North Korea is the most closed-off and secretive country in the world, but that doesn’t mean we don’t know anything about it. When it comes to North Korea, many of us know that the country is different from others. Its citizens must abide by peculiar laws and are not allowed access to certain websites or communication. Most North Koreans probably don’t even know they live in a restrictive state because they don’t have access to outside information. Here are 10 things that you do every day that are forbidden in the closed-off country.

Related: 10 Horrifying Accounts Of North Korea’s Prison Camps

10 Using the Internet

Can you imagine a world without the internet? Or someone telling you what websites you can and cannot access? Probably not, since the world as we know it is centralized around the web. We are constantly finding new and interesting information to better our lives by browsing it. Unfortunately, not everyone has this luxury.

It is against the law to use the global internet in North Korea. The government has strict controls over the internet and only allows a select few government officials, scientists, and students to have access to it. For everyone else, the government controls how it’s used and has its own state-ran network called Kwangmyong.

The internet is seen as a threat to the North Korean government because it is a tool that can be used to connect people from all over the world. It allows for the sharing of information and the exchange of ideas. This is something that the government of North Korea does not want its people to have access to. Citizens are even restricted in their phone access. They want to keep their citizens isolated from the rest of the world. ^[1]

9 Smiling

Everyone loves a smile. But what if there were laws on when you could do it? Sound nuts? Believe it or not, it’s against the law for North Koreans to smile on July 8, the anniversary of Kim Il-sung’s death.

If Citizens do happen to break the law for this rule, they could be sent to concentration camps or even pay with their lives. The same goes for being loud, drinking, or having a birthday party. So, whatever you do, don’t smile on July 8.

Current leader Kim Jong-un also initiated an 11-day mourning period for his late father, Kim Jong-il, on the 10th anniversary of his death. During this time, North Koreans were banned from laughing, drinking, and shopping (or other leisure activities).^[2]

8 Watching TV

Watching a football game with friends, curling up for a nice movie, or just channel surfing are all things we love to do. Can you imagine only having one program to choose from? I suppose that would eliminate the argument many couples have about what to watch. But hey, we all like choices, right?

North Koreans are not allowed to watch foreign television or even listen to outside radio. Like the internet, they have their own state-run television. Anything that is not official North Korean media is prohibited, as doing so would expose them to Western culture. In fact, it’s illegal to own a television or radio that even has the ability to tune into anything other than the official North Korean media. Can you imagine watching the same thing all the time?^[3]

7 Driving

What if you had to walk everywhere? That doesn’t sound fun.

Can you believe North Korea allows only one in a hundred people to own a vehicle? It’s true. Even then, if you’re a woman and need to get somewhere, you’re out of luck, that is, unless you have a male escort. Women are prohibited from driving entirely, even if they are working as traffic officers.

At one time, women were even banned from riding bicycles around town. However, that restriction has been lifted, and women can make use of the limited transportation. But while they can ride a bike now, many women still mainly work in the home, caring for their families. Those who work focus on trading and the local markets, while their husbands work in state-run jobs.^[4]

6 Leaving the Country

Speaking of travel, don’t plan on leaving any time either. The people of North Korea can’t just go anywhere they please; they are essentially stuck in the country. Any travel must be government approved. There have been few that have made it out, and many have lost their lives in efforts to escape. The few who do succeed in getting out usually have to pay a 3rd party to smuggle them out of the country. Even then, it’s risky. If caught, they and their entire family could be sent to prison concentration camps or even killed.^[5]

5 Wearing Jeans

Fashion is very much a part of who we are as individuals. It allows us to express ourselves in so many ways. We have the freedom to dress how we want. However, not everyone around the world has this freedom. The North Korean president has decided that skinny jeans are out, and you cannot wear skinny jeans in North Korea. Because they resemble a form of western civilization, they are banned.

