Strange Stories Out Of North Korea

[@Simplehistory]

This video was made possible thanks to everyone on the Simple History Patreon: www.patreon.com/simplehistory

[@teonea3090]

Hi men love u videos

[@echotech9972]

Hello, just so you know there is a mistake with the graves at 13:46 where the grave top on the bottom right most grave is miss placed.

[@davidspencer8373]

Like video

[@yootoobvyooer]

Would you pin the book about his story, "The Great Leader and the Fighter Pilot: The True Story of the Tyrant Who Created North Korea and The Young Lieutenant Who Stole His Way to Freedom" by Blane Harden?

[@jamie-ox8sg]

Entrance exams dont exist if your conscripted ffs educate your self

[@DontPokeTheBare]

I worked with a NorK refugee who was an electricians mate. Growing up, his only meal everyday was a small bowl of white rice and on Fridays a small roasted fish. His mother was brutally beaten for questioning policy. One night she woke him up and snuck him over the border to freedom. He had his first cheeseburger in Seoul and told himself, "This is the last time I will ever be hungry or skinny," and he was right. Lol He was a good guy.

[@TheGillionaire]

NorK makes it sound like a gentrified hipster neighborhood. “The scene out in Nor K is BRUTAL, dude! Like all the girls out there are thigh gapped AF and rent is DIRT CHEAP!”

[@raminrouchi202]

I bet he was a hardworking mf

[@floydp6217]

thanks for sharing. Makes me feel good to hear these kind of short stories/remembering people.

[@MizzKillercult]

​@@TheGillionairebro doing stand up in the comments

[@MerdithLangdon]

Shut up liar

[@cageybee7221]

Pirates: "give us all your money!" North Koreans: "i don't think you understand the severity of this situation."

[@PricelessBinkey1337]

Ha

[@Ryan_the_dawg]

Yeah, give us your one fish ration!! Dammit!!

[@nyotamwuaji6484]

The US offered to return the jet to North Korea, this offer was ignored well duh, because according to North Korea, the defection never happened, so that jet never existed.

[@rocmsocem]

Bet they still killed his family though

[@coybackus7665]

@@rocmsocem what family

[@PierreManslapper]

@@coybackus7665the dead one

[@coybackus7665]

@@PierreManslapper huh... never heard of em.

[@HugeFawkinPeckuh]

That was a silly Trojan.. jet & Dear Leader wouldn't fall for that 💩

[@sea4our]

that first story was so fucking rad man. it made me incredibly happy to know someone got away and got to live their dream.

[@driftoes]

RIGHT! the courage and bravery it must have took is so inspiring

[@BuisnessNinja]

other than his entire family, who were interned in labor camps for the rest of their lives. just NK things

[@Cataclyscerator]

He sacrificed his friends and his whole family.

[@balabanasireti]

​@@Cataclyscerator They wouldn't have had much better lives with him. And are you seriously questioning a person that wished for freedom and safety?

[@mikemurphy5898]

Lmao. Imagine landing and theyre like "hey! You won 100k!"

[@forthenightisdarkandfullof536]

100k in 1955 has the same power as 1.1 milion dolars in today's money.He literally went from dictatorship and rags to freedom and riches in 17 minutes.Damn,talk about good decisions

[@MrWarrenRB]

@@forthenightisdarkandfullof536 17 minutes, more like 17 years, he planned that defection since he was a child.

[@zer0sum773]

so, he killed his family for 100k?

[@titaiao]

​@zer0sum773 is easy to judge when isn't your own suffering...

[@coybackus7665]

all you had to do was say the super secret catch phrase and you nailed it, "motor car!"

[@corymorimacori1059]

MacArthur: Nuke em! Truman: No! MacArthur: NUKE EM! Truman: NO! MacArthur: AH COME ON! Truman: You’re fired!

[@pyeitme508]

lol

[@Comrademeowski]

Lol

[@yootoobvyooer]

This is what really happened. MacArthur: can we attack their base? Truman: no MacArthur: can we have ROC attack CCP? Truman: no MacArthur: can we nuke their base? Truman: no MacArthur: can we win this war? Truman: no. How dare you win against commies. You're fired.

