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| Mythbusters: uncovering the truth about North Korea | Mythbusters: uncovering the truth about North Korea |
| (about 17 hours later) | |
| The world’s interest in North Korea dwarfs the amount we really know about the so-called "hermit kingdom". With a media hungry for information, reports based on rumours or anonymous sources are not uncommon – what our partners at NK News call "an echo-chamber effect". | The world’s interest in North Korea dwarfs the amount we really know about the so-called "hermit kingdom". With a media hungry for information, reports based on rumours or anonymous sources are not uncommon – what our partners at NK News call "an echo-chamber effect". |
| We have asked you to help us turn this on its head by submitting a myth to be debunked or a burning question you’ve always wanted to ask. Here’s the first round of responses from our expert network. | We have asked you to help us turn this on its head by submitting a myth to be debunked or a burning question you’ve always wanted to ask. Here’s the first round of responses from our expert network. |
| Open contributions: mythbusters | Open contributions: mythbusters |
| Chad Henshaw was curious about Pyongyang’s metro: | Chad Henshaw was curious about Pyongyang’s metro: |
| I read that the metro only runs between two station for tourists, filled with actors. Are any other stops on the line operational? Does the subway operate all day every day or only at peak times? Every third Tuesday if there is enough power? Is it a viable form of transport for a North Korean? | I read that the metro only runs between two station for tourists, filled with actors. Are any other stops on the line operational? Does the subway operate all day every day or only at peak times? Every third Tuesday if there is enough power? Is it a viable form of transport for a North Korean? |
| There are all manner of conspiracy theories about the Pyongyang metro: that there are, in reality, only two stations; that it only works when tourists are there; that all the locals there are actors. Despite the claims, the Pyongyang metro is indeed a functional system, running along two bisecting lines in the central and outer-western parts of Pyongyang. The Chollima line runs north to south, the Hyoksin line snakes from west to east. | There are all manner of conspiracy theories about the Pyongyang metro: that there are, in reality, only two stations; that it only works when tourists are there; that all the locals there are actors. Despite the claims, the Pyongyang metro is indeed a functional system, running along two bisecting lines in the central and outer-western parts of Pyongyang. The Chollima line runs north to south, the Hyoksin line snakes from west to east. |
| Pyongyang is plagued by power shortages but they are not common on the metro. Tourists sometimes experience them, not on the trains, but on the 100 metre escalators. | Pyongyang is plagued by power shortages but they are not common on the metro. Tourists sometimes experience them, not on the trains, but on the 100 metre escalators. |
| The metro is cheap – five won a ride, which is pocket-change even for the poorer of Pyongyang’s residents – but limited. In the heavily residential area east of the Taedong river there are no stations. It may not cover as many places as the tram and trolley-bus network, but if you need to go anywhere near a station the chances are you’ll use it. | The metro is cheap – five won a ride, which is pocket-change even for the poorer of Pyongyang’s residents – but limited. In the heavily residential area east of the Taedong river there are no stations. It may not cover as many places as the tram and trolley-bus network, but if you need to go anywhere near a station the chances are you’ll use it. |
| Simon Cockerell is the general manager of Koryo Tours , who have been taking tourists to North Korea for 21 years. He has been a regular visitor to Pyongyang since 2002, and has ridden the metro more than 100 times | Simon Cockerell is the general manager of Koryo Tours , who have been taking tourists to North Korea for 21 years. He has been a regular visitor to Pyongyang since 2002, and has ridden the metro more than 100 times |
| Alex Fletcher wanted to know more about the Kim family tree: | Alex Fletcher wanted to know more about the Kim family tree: |
| How many siblings does Kim Jong-un have? Some say that he has two brothers and two sisters, others say he has more. Also, how did Kim meet Ri Sol-ju? | How many siblings does Kim Jong-un have? Some say that he has two brothers and two sisters, others say he has more. Also, how did Kim meet Ri Sol-ju? |
| Kim Jong-un has two siblings and is the middle child. He has an older brother, 33-year old Kim Jong-chol, and and a younger sister, 26-year old Kim Yo-jong. They both work as aides to their brother, although Kim Yo-jong is the more publicly active of the two. They both studied in Switzerland, like their brother, in the 1990s and early 2000s. Kim Jong-un also has four step siblings: three stepsisters and one stepbrother. | Kim Jong-un has two siblings and is the middle child. He has an older brother, 33-year old Kim Jong-chol, and and a younger sister, 26-year old Kim Yo-jong. They both work as aides to their brother, although Kim Yo-jong is the more publicly active of the two. They both studied in Switzerland, like their brother, in the 1990s and early 2000s. Kim Jong-un also has four step siblings: three stepsisters and one stepbrother. |
