1Kim Jong-Nam
Kim Jong-Il's eldest son, Kim Jong-Nam, was widely considered to be the heir apparent to the title of Supreme Leader of North Korea until he attempted to enter Japan with a fake passport so that he could go to Disneyland.
2Kenji Fujimoto
Kim Jong-Il's personal sushi chef Kenji Fujimoto escaped from North Korea in 2001 by telling the supreme leader he wanted to buy a sea urchin to cook for him. He subsequently wrote a memoir about his experiences with Kim Jong-Il.
3Desperate Housewives
In 2013, North Korea executed 80 people for secretly watching the ABC drama “Desperate Housewives” using mp3 players, hard drives, and DVDs.
4U.S.S. Pueblo
North Korea captured a U.S. ship, the U.S.S. Pueblo, in 1968. North Korea maintains the ship as a tourist attraction and propaganda symbol to this day.
5North Korean teenagers
The average North Korean teenager is 8 inches shorter than the average South Korean of the same age, due entirely to malnourishment and privation.
6Kim Gwang Suk
When a North Korean gymnast named Kim Gwang Suk competed at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics ; her age was given as 17, but she was missing her front teeth and may have been as young as 10. Aside from an Olympic torch relay, her subsequent life and whereabouts are unknown.
7Ryugyong Hotel
The Ryugyong Hotel in Pyongyang, North Korea is 330 meters (1,080 feet) tall and was intended to be world's tallest hotel but these days it is the tallest unoccupied building in the world.
Latest FactRepublic Video:
15 Most Controversial & Costly Blunders in History
8No Kum-Sok
In 1953, a North Korean pilot named No Kum-Sok defected in his MiG-15, allowing the Americans first look at the fighter. As part of Operation Moolah, he was given $100,000 and he later became a US citizen and aeronautical engineer.
928 Approved haircuts
North Koreans must abide by one of 28 approved haircuts. Unmarried women must have short hair, but married women have many more options, and the hair of young men should be less than 2 inches long, older men can go as long as 2¾.
10Propaganda Village
There is a North Korean village just across the border with South Korea nicknamed "Propaganda Village". It is apparently uninhabited and for many years it had speakers that broadcast propaganda across the border 24/7.
