korean government , Kijongdong village , located north of the demilitarized zone ( DMZ ) , contains a family farm with about 200 collective , which has a child care center , nursery school, elementary and secondary schools and a hospital . However , observation from the South suggests that this is in fact a ghost town , created to encourage South Korean traitors . By 2004 , massive loudspeakers mounted on some of the buildings constantly sending propaganda associated with the virtues of northern urging disgruntled soldiers and farmers simply go across the border to be accepted as brothers .
10 . The highest hotel in the world that became empty pyramid
With 105 floors , Ryugyong Hotel was designed to be the highest hotel in the world in the late 80s , but construction was halted in 1992 , as the country entered a period of economic crisis after the collapse of the Soviet Union . Japanese newspapers estimated the cost of the hotel was $ 750 million , which is 2 % of the GDP of North Korea . For over a decade , unfinished building was empty and no windows , appearing as a massive concrete shell . In the late 1990s , and the European Union Chamber of Commerce in Korea inspected the building and concluded that the structure was " irreversible . "