Weirdest Korean Laws That Make ZERO Sense To Outsiders
K-Pop culture country may surprise you in its unique ways.
A lot of us are blessed enough to live with freedom, and while we take it for granted, a lot of other people around the world do not have that luxury. People are often put under weird and unethical rules that force them to do certain things, and that doesn’t really make sense at all. Today, we have 7 such rules that people need to abide by while living in Korea. After going through this article, you will realize just how lucky you are to not be under these absurd and weird rules.
1- Specific Hairstyles
Yep, you read that right; imagine living in a country where even your hairstyle is defined for you. While many of us have this freedom, the people living in Korea do not have this option. The men have the option to choose from 18 preset hairstyles.
The women of Korea are also expected to follow something similar; married women tend to have shortened hairstyles, and single women are likely to have long hair. The only one exempt from this is Korean leader Kim Jong Un. The leader can have a hairstyle of his choosing, and no one else is allowed to have the same hairstyle.
Grooming yourself as per your needs is one of the basic needs of a human. Living in a country that has laws like that is surely very hard. The men are not allowed to have long hair because, as per the leader, it portrays a lazy and unhappy lifestyle.
2- Forced and Rigged Elections
You may be confused, by reading the title on this twisted law, because North Korea is a dictatorship, and why would they even have elections? But it’s not as simple as that, to show the outside world that the people living there are happy and content. They have these fake elections in which everyone over the age of 17 is forced to vote.
Once you are at the venue, there is a very long line of people, and when it is finally your turn to vote, you go to a booth and are provided with a ballot but it only has one name on it, while theoretically, one can cross the name out to show resistance; this causes the secret police to take action against you, fining and imprisoning you. Ouccch!
3- Forced Name Changes
Throughout the world, people have the freedom to use whatever name they want, if someone does not like the name that their parents chose for them, they can legally get it changed without much consequence.
Living in Korea, you are not allowed to have the same name as the leader, this rule has been since the Kim family was in power, if you do end up having the same name as the dictator then you will be punished and forced to change your name.
4- No Gaming past 12
A lot of us are used to playing online games late into the night with our friends, but for people under the age of sixteen in South Korea, this is a struggle. The government outlawed playing games late into the night, which was highly unpopular, and complaints were made regarding this law, but the courts ruled the complaints down. While one can play games on a mobile, we all know playing online with friends is much more fun.
5- Bringing Your Own Chair to School
Almost all of us have seen our parents complain about the costs of new books and stationery, at the start of school; it’s still comparatively easy for us as compared to the people living in South Korea.
Students are expected to bring their own chairs and tables to the school as the school will not provide for them; moreover, the parents are supposed to pay for the maintenance of the school building, along with the heating/ cooling of the building. Talk about expensive and unfair.
6- Religion
People in North Korea are allowed to practice the religion of their choice on paper; however, we all know that a word like freedom does not exist in that country. People are supposed to devote all their time to praising the dictator of the country and being extremely model citizens, and as such, they do not have time for religion at all. North Korea is mainly an atheist state.
Some of the people, however, do believe in shamanism. They believe that they can talk to ghosts and spirits and get advice from the dead. This has gained popularity recently as well in the form of fortune-telling as people ask the spirits, what’s the best way to smuggle themselves or their families out of the country.
Additionally, many of the followers are avid Buddist followers and the major influence of Buddhism persists in Korean culture. Buddhism is deemed as a philosophy and cultural background rather than a religion itself as the exact number of Buddhist followers is unknown.
Defamation
While winning a defamation case in the states is next to impossible, in South Korea, it's the opposite; winning a defamation case is very easy. In fact, many big businesses use this law to their advantage, and if someone tries to defame the business, even if it’s the truth, they can use this in court and sue the person that tried to criticize them.
Would you want to be a part of Korea now?
I was interested in Korea when I saw their scholarship offerings. It should be noted that South Korea in specific is a little modernized because of its export of high-tech services.
Korea’s culture and traditions are extremely rich and this expands its scope for larger businesses, tourism, and trade. The question is will you opt for this opportunity cost?
While most of us, thankfully do not have to face such bizarre laws and still to this date, there are actually many people living under this tyranny. I personally feel very lucky and believe that we should all be thankful that we have freedom. I hope that the individuals who are suffering, their suffering doesn’t get alleviated and they are given at least basic human rights.
Want to follow up more from me and other amazing writers on Medium?
Hop on the chance to join: