10 Surprisingly Accurate Details About North Korea in Crash Landing on You
The show has debunked many of the myths about life in North Korea.
Crash Landing on You is a K-drama about a wealthy South Korean businesswoman who accidentally paraglides into the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) and is found by a North Korean army captain. He agrees to help her hide, and in true drama fashion, they fall in love.
Much of the action is set in North Korea. But with so little known about what life in the dictatorship is really like, how well has the show portrayed it?
Let's take a look at 10 surprisingly accurate details about North Korea in Crash Landing on You (as confirmed by real-life defectors):
1. Making kimchi out of seawater
It would be easy to assume that this idea was made up by the writers as a way to demonise the North Korean regime, but it actually happens. In areas where resources and money are scarce, seawater is used to make kimchi and people shower in makeshift baths. And yes, kimchi caves are a thing, too, because many rural areas have frequent power outages, so they don't install refrigerators.
2. Variety of people and lifestyles
North Korea is typically portrayed in the West as a desolate place, gray and lifeless. Crash Landing on You rejects this portrayal of the country and shows that life there is diverse. There is a divide between city dwellers and those who live in more rural areas, and most people just get on with their lives.
Of course, there are more restrictions than you might see in some places, but Pyongyang has a water park and arcades.
3. The wealthy like to show off
Where does that not happen? North Korea is like everywhere else in this regard. If you noticed the lace curtains in Crash Landing on You, you've seen one of Pyongyang's status symbols. Okay, so it may not scream wealth in some countries, but the sentiment is the same.
4. Luxury vehicles
Luxury vehicles such as Mercedes and BMWs are not an uncommon sight on the streets of Pyongyang. You may not see as many as you would in London or New York, but you'd be hard pressed to spend a day in the city and not see one. They're a rarer sight in rural areas - but that's just part of that divide.
5. Study-abroad students love designer gear
In the same way that wealthy families like to show off, study-abroad students (and their families) like to make sure people know about it. One way to do this is to buy designer clothes and wear them back home. Another is to throw in English words to make themselves sound more... exotic.
6. Petrol clams and soju
Right, if you've seen this part of the show, you probably thought it was either fictional or rare. But it's pretty common. And they are actually cooked in petrol. Basically, you soak the clams in gasoline, making sure they're face down to reduce the risk of any of it getting inside the shell, and then you set them on fire. After about five minutes, the petrol is cooked off and the clams are ready to eat. And they're washed down with soju, North Korea's signature liquor.
7. Badges celebrating the leaders
Yes. They wear badges above their hearts that honour their leaders. It sounds like something we'd all imagined in North Korea – and we'd be right.
8. Trains not running on time
Mussolini may have managed it, but Kim Yong Un has yet to make the trains run on time. The problem, once again, is a lack of electricity. While the capital enjoys 24-hour power, outside Pyongyang these pesky blackouts mean the trains simply can't run all the time.
9. Women wear their hair tied back
When Ri Jeong-hyeok ties back Yoon Se-ri’s hair, he explains that there are only two types of women who wear their hair down – foreigners and crazy women. Describing her hair as ‘dishevelled’ was a bit of an exaggeration, but it's not common for women to wear their hair down.
10. The stark difference between north and south
When Ri Jeong-hyeok goes to South Korea, he experiences life across the border, which is very different from what he's used to. Real-life defectors have commented that life on the other side of the border is something they marvel at, if and when they can make it safely to the South.
For many of us, watching Crash Landing on You was our first experience of what life in North Korea might actually be like. Of course, we all have our opinions based on what we've heard and the limited footage we've seen of the country.
What Crash Landing on You does so well is humanise the people of North Korea and remind us that they are people just like the rest of us. Oh, and it's a good story too.