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5 myths about Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK)

1. DPRK men are forced to have the same haircut / banned from having the same haircut as Kim Jong Un

Back in 2014 the BBC and other news outlets wrote an article on North Korean university students ordered to have Kim Jong Un’s haircut. It was with no surprise that the quirkiness and obscureness of the topic help spread this rumour like a wildfire on the internet with all sorts of memes coming out of the woodwork.

Tourists travelling in North Korea at the time quickly debunked this which numerous mainstream newspapers were backing their stories from an unknown source within the DPRK. 


2. Only elites and military personnel are allowed to have vehicles so traffic is non-existent!


Prior to 2010 traffic in North Korea was incredibly low. There used to be few taxis, a handful of vans & trucks, and lots of busses back then. Demand for taxis grew as public transport infrastructure is lacking, and as the local economy grew – so does the number of drivers! Although traffic in Pyongyang has grown, it doesn’t reflect traffic elsewhere in the country. The most common mode of transport in the rural areas of the DPRK are bicycle, bus and military vehicles. There’s been a small growth in private buses operating between larger cities and Pyongyang.


3. There is no internet & mobile phones in DPRK

Whilst the general public of North Korea do not have access to the Internet this doesn’t entirely mean Internet is not available in North Korea. Orascom, an Egyptian telecommunication company had partnered with Korea’s state owned KPTC to launch the DPRK’s very first 3G Koryolink service in 2008. 


As many as six million North Koreans, about a quarter of the population, now have mobile phones. The cellphones they have accessed are locally made North Korean phones and will only work inside the DPRK. They are able to connect to the intranet which gives them access to news, weather, online dictionary, games, a local Korean language encyclopedia and other apps. An Uber-like app was also launched in 2019.


4. You can't take photos in DPRK

This is another outdated myth of North Korea. In the early years of tourism, it wasn’t possible to take photos outside of Pyongyang, or during your bus ride within Pyongyang. As tourism grew in the DPRK, officials and locals became more relaxed with this "regulation" and now photography is certainly possible. The only requirements of photography are no photos of military personnel or construction sites. Photos of soldiers at the DMZ within certain sections are totally fine. 


5. There is north and South Korea

There is one Korea that is 'unified' Korea, South Korea is part of 'unified' Korea which is under Imperialist occupation which has literally banned all the left parties. 


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