[@ryanlim5940]

Statement: “We need to end the Korean War as quick and decisive as possible.” UN Officials: *Peace Treaty in hand* “I agree.” General Douglas MacArthur: *With a Nuclear Weaponry Usage Authorisation Form* “I agree.”

[@brandiphillips5843]

​@@ryanlim5940❤

[@pointly]

Rest in peace, Kenneth Roe. I'm proud to call you an American.

[@alicelookingthroughtheglas2933]

It sounds like he was proud to be an American also.

[@ihavenocluewhattoput]

That’s a real amarican homie escaped his shithole to live free

[@ruekurei88]

RIP to any close family members and probably anyone who was close to him back in N. Korea when he defected.

[@jackdough8164]

@@ruekurei88you can’t blame him for how absolutely insane and evil the North Korean government is.

[@pickles3128]

​@@ruekurei88This was before they enacted their familicidal punishment. Not to say that they didn't, but his mom had already defected. I hope he was able to meet her again.

[@MattMorris481]

That $100,000 he got adjusted for inflation is 1.2 million dollars.

[@bowieupland6112]

I guess that's his compensation for having his family killed back home.

[@horrorunicorn]

Imagine! One choice,17 minutes. You get a freedom (and surprise wealth) or death.

[@TheWorldisaLIE2]

@@bowieupland6112 This was before they enacted their familicidal punishment. Not to say that they didn't, but his mom had already defected. I hope he was able to meet her again. judging is not our place.

[@bowieupland6112]

@TheWorldisaLIE2 Who said, "Judging is not our place?" What bumper sticker did you read that in.

[@TheWorldisaLIE2]

@ read books….the Bible for one. Jesus Christ spoke about. And theology and philosophy aside you don’t know what his situation actually was, you were not there.

[@MissesWitch]

that first story is absolutely beautiful.. he saw the American dream, he was touched by it, and on that fateful day, everything went just right so he could safely land on an American airstrip. He really did everything well.

[@TwiztedMedia]

seeing as his fellow soldiers and his family probably died cause of him (which im sure he knew would happen), hes actually just a coward

[@Vic_Trip]

@@TwiztedMedia Nah, the cowards are all N Koreans that accept the abuse from the higher ups. You basically grow complacent to a system that terrorizes you and accept every little shortfall, especially those that aren't your fault. That is living in cowardice.

[@nicosmind3]

​@@TwiztedMedia not sure about that, north Korea is organised into family units, so not having a (direct) family that's alive it's reasonable to assume no one would be punished

[@TheWorldisaLIE2]

@@TwiztedMedia This was before they enacted their familicidal punishment. Not to say that they didn't, but his mom had already defected. I hope he was able to meet her again. judging is not our place.

[@helpmeforget...]

That pilot who became an American, such a cool story. He lived the dream.

[@reniswastika7432]

!!MOTORCAR!! !!MOTORCAR!!

[@sharonrigs7999]

That had to be the most refreshing bottle of Coke ever drank

[@willbarnhart8833]

@@sharonrigs7999back when it was cane sugar in a glass bottle too

[@ahirbhattacharjee2352]

@@willbarnhart8833 off topic but they use cane sugar where i live too , i have never tried us high fructose coke , gotta try it someday

[@darkclownKellen]

Cokecane shugar

[@erikrungemadsen2081]

If it is stupid and it works it is not stupid.

[@Zhornax]

North Korea is a bottomless well of strange stories.

[@mirceazaharia2094]

And horrors.

[@X9523-z3v]

And idiocy

[@regflori]

Weirdly wholesome how when it comes to something like piracy or distress on sea in general, every country is willing to help every other country.

[@SBPepperminion]

Guys fished a North Korean submarine. Never knew such words can be arranged like that.

[@thutoplepcha484]

😅😂😂

[@roughneckmp]

8:00 I’ve seen that MiG-15 in the National Museum of The USAF, along with his uniform & sidearm.

[@ZeroBudgetFilmSchool]

Did they paint it back to its original livery? In the video it shows it having NK markings in the museum.

[@roughneckmp]

@@ZeroBudgetFilmSchool Yeah,… it has its NK livery still. If I remember correctly there’s a F-86 parked across from it in an accurate recreation of that famous “MIG ALLEY” photo. Last time I was there was shortly after they showed off the restored Memphis Belle B-17.

