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In 1948 George Orwell published a book called Nineteen Eighty-Four about a dystopian future perpetually consumed by war. This horrific society was built upon an all-encompassing cult of personality centered around an omnipresent figure called 'Big Brother', characterized by overwhelming government surveillance, enabled and sustained by mind-control of the masses under the direction of a privileged (single) party elite. Any proven or conceived independent thought by any individual or group was severely punished by the state as a 'Thought Crime', justified by the state as being for the greater good...

Also in 1948, purely by coincidence, perhaps, a Soviet-trained guerrilla fighter named Kim Il Sung became the founder of a new country. Backed by the USSR and China the Northern half of the Korean peninsula became the Democratic Peoples' Republic of Korea (North Korea). Following the 1950-1953 Korean War, Kim Il Sung successfully forged the world's most impenetrable cult of personality, which would go on to become the ever-decreasingly-likely third generation dynasty that somehow survives today.

Stupendously huge bronze statues of Kim Il Sung and his son and successor, Kim Jong Il, tower over the citizens of every city and town (currently, Kim Jong III seems not to have erected his own statues in every city and town). Countless billboards and posters bear military slogans and propaganda, accompanied by the likenesses of the Great and Dear leaders. Nationwide, television sets are hardwired to receive a single signal, broadcast by the state. People who openly (or privately) criticize the state or its leadership in any way, or are even suspected of doing so, are reportedly shipped to prison camps, or 'gulags' for re-education, often with their entire families. All of this is eerily reminiscent of Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-four.

A few years ago, British journalist and writer Peter Hitchens (who incidentally won the Orwell Prize for Political Journalism in 2010) traveled to Pyongyang and wrote an article in which he noted eerie similarities between Orwell's fictitious Ministry of Truth, and Pyongyang's very real Ryugyong Hotel.

Construction on the mammoth Hotel commenced in 1987, which at the time would have been one of the world's tallest buildings. Work ground to a halt two years later however, for two primary reasons. North Korea simply had no money to build a 105-storey building, and the young soldiers consigned with the task of building it had little idea how to actually do so. Described by Hitchens in 2007 as 'The ugliest building in the universe', the Ryugyong languished in semi-completed disrepair for the next few decades until its facade was finally completed by the German luxury hotel group, Kempinski (North Korea remains too broke to pay for... well, much at all really, and the Kempinski Group was compensated with a 75% stake in Koryolink, North Korea's single, state-run mobile phone carrier).

There are four Ministries in Orwell's novel which oversee... everyone. These are the Ministries of Love, Peace, Plenty and Truth. The names of each are misnomers, as the true nature of each is the opposite of what its name suggests. The Ministry of Truth (workplace of Winston Smith, the book's protagonist) deals in the dissemination of State propaganda.

Ok, so THIS is the freaky bit (we're just getting to that).

George Orwell's 'Ministry of Truth' from Nineteen Eighty-four was a colossal 300-metre, three-sided pyramid-shaped concrete building.

Slightly bigger (at 2.5 times the size of the Great Pyramid of Giza) the Ryugyong Hotel is a colossal 330-metre, pyramid-shaped concrete building.

The Ministry of Truth had 3000 rooms (above ground).

The Ryugyong was originally planned to have 3000 rooms (though this number was significantly reduced due to structural constraints and the inclusion of facilities generally expected of five-star hotels).

Orwell's 'The Party' maintained total control, utilising a combination of relentless misinformation and 're-education', by means of unimaginable brutality and/or disappearance.

Pyongyang... well, its Pyongyang.

One could be forgiven for thinking Kim Il Sung may have interpreted Orwell's horrific seminal work as a societal blueprint; a handbook of sorts, rather than a dire warning for humankind as Orwell intended. Is it possible that Kim actually did set out to build the Ministry of Truth (and now continues to thumb his nose at the outside world from the glass box where he lies in state as Eternal President of the crumbling, impenetrable nation he founded)? As for the isolated, corrupt and decrepit society his grandson now rules over, nobody at present can (or will) do anything about it.