| As to how Kim Jong-un met Ri Sol-ju: Ri’s parents are members of the DPRK’s outer elite and Ri was active as a performer and cheerleader. Matchmaking and arranged marriages are still practiced in the two Koreas and Ri was matched with Kim Jong-un between 2009 and 2010. After Kim Jong-un selected Ri, his aunt Kim Kyong-hui recommended her to his late father, leader Kim Jong-il, who approved the nuptials. | As to how Kim Jong-un met Ri Sol-ju: Ri’s parents are members of the DPRK’s outer elite and Ri was active as a performer and cheerleader. Matchmaking and arranged marriages are still practiced in the two Koreas and Ri was matched with Kim Jong-un between 2009 and 2010. After Kim Jong-un selected Ri, his aunt Kim Kyong-hui recommended her to his late father, leader Kim Jong-il, who approved the nuptials. |
| Michael Madden of North Korea Leadership Watch, a Guardian network partner focused on politics and people at the heart of the Kim regime | Michael Madden of North Korea Leadership Watch, a Guardian network partner focused on politics and people at the heart of the Kim regime |
| Mauricio Fiore and Alan McLemore both asked whether cannabis was legal: | Mauricio Fiore and Alan McLemore both asked whether cannabis was legal: |
| According to Wikipedia cannabis is "legal or effectively legal" in North Korea. Reports on Vice and Huffington Post suggest the country is "a weed-smoker’s paradise", where the drug is "smoked freely and its sweet scent often catches your nostrils unannounced". But, amusing as it may be to some that the brutal regime has taken a progressive stance on drug policy, experts agree that cannabis is rare and most definitely illegal in North Korea. | According to Wikipedia cannabis is "legal or effectively legal" in North Korea. Reports on Vice and Huffington Post suggest the country is "a weed-smoker’s paradise", where the drug is "smoked freely and its sweet scent often catches your nostrils unannounced". But, amusing as it may be to some that the brutal regime has taken a progressive stance on drug policy, experts agree that cannabis is rare and most definitely illegal in North Korea. |
| The origin of the myth is a green, potpourri-like mixture of herbs and uncured tobacco leaves called ipdambae (잎담배), translated literally as "leaf tobacco". Matthew Reichel who has traveled to North Korea more than 30 times since 2009 as the director of Pyongyang Project, says that bags of this are commonly sold as a cheap alternative to cigarettes at public markets.“It looks a little bit similar if you haven’t smoked a lot of weed,” Reichel says. “If you smoke that stuff it’ll smell weird but it won’t get you high.” | The origin of the myth is a green, potpourri-like mixture of herbs and uncured tobacco leaves called ipdambae (잎담배), translated literally as "leaf tobacco". Matthew Reichel who has traveled to North Korea more than 30 times since 2009 as the director of Pyongyang Project, says that bags of this are commonly sold as a cheap alternative to cigarettes at public markets.“It looks a little bit similar if you haven’t smoked a lot of weed,” Reichel says. “If you smoke that stuff it’ll smell weird but it won’t get you high.” |
| North Korea does cultivate industrial hemp and these plants can be found growing wild in the countryside, but they contain just a fraction of the THC found in regular cannabis. Reichel suggests it’s possible that some farmers have managed to grow their own private stashes (a scenario described by a frequent North Korea visitor in a popular Reddit “Ask Me Anything” thread), but the drug would certainly not be smoked in public. | North Korea does cultivate industrial hemp and these plants can be found growing wild in the countryside, but they contain just a fraction of the THC found in regular cannabis. Reichel suggests it’s possible that some farmers have managed to grow their own private stashes (a scenario described by a frequent North Korea visitor in a popular Reddit “Ask Me Anything” thread), but the drug would certainly not be smoked in public. |
| Drug offenders in North Korea can be sentenced to death, but Reichel says petty pot possession would not likely lead to an execution or banishment to one the country’s concentration camps, which are mostly reserved for political prisoners. | Drug offenders in North Korea can be sentenced to death, but Reichel says petty pot possession would not likely lead to an execution or banishment to one the country’s concentration camps, which are mostly reserved for political prisoners. |
| Keegan Hamilton is a freelance journalist in New York reporting on drugs, crime, culture, and many other topics for The Village Voice, The Atlantic, and Vice News. | Keegan Hamilton is a freelance journalist in New York reporting on drugs, crime, culture, and many other topics for The Village Voice, The Atlantic, and Vice News. |
| Liam Patrik had a question about leadership: | Liam Patrik had a question about leadership: |
| Are the Kims in control of the country? Or are they puppets of the National Defence Commission to give the military a kind of royal veneer that helps support their own control over the Workers' Party and affairs of state? | Are the Kims in control of the country? Or are they puppets of the National Defence Commission to give the military a kind of royal veneer that helps support their own control over the Workers' Party and affairs of state? |