[@tjlee9308]

as far as I know, that's real Rho's mig showing off with F86 Saber duel at USAF museum Dayton.

[@AluniGaming]

My grandfather, whom is still alive and well at the ripe age of 92: makes me appreciate him more watching videos like this. To think, that my grandfather could have been one of the people to encounter the first man. Watching Mash givees me goosebumps thinking about how he could have ended up in one of those units due to being injured in some way [I know mash isn't real but the mash units were] - the first story gave me goosebumps all over again. I appreciate my grandpa. He fought hard for our country.

[@viking4476]

This country still lives in a society that is a combination between the Stalinist system and the Polopot system. In the sense of civilization, they have not yet experienced the 20th Congress of the CPSU of 1956. The society lives paranoidly in fear of external and internal enemies. He wants to control everything from economy, art to movies as we see in this case. I have seen a lot of Korean movies and few of them deal negatively with North Korea. There is only that in "Brotherhood of Arms" and a little in "Ode to My Father". American movies maybe only in "The Interview" with Seth Rogan.

[@OriginsandFirsts-2024]

Exactly

[@Yk1000-]

That's why you should be grateful for the political and social freedom you have cause over there your treated less than an animal.

[@poindextertunes]

@@Yk1000-nice propaganda comment

[@christophersayers598]

@@poindextertunesyeah basically deal with the injustice in the rest of the world because there’s one place it could be worse

[@Sassy.scorpio]

North Korea claimed the release of The Interview would be an act of war and Sony pictures cancelled the release. Soon after they made that decision Seth sold the film to Netflix because it was unlikely for millions of individual homes to be targeted, I remember being so proud of him for that and also being so young and naive that when I watched it I was slightly afraid of an impending explosion😂.

[@DRACOFURY]

*TRAVIS KING 😅* He is officially in the history books. He thought he was Dennis Rodman that day.

[@michaelsamuel9841]

An asylum seeker

[@DimitriIgnativ]

I saw him at work one time in an orange jump suit, shackles and cuffs about to be transported somewhere.

[@alexpieters2345]

Dont forget North Korea also won every World Cup, having won the last one 7-0 vs Brasil in the final....

[@Vic_Trip]

Man they are so good they even knew how to speak German!

[@IsrealB-ok9hh]

😮😢😢😢😮😢😢😢😢😮😮😮😮😮😮😮t😊

[@Donathon-f6f]

I wonder what happened to the World Cup team... probably nothing good ❤

[@Ringo-hw6pw]

Ain't no way 😂😂

[@clockhanded]

I was think about how scary it is to live in DPRK. Not just because the dictator, but because of the archaic towns and struggle to survive. Imagine it being pitch black and you're surrounded by abandoned Soviet architecture, hiding from guards and trying to catch rats and snakes to feed your family

[@grahamgunslinger]

North Korea also hosted the largest pro wrestling event in history. Over 100,000 people in total attended the two day event. Wrestlers like Ric Flair, The Road Warriors, and Scott Norton wrestled on the card.

[@maplemiles3381]

Scott Norton almost got killed a day before the event.

[@Beanmachine91]

i just love how pro wrestling can be brought up any time making lasting and memorable convos lololol

[@Harikejn]

When you mentioned Yugo submarines, believe it or not Yugoslavia did make submarines, as well. Here is also one fun fact. Yugoslavia was believe it or not 5th country in the world with military power, and also with nuclear power.

[@h0rriphic]

Wild.

[@TheAsheybabe89]

Yugos and South Africa both were loners who operated successful arms industries of their own

[@Harikejn]

@@TheAsheybabe89 Yes indeed.

[@magistrmaestro2845]

Which yugopower was nuclear?

[@Harikejn]

@@magistrmaestro2845 Whole Yugoslavia was nuclear power.

[@jedgarren2901]

I've been to the USAF museum,I saw this plane.

[@thelivingbranch]

dragon lady supreme leader - watch out

[@jeremongrel]

The first story had my heart racing towards the end. GG Kenneth

[@thomasnelson7300]

Thanks!

[@suzannarutherford4696]

As a kid, my dad introduced me to Chuck Yeager at Boeing field. I got to watch him fly a jet. He did rolls and all kinds of fancy flying.

