Hanguk Story: 2012 : The Greatest Year for North Korea?

Sunday, September 18, 2011

2012 : The Greatest Year for North Korea?

It reads : Strongest and Greatest Nation, 2012

Nostradamus, Harold Camping... People sure love Apocalypse theories! In South Korea, Nostradamus is still very popular, though I personally believe that most people look at the theory with nothing more than simple fascination. However in the United States, 2012 end of the world theory has been very popular lately. And hoorah, they even made a movie about it!

Well, 2012 End of the World theory is a worldwide popular one now. Except in the one place that seems to be always out of place : North Korea.

The year 2012 is the 100th anniversary of Kim Il-Sung's birthday. Kim Il-Sung is the founder of North Korea, and the father of Kim Jong-Il, the current leader of North Korea. Naturally (considering all things North Korea), the year 2012 has been designated by the North Korean government as "the year for opening the grand gates to becoming a rising superpower."

Pictured above : People. Lots of them.

For those leaders of North Korea, the notions of "the greatest nation in the world" and "the world is gonna end" do not go well together. So they simply BANNED the film '2012'. The authorities decided that viewing the movie constituted "a grave provocation against the development of the state." Pirated DVDs from China were searched, confiscated, and destroyed. People selling and buying DVDs were punished altogether. Having pirated DVDs of foreign films, ESPECIALLY '2012', is a grave crime currently in North Korea.

So there you have it folks. While the rest of the Western world is going paranoid and panicking about this nonexistent threat, North Korea is being the optimistic one for once and looking forward to the next year.