North Korea: 34 Rules That’ll Scare You

A child is born in North Korea. But from the moment he enters the world, he's branded a traitor—not because of anything he’s done, but because of something his grandfather once believed. In North Korea, your bloodline is your destiny, and if someone in your family once opposed the regime, you carry that punishment across generations.

This is a country where even thinking against the government is considered a crime. If someone reports you for suspicious thoughts, you can be imprisoned without trial. Imagine a place where there’s only one television channel, and it’s permanently fixed to government propaganda. Changing the channel isn’t just impossible—it’s illegal. Watching a foreign movie or a South Korean drama can get you sent to a labor camp, often for life.

North Korea claims to hold elections, but the people are only given one name to vote for: the one chosen by the government. Refusing to vote is considered treason. Voting isn’t an exercise of freedom—it’s a loyalty test. And if you fail it, you disappear.

There is no private media. All newspapers, radio stations, and television broadcasts are controlled by the state. No one is allowed to call another country without permission. If you’re caught with a mobile phone or USB drive containing foreign content, you could face public execution or a lifetime of hard labor. The internet doesn’t exist for most people. Instead, there is a closed-off intranet system—limited, monitored, and censored to the point where citizens never know the truth about the outside world.

People can’t travel freely within their own country. You need government permits to go from one city to another. Foreign travel is impossible unless you belong to the elite class close to the ruling Kim family. Even within cities, plainclothes spies live among regular citizens, watching, listening, and reporting anything remotely suspicious. Every neighborhood has government informants.

In North Korea, jeans are banned, as is dyed hair. Western fashion is seen as ideological contamination. So are religious beliefs. Practicing any faith is illegal, even though churches exist—but only as a façade for foreign visitors. If someone is caught praying, they disappear. Torture, prison, or worse awaits them.

Each citizen is classified under a brutal social hierarchy called the Songbun system. If your ancestors fought for the Kim regime, you are placed in the “loyal” class and receive better jobs, housing, and access to food. If not, you are relegated to lower classes, sometimes forbidden from living in the capital city or working respectable jobs. If your family has a religious history or foreign connection, you are labeled hostile—and your life is monitored and restricted forever.

From the age of 17, every North Korean must serve at least ten years in the military. That’s if you’re even deemed fit enough by the government. If you’re born into the wrong class, you might be assigned to hard labor instead. Every home is required to hang portraits of Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il. These must be kept spotless. Government inspectors regularly visit homes to check the cleanliness of the portraits, and failure to maintain them results in punishment.

Children are forced to memorize the speeches of the ruling Kims. There are weekly self-criticism sessions where people must confess supposed ideological mistakes—like admiring something foreign, or not praising the leader enough. Others are encouraged to criticize and shame those who confess. It’s a cycle designed to break trust, maintain fear, and destroy independent thought.

On anniversaries of Kim Jong-il or Kim Il-sung’s death, mourning is mandatory. Crying in public is expected. Failing to show grief raises suspicion and might get you interrogated. Even things as simple as riding a bicycle require a license and registration. No action is too small for state control.

The government justifies all this by claiming to protect its people from outside influence. It says American and South Korean culture is toxic. Fast food like hot dogs or Korean dishes like tteokbokki are banned because they’re seen as foreign threats. Clothing with foreign logos or slogans is prohibited. The state wants every citizen to look, think, and behave only in ways that uphold the regime.

For tourists who are allowed in, strict rules apply. You must always be accompanied by a government guide. You cannot talk to locals freely. You cannot take photos without permission. If you ask questions or deviate from the approved itinerary, you may be detained or expelled.

The strangest part is that most of the world still knows very little about what truly happens inside North Korea. Most of the information comes from defectors—people who risked everything to escape. Some have smuggled out footage using USB drives through China. Others have told their stories, detailing how they fled across icy rivers at night, bribed guards, and hid for months to survive.

North Korea is perhaps the most isolated place on Earth. Its people have no voice, no vote, and no way to imagine a different life. From birth to death, their lives are controlled, their thoughts monitored, and their hopes buried under fear. For most of them, even the dream of freedom is too dangerous to speak aloud.

And in a country where dreaming is dangerous, silence becomes a form of survival.