If you do happen to break this fashion rule, you’re taken to court, where you must confess your crimes in writing. You will only be released when someone brings you something appropriate to wear, and your employer will be notified. The same goes for dyed hair and piercings. Patrols in the city of Chongjin even target popular youth spots to try and catch people red-handed in their crimes.^[6]

4 Talking on the Phone

Making an international phone call could get you killed in North Korea. Sadly, a North Korean factory chief in South Pyongan province was executed by firing squad at a stadium in front of 150,000 spectators in October 2007. The crime was for making international phone calls.

He apparently had 13 phones installed in the basement of his factory in order to make international calls. Six people were killed, and 34 others were injured when a stampede occurred as crowds were leaving the stadium.^[7]

3 Choosing Your Profession

Okay, so maybe we don’t all have the dream job we fantasized about as a child. But North Koreans really don’t get to choose. When first finishing high school, all citizens must join the military. Men stay for 10 years, and women stay until the age of 23. After the military, they are then assigned their life’s work.

Job assignments are not up for negotiation and mostly consist of farming and agriculture. Other jobs consist of street sweepers, factory workers, traffic workers, and teachers. AlleEmployees are supposed to work a 48-hour work week and only have Sundays off. Once in 2016, the entire country, aside from the elite workforce, had to work 70 straight days due to government order in efforts to boost the economy.^[8]

2 Getting a New Haircut

Occasionally, everyone loves a new look. It’s nice to change it up every once in a while, right? For North Koreans, not so much. They have exactly 28 haircuts to choose from.

Women have 14 style choices, and most of them are shorter since it’s customary for married women to have shorter hair. Men are not allowed hair longer than two inches (5 centimeters), and spiky or dyed hair is a no-no because it’s not considered a “socialist hairstyle.” If a person were to get a style that was not on the approved list, they would be expressing anti-socialist behavior.^[9]

1 Talking Smack about the Government

How many times do we criticize or critique the way our government does things without giving it another thought? This is not something that happens in North Korea without severe punishment.

All North Koreans who live under Kim Jong-un’s rule must swear loyalty and obedience to him, his family, and the state. Those who threaten or even insult the supreme leader or his family will be imprisoned or even executed. This goes for visitors as well. American student Otto Warmbier was arrested at Pyongyang International Airport while waiting to leave North Korea as part of a guided tour group. He was arrested for stealing a billboard from his hotel room. North Korea saw this as an insult, and he was imprisoned and died after being released in a vegetative state in June 2017.

It has been said that the country is somewhat like the show The Handmaid’s Tale, which is set in a dystopian future. Although North Korea is one of the most isolated and secretive nations in the world, there are some things we do know. So next time you’re annoyed at what one might sarcastically call a first-world problem, just reread this list and be thankful you’re not living in North Korea.^[10]

North Korea, officially known as the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), is the most secretive and closed country in the world. Its leader, dictator Kim Jong-un, rules the country with an iron fist. The country is home to an estimated 120,000 political prisoners who live and work in harsh conditions and are subjected to torture. In addition, public executions are used as a tool to create fear. In the past decade, at least seven people have been publicly executed in North Korea for watching K-pop videos from South Korea.

It is no surprise then that, on average, thousands of North Koreans defect each year, although this number has been drastically declining. Less talked about, however, are the shocking times when people decided to defect to North Korea. In this list, we look at ten of the most shocking defections to North Korea.

Related: Top 10 North Korean Propaganda Films

10 James Dresnok

One of the most high-profile defectors to North Korea was U.S.-born James Dresnok. A U.S. soldier stationed on the Korean peninsula, Dresnok crossed the demilitarized zone (DMZ), after which he was apprehended by North Korean soldiers. He lived in North Korea until his death in 2016. His two sons remain in North Korea, professing their loyalty to the “dear supreme commander” Kim Jong-un in a 2017 interview.