[@OptimisticSturmmann142]

Number one! That one time a barber gave him an edgar haircut (Kim was not happy).

[@darkclownKellen]

Nice pfp

[@Goc4ever]

This video compilation was pretty engaging, well done Simple History.

[@azimisyauqieabdulwahab9401]

Bravo👏🏼 Greetings from Malaysia 🇲🇾

[@JeffBourke]

The sailors did amazing to over power the pirates. Pirates did not expect every sailor to be a ten year veteran with xp with the same AKs they wielded.

[@dylanwilliger]

Do a video on the Battle of Shiroyama

[@broguns24]

The No kumsok story is definitely my favourite how he dreamed about being a American 🇺🇸

[@E-1337]

31:43 "Stern talking to" = "okay okay lol, you can change it or you can die with it" 😂

[@Akegata42]

It's interesting how people seem to not see these kind of tales as propaganda. For example, in the first story, the idea of collective punishment of the whole family for defection is brought up, but the mother had already defected to South Korea previously, which apparently didn't lead to the rest of the family being imprisoned or killed. The fact that so little information gets out of North Korea it's pretty damn easy to just make up stories and have everyone believe them without any kind of proof.

[@nicholasmaximus3412]

Fucking thank you! People really fail to realize that almost everything from all sides is propaganda and the world we live in is dictated by it.

[@fredb2403]

Great work, great info.

[@Khomatone]

My father was on an operation to reverse engineer that MiG.

[@dlishusgyrl4u]

I had to rewind that acouple times 50hrs fly time qualifies you as an elite pilot? Did I hear that correct?

[@princessmarlena1359]

🇰🇵 “Come to North Korea! Where you will WANT to stay! And we, will MAKE you stay!” Also, I heard North Korea recently outlawed owning and wearing sunglasses for everyone except for “The Dear Leader”.

[@DieLuftwaffel]

21:09 Begin "American Dad!" intro music! 😂

[@anitarichmond8930]

I was so moved to tears by this story. I want all people to be free ✌🏼

[@kowalskikowalski8080]

I wish someone made a TV show or movie about Kenneth Roe's life

[@RobotWizard4209]

Foreeal it sounds like a good movie plot

[@williamburroughs9686]

22:39 Just so you know, the US military would never sweep there weapon in such a way that it would harm the squad. They never point the weapon at anything that they do not intend to shoot.

[@ThisHandleFeatureIsStupid]

lol Domestic propaganda efficiency: 10/10 😂👌

[@nicholasmaximus3412]

Yes US soldier is flawless

[@ThisHandleFeatureIsStupid]

Knowing history: 0/10 lol 🤦‍♂

[@CharlieFoxtrot]

@@nicholasmaximus3412 Regular troops are beaten over the head about muzzle awareness and general firearm safety, so I'd bet a few paychecks that specialty units were dead horses by time they hit their first real mission

[@OrogamyIG]

Ive seen the mig 100 times in dayton and had never heard its story now itll be one of my favorites

[@vickikendricks1605]

As an US Air Force Veteran I would have loved to have met Kenneth Rowe. He sounded like a cool guy!

[@dakotamoore1138]

America has the most crazy prison!: 🤣 North Korea is the most dangerous prison: 💀

[@rionthemagnificent2971]

NK's prisons are concentration camps. The most crazy prison is a prison in central america that is reserved only for Cartel gangs that get caught in the nations borders after the Government went full force on em.

[@TheGlassjaw28]

We don't have the craziest prison the ones in Third World countries are horrific. Think Thailand or El Salvador, who just opened the world's largest prison

[@jackkenny4194]

El Salvador

[@floydp6217]

13:28 It went from Automatic rifles to an Issue of "Life magazine." LOL! I love it!

[@MattMorris481]

Now you wonder just how many people in their military feel this way but keep quiet.

[@-mcg21]

They just won a women’s under 20 World Cup too 😭💀

[@ssg9offical]

Great video

[@nelsonnoname001]

Some minor liberties taken with Ken's story, but damn happy to hear it, I would also suggest anyone who was fascinated with his story here, to read his biography. An amazing life well lived, and all while just trying to be a normal guy - RIP Sir

[@magnetohex703]

7:20 The Nkorean yelled? I'm sick of Kim Jong un!... & the American in South Korea said? I don't trust the enemy hmmm... & one American said? give him Coca Cola! & the North Korean cheered & the whole thing turned into a coca cola commercial. LOL 😂😂

[@rogue_one4382]

Fun fact. The war never ended. They are just in a cease fire this whole time.