Incidentally, Orwell's Ministry of Truth had three slogans, one of which was written on each side of the gigantic pyramidal building. They were:

WAR IS PEACE

FREEDOM IS SLAVERY

IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH

To be honest, I feel a few modern parallels here outside.

If you haven't already, you can read Nineteen Eighty-four free here.

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North Korea's Disturbing Tribute to George Orwell's '1984'

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In 1948 George Orwell published a book called Nineteen Eighty-Four about a dystopian future perpetually consumed by war. This horrific society was built upon an all-encompassing cult of personality centered around an omnipresent figure called 'Big Brother', characterized by overwhelming government surveillance, enabled and sustained by mind-control of the masses under the direction of a privileged (single) party elite.

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For decades North Korea has been one of the world's most secretive societies. It is one of the few countries still under nominally communist rule.

North Korea's nuclear ambitions have exacerbated its rigidly maintained isolation from the rest of the world.

The country emerged in 1948 amid the chaos following the end of the Second World War. Its history is dominated by its Great Leader, Kim Il-sung, who shaped political affairs for almost half a century.

Decades of this rigid state-controlled system have led to stagnation and a leadership dependent on the cult of personality. The totalitarian state also stands accused of systematic human rights abuses.

Read more country profiles - Profiles by BBC Monitoring

FACTS

LEADER
Supreme leader: Kim Jong-un
Kim Jong-un is the third supreme leader in the Kim dynasty, founded by his grandfather Kim il-Sung, the country's leader at the time of its establishment.

Kim Jong-un took over from his father Kim Jong-il when he died from a heart attack in December 2011.

Under Kim Jong-un, North Korea has continued its policy of promoting the military at home while sending mixed signals to the rest of the world about its nuclear programme.

MEDIA

Radio and TV sets in North Korea are pre-tuned to government stations that pump out a steady stream of propaganda.

The press and broadcasters - all of them under direct state control - serve up a menu of flattering reports about North Korea's leader.

Economic hardship and famines are not reported. North Korea is one of the hardest countries for foreign media to cover.

Read a full media profile

TIMELINE
Some key dates in North Korea's history:
1945 - Japan's colonial rule over Korea ends with its Second World War surrender.

1948 - Korea is divided between the Soviet-backed North and the US-backed South.

1994 - Founding President Kim Il-sung dies, succeeded by his son Kim Jong-il.

2002 - US names North Korea as part of an "axis of evil" in a stand-off between the West and North Korea which lasts for decades.

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For decades North Korea has been one of the world's most secretive societies. It is one of the few countries still under nominally communist rule. North Korea's nuclear ambitions have exacerbated its rigidly maintained isolation from the rest of the world. The country emerged in 1948 amid the chaos following the end of the Second World War.

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Totalitarianism: Totalitarianism is a form of government that seeks to subordinate all aspects of individual life to the authority of the state.

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North Korea at night

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While the surrounding countries of South Korea and China shine brightly at night, North Korea shuts down.

The lack of electricity produces this striking image, taken by a NASA satellite:

NASA/Reuters

You can see the country's border more clearly here:

The effect happens because North Korea's supply of electricity is too small to keep shining through the night. In the mid-1990s, the Soviet Union cut off the country's energy supply entirely.

In South Korea, people consume 10,162 kilowatt hours of power per person, per year. North Koreans use just 739. Entire streets shut down, and people go to bed early with nothing else to do in the darkness.

In response to criticisms that North Korea is too weak to power itself, the state-run newspaper, the Rodong Sinmun, issued the statement last year that "They [North Korea's detractors] clap their hands and get loud over a satellite picture of our city with not much light, but the essence of society is not on flashy lights."

Or considering the recent photos, any lights for that matter.

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This satellite photo shows just how blacked-out North Korea is at night

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While the surrounding countries of South Korea and China shine