Dresnok defected to the North on August 15, 1962, walking across a minefield. At the time of his defection, Dresnok was divorced and facing a court martial for forging his sergeant’s signature. In the 2006 documentary Crossing the Line, Dresnok admitted, “I was fed up with my childhood, my marriage, my military life, everything.” After defecting to the North, Dresnok became a film star, featuring in several propaganda movies, playing the role of the American bad guy. Dresnok maintained his loyalty to North Korea throughout his life, stating, “I feel at home. I really feel at home… I wouldn’t trade it for nothing.”^[1]

9 Charles Jenkins

Another U.S. soldier who shockingly defected to the North in 1965 was Charles Robert Jenkins, who remained in the DPRK until his escape in 2004. An army sergeant, one evening Jenkins crossed the demilitarized zone while drunk. By doing so, he hoped to avoid active combat duty in Vietnam. However, unlike his peer, James Dresnok, Jenkins immediately realized that he had made a terrible mistake. Following his defection, he found himself locked in a room with three other U.S. defectors (including Dresnok) and forced to study North Korean ideology for ten hours a day.

In 1972, Jenkins became a North Korean citizen and was given an apartment. In 1980, he married a Japanese citizen named Hitomi Soga, who had been kidnapped by the North Korean regime. In 2004, Jenkins managed to leave with his daughters to join his wife, who had been allowed to return to Japan. Upon his escape, Jenkins was a vocal critic of the North Korean regime, revealing stories of beatings, deprivation, and the removal of one of his testicles.^[2]

8 Choe Deok-sin

However, it is not just Americans who have defected to North Korea. On rare occasions, South Koreans have also made this perilous journey. One of the most high-profile South Korean defectors was Choe Deok-sin. Former Foreign Minister and Ambassador to West Germany, Choe defected to the North with his wife in 1986. In his early career, he had served as an officer of the Korean Liberation Army and, later, as head of the Korea Military Academy. However, he became increasingly disgruntled with the South Korean military government and immigrated to the U.S. with his wife. Ten years later, he announced that he would defect to the North, where he was welcomed.

Choe was celebrated in the DPRK until his death in 1989. In a bizarre turn of events, in 2019, Choe In-guk (Choe Deok-sin’s son) announced his defection from South Korea to North Korea, despite earlier criticism of his parents’ decision. Choe Deok-sin is believed to be the highest-ranking South Korean defector to the North.^[3]

7 Returning Home

What if you defect but change your mind? Defections to the South are common, but return trips to the North are much more unusual. Nevertheless, at the beginning of 2022, it was reported that a South Korean man had crossed the DMZ into North Korea. It was noted that such incidents are a rare occurrence. Yet, later investigation revealed that the believed-to-be South Korean defector was, in fact, a North Korean man who had defected to the South one year earlier. However, this has yet to be verified.

The man, whose identity has not been revealed, is thought to have experience as a gymnast, accounting for his skill in scaling the border fences. His motives for returning to the North are unknown. Yet, it is often reported that North Korean defectors face many difficulties in the South, including discrimination, bullying, and barriers to employment.^[4]

6 Larry Allen Abshier

The first U.S. soldier defector to North Korea, Larry Allen Abshier, abandoned his post in early 1962. Like his peers (see #9 and #10), Abshier was in trouble with his superiors. Stationed at the DMZ, Abshier had been found smoking marijuana on several occasions and was facing a court martial or even dismissal. In an effort to avoid such penalties, Abshier decided one day to walk across the heavily mined DMZ and into North Korea.

Two weeks after his arrival, Abshier was celebrated on DPRK propaganda channels and later became a film star, featuring in numerous North Korean movies. Yet, life in the DPRK was far from easy for Abshier, who was described by fellow defector Charles Jenkins as “the most scared” and “the simplest” of the Americans. Abshier was allegedly bullied by fellow defector Dresnok. The regime later “gave” Abshier a Thai wife, who had allegedly been kidnapped from Macau three months earlier. Unlike his fellow defectors, Abshier died at the early age of forty after suffering a heart attack.^[5]

5 Oh Kil-nam

One of the most controversial South Korean defectors was Oh Kil-nam. Having completed his Ph.D. in Germany in Marxist Economics, Oh was approached by North Korean agents who offered him an important post as an economist in the North Korean government. Despite his wife’s protests, he accepted, and Oh, his wife, and two daughters traveled to North Korea via East Germany and Moscow. There was no job waiting when they arrived, nor was there the promised medical treatment for his wife’s hepatitis. They were subsequently drilled in North Korean ideology.