| Kim Jong-un and his immediate subordinates control the DPRK. The system is not an obdurate one-man rule, but a balancing of power groups, including the military, government and internal security, all have different interests and policies. Kim is "the decider". | Kim Jong-un and his immediate subordinates control the DPRK. The system is not an obdurate one-man rule, but a balancing of power groups, including the military, government and internal security, all have different interests and policies. Kim is "the decider". |
| His late father, Kim Jong-il, dominated DPRK politics for nearly four decades and was the country’s ultimate authority. He ruled, giving the power groups wide scope to formulate policy, but by retaining ultimate control over decision making. He installed a rigid system of cross-checking bureaucracies, surveillance, personnel control and encouraged competition pitting groups against each other for his attention. | His late father, Kim Jong-il, dominated DPRK politics for nearly four decades and was the country’s ultimate authority. He ruled, giving the power groups wide scope to formulate policy, but by retaining ultimate control over decision making. He installed a rigid system of cross-checking bureaucracies, surveillance, personnel control and encouraged competition pitting groups against each other for his attention. |
| The National Defence Commission was very much a Kim Jong-iIl production, its members were people he had handpicked. It remains to be seen whether Kim Jong-un will be as effective leader as his father. | The National Defence Commission was very much a Kim Jong-iIl production, its members were people he had handpicked. It remains to be seen whether Kim Jong-un will be as effective leader as his father. |
| As for the role of the Korean People’s Army (KPA); there are numerous checks to prevent them from forming a power center to rival the the Supreme Leader. The KPA has never been in a power competition or dominated the Workers’ Party of Korea. It is misrepresented by some analysts as a monolith; but in reality it is made up of factions with different goals and perspectives. | As for the role of the Korean People’s Army (KPA); there are numerous checks to prevent them from forming a power center to rival the the Supreme Leader. The KPA has never been in a power competition or dominated the Workers’ Party of Korea. It is misrepresented by some analysts as a monolith; but in reality it is made up of factions with different goals and perspectives. |
| Michael Madden, North Korea Leadership Watch | Michael Madden, North Korea Leadership Watch |
| Eric had a few questions about the history of the Koreas: | Eric had a few questions about the history of the Koreas: |
| What form did Korean government take pre-1948? Under what circumstances did they assume control of North Korea? Was Kim Il-sung a 'freedom fighter' as state propaganda claims? What was his role in the war? | What form did Korean government take pre-1948? Under what circumstances did they assume control of North Korea? Was Kim Il-sung a 'freedom fighter' as state propaganda claims? What was his role in the war? |
| It’s probably easiest to take these questions together. The ancient nation of Korea was ‘temporarily’ partitioned at the arbitrary 38th Parallel in 1945 by the victorious allies, initially so as to take the Japanese surrender. Japan had brutally occupied Korea since 1910; the scars linger still. Partition was a US idea which the USSR accepted. | |
| Each power then tried to create a regime in its own image. Until 1948, the South was directly ruled by the US military. The Soviets were more subtle, building up a young unknown called Kim Il-sung: a former, minor anti-Japanese guerrilla in Manchuria, who’d fled to Siberia in 1941. | |
| In the early years Moscow pulled all the strings, as analyst Andrei Lankov et al have shown. But as real reforms including land and women’s rights were rolled out, Kim proved himself to be more than a puppet. | |
| Historians say that Kim bounced an initially doubtful Stalin and Mao into his bid to forcibly reunify Korea, starting the war. He would have succeeded if it had not been for a US-led multinational UN force that helped South Korea. | Historians say that Kim bounced an initially doubtful Stalin and Mao into his bid to forcibly reunify Korea, starting the war. He would have succeeded if it had not been for a US-led multinational UN force that helped South Korea. |
| In 1953, Kim’s rival Syngman Rhee – the first president of South Korea – refused to sign the Korean Armistice Agreement, he wanted to fight on. South Korea never signed, but Kim went on to build the North Korean regime, now ruled by his grandson. | |
| That’s the gist of it. North Korea claims that Kim liberated Korea single-handed and deny that he started the Korean War. It must be said that evaluating the 1945-50 period remains controversial. For more detail and debate, see books by, amongst others, Sheila Miyoshi Jager, Andrei Lankov, Charles Armstrong, Bruce Cumings and Shen Zhuiha. | |
| Aidan Foster-Carter is an honorary senior research fellow in sociology and modern Korea at Leeds University. He has followed North Korea for over 45 years | Aidan Foster-Carter is an honorary senior research fellow in sociology and modern Korea at Leeds University. He has followed North Korea for over 45 years |