[@DKR3W]

God bless this country 🇺🇸

[@dianab3585]

The determination those folks must have trying or successfully to defect.

[@humongousfungusamongus3871]

Kenneth Roe is one helluva American! "Motorcar!" ❤🇺🇸

[@Enrique-fb4tt]

Northkorean pilot: NotKumSuk 😅

[@ultrashmutz93]

Yeah dude I couldn’t get over that either

[@andreaskrupe6778]

That 's an anticlimactic name if I have ever heard one.

[@snobbingas189]

Right? I was absolutely stunned to not find any comments about the ridicolous name!

[@MakerInMotion]

What happens after you make your girlfriend your wife.

[@DrSpaceman42]

@@MakerInMotion ayyoo

[@Paraf0x]

At this point, it feels like North Korea is a real life Truman Show

[@williamagyemang6559]

Why do these North Korean videos make me fall asleep 😅😅watching

[@kowalskikowalski8080]

The narrator has a smooth voice

[@No_Therapy_Needed]

Its a GD MIG! Can't even imagine how that would feel other than heart stoppingly WTF

[@Witchblood]

The motorcar plea makes me smile

[@Blink_____]

Couldn't squeeze in the tree chopping incident that almost started another war, huh

[@nyjsackexchange]

Their crewcuts are surely staving off starvation

[@jackster8976]

This is great! Please do more videos of North Korea!

[@EvanCanSee]

0:05 So no Kom suk? **slams phone**

[@Sekire1]

exactly

[@Scotty608]

The thought of North Korea having nukes is scary.

[@Andrew08893]

Love it

[@ChrisFyffe-q7h]

I live in dayton ohio and have seen the M.I.G. its actually really cool and funny that this whole time i didnt know this story behind it. what can i say even as a native whos been to this museam many times its a very large museam and hard to read every single thing

[@thomasstephens7293]

I heard Kim is eating the cats, he's eating the dogs, he's eating all kinds of things...

[@KingSmerk209]

They prefer to be called "Little submarines"

[@ryanlim5940]

All kinds of weird stuff is always happening in North Korea, it’s only bested by 1940s Germany. 💀🇦🇹🇩🇪🧑🏻‍🎨🙋🏻‍♂️🙋🏻‍♂️🙋🏻‍♂️🙋🏻‍♂️

[@parkerbtc]

Try Eritrea 🇪🇷

[@poindextertunes]

everybody acts like weird stuff doesn’t happen in the states and thats just a testament to their ability to indoctrinate almost an entire country of 300 million

[@DaisyGeekyTransGirl]

@@parkerbtcI’ll recommend Turkmenistan which had a statue of a propaganda book that even opens. Yes, I’m serious.

[@piyo05031231]

TRY OHIO

[@LeleiTheTigress]

​@@piyo05031231 How about Florida?

[@jokodihaynes419]

I'm glad I live in the land of the free and the brave

[@angelospetalas4468]

For real amen to that

[@Maxi-wp7xd]

Same

[@maplemiles3381]

I'm glad that I live in Canada but I do like you Americans

[@Legendary_Twan]

27:00 the audacity to pass away 😂😂

[@juliefreds4594]

I don’t care how cheesy this sounds but I wish everyone could be happy and there was no suffering.

[@charlesvan13]

I'm pretty sure a Mig 15 was worth a lot more than $100,000.

[@brettgill6065]

How much is 1950s $100,000 today?

[@danelynch7171]

You got a guy that will buy it?

[@charlesvan13]

@@brettgill6065 1.300,000 usd. Fighter jets cost like 50 mil on the low end.

[@ElijahKlar]

Inflation buddy, it's over 1mil today

[@charlesvan13]

@@ElijahKlar You can't buy such an aircraft for 1 million.

[@joegagnon2268]

Watching North Korea vs Japan last week made me look in to the state allowed haircuts

[@DiabloCivic]

17:34 skippers got a third arm on that gun

[@Jediahbear]

I used to babysit for a guy named Chuck Yager. I wonder if his parents did that on purpose. 😂😂😂

[@chrismauck6572]

Chuck Yeager was a famous pilot. He had a lot of accolades and accomplishments, one of which is he was the first known pilot to to break the sound barrier

[@29levels50]

This guy is the definition of playing the long game.