Later, Oh was approached for a mission abroad where he would be based at the North Korean embassy in Denmark, tasked with entrapping South Korean students. Instead, when he arrived in Copenhagen, he begged for help. He was detained by Danish authorities for several months before being sent to Germany to try and free his family. Yet, it was already too late. Oh’s family had been arrested and taken to a concentration camp. He last heard from them in 1991 and has no idea whether they are still alive.^[6]

4 Roy Chung

Another defection to the North which made headlines was that of Roy Chung (Chung Ryeu Sop). Chung was a twenty-two-year-old South Korean man who had immigrated to the U.S. with his family in 1973. He joined the U.S. Army and, in 1979, while serving with his unit stationed in West Germany, went absent without leave and was declared a “deserter.” Two months later, he resurfaced in North Korea, apparently unable to endure “the disgraceful life of national insult and maltreatment” of the U.S. Army.

Despite claims of his defection, his parents, who lived in the U.S., were adamant that their son had been abducted by North Korean agents. Meanwhile, U.S. officials said they had no reason to doubt the North Korean version of events and did not investigate the matter, given that Chung had not been privy to any classified information. What happened to Chung following his defection is unknown.^[7]

3 Matthew Todd Miller

Without a doubt, the most bizarre case of defection to the North is that of Matthew Todd Miller. In April 2014, the twenty-four-year-old American tourist entered North Korea via an arranged tour. However, upon arrival in the country, he proceeded to tear up his visa and ask for political asylum. Miller was arrested and detained for a “gross violation” of North Korea’s legal order.

In September 2014, Miller was sentenced to six years of hard labor for entering the country illegally and committing “hostile” acts. However, he was subsequently released on November 8, 2014, along with fellow American Kenneth Bae, who had been given a fifteen-year sentence for anti-governmental activities. In explaining his actions following his release, Miller said, “I was just trying to stay in the country.” He further explained that his true goal was to learn about North Korea and “speak to an ordinary North Korean about normal things.”^[8]

2 Pak Jong-suk

Another case of “double defection” arose in 2012 with the much-celebrated return of sixty-six-year-old Pak Jong-suk to North Korea. Pak defected in 2006 to join her father in the Chinese city of Qingdao. Here, Pak claims she was tricked by South Korean security agents into defecting to the South, where she lived for six years. It is reported that Pak subsequently flew back to the North via China on May 25, 2012.

Upon her return, Pak gave a public press conference. She apologized for “betraying her motherland” and praised the “profound loving care” that the North Korean leader had displayed to her on her homecoming. In the 80-minute conference, she detailed her hardships while living in the “corrupt money-crazed South.” Despite her convincing display of allegiance, many are skeptical. They consider that Pak returned to the North due to her concerns for her family and not a longing for her homeland. They deem her story to be largely false and State fed.^[9]

1 Joseph White

Lastly is Joseph White, another U.S. soldier who defected to the North in 1982. White joined the U.S. Army in October 1981 and was assigned to the 2nd Infantry Division in South Korea in March 1982. On the morning of August 28, 1982, he suddenly abandoned his post in the DMZ and crossed into North Korea at the age of twenty for “motives that are not known.” North Korean officials announced that he had sought political refuge in the country because of “deep emotion.”

In 1983, White’s parents received a letter from their son assuring them that he was well and working as an English teacher. Sadly, two years later, in 1985, White drowned while swimming in the Chongchon River. The river was reportedly rain-swollen, and White became caught in a swirl of fast water. Friends were unable to save him. He died aged just twenty-three.^[10]