[@lara-ce2kg]

I wish America was still like this! A country worth fighting for ,for a chance of the American dream . Unfortunately for most people The American dream is dead

[@MLBlue30]

It was never alive to begin with. It's a scam. You have to be dreaming to believe it!

[@jackkenny4194]

@@MLBlue30you guys are so negative. Find a hobby and run with it

[@maplemiles3381]

​@MLBlue30the American dream for a matter of fact is still alive and well in 2024. It's a lot of hard work and smart thinking

[@Casey-qn1vi]

How is an edited comment so full of punctuation errors lol

[@lanecolvin95]

Just saying you don't see people running away from capitalism like they run for communism

[@maplemiles3381]

That is 100% true

[@noahzayas2969]

That also doesn’t mean unrestricted capitalism is a superior system, you dont see people running from capitalism, but you do see them openly leaving it for multitudes of reasons i.e. American civilians and expats relocating to Canada/México/Japan/Philippines/Thailand etc for quality of life, healthcare, cost of living. What you really don’t see is people running from restricted capitalist market, but politically socialist countries. Such as; Netherlands, Ireland, Belgium, Norway, Germany, Finland, Sweden, France, UK.

[@misterpoogiesthecat3469]

We will soon enough buddy, trust me…

[@J4thPelel]

@@noahzayas2969sounds like ur a commie sympathizer. You need to be liberated 🇺🇸💵🍻🏈🦅🔫☕️🚬🔥💣💯🪖💪🏻

[@maplemiles3381]

​@noahzayas2969you're a wumao

[@indianheadlogan]

The first guy you said was born in 1932, but later asked to be a kamikaze pilot. At most, that'd make him 15. Doesn't check out

[@Rizon1985]

15:05 So insensitive. It's called a little person submarine.

[@invisibleman3011]

lol

[@patrickb1303]

It’s called a Peter Dinklage

[@91mrpogi]

Thumbnail looks like a korean Moe Howard

[@dw-fe2ww]

😂

[@joeymiller5331]

You just know the crew from the ship were sent to work camps after that. Theres no way it would be ok for a NK citizens to have a good experience with an American

[@brj_han]

Why are they using Moe Howard in the thumbnail? Oh wait... 😁

[@malachisguides]

30:35 I think you meant to say egregious, gregarious means friendly and outgoing

[@RavenBlaze]

I have seen the Mig!

[@ugochristianokonkwo6484]

I love how you tell stories of a place you have Naver been to like you actually weakness or experience your stories

[@utubesuckbad]

why are you shilling for north korea bot?

[@henryrohr7030]

Jokingly, is it sad that the poorest American is probably wealthier than the richest North Korean? I mean, what is the freedom to dictate the direction of your future, publicly express opinions, and know your neighbors won't turn you in for everything?

[@danelynch7171]

Bro.... You watch the news? Things have gotten wild out there. The governments around the world just keep trying to get us ALL to north Korea's level.

[@maplemiles3381]

​@danelynch7171 nope KY country isn't trying to go the route of North Korea

[@danelynch7171]

@@maplemiles3381 you forget 2020 so fast.... The governments announcing call lines to turn in your neighbors for having too many people at their house? Putting boots on basketball hoops in parks? The arrows on the floor in the supermarket aisle?

[@blankface5052]

Return of the re-release

[@cem96]

God imagine getting arrested by a sleep deprived secret police officer

[@beezyb42011]

Finally some new NK content!!

[@pandorasflame7742]

For anyone wondering, $100k in 1953 is ~$1.18mil in 2024 USD.

[@kanaric]

100k then was an insane amount of money dude was set

[@kingharshaangill]

Hey can u do the tunnel king aka wally floody the break out

[@herald6221]

North Korean cargo ship overrun by pirates and the Americans just decide to help because we’re good people. You’re welcome partners

[@RT-qd8yl]

I'm proud to have had Kenneth Roe live in my country

[@alexluu2586]

nokomsuk is crazy

[@MrDsturman]

This dude is awesome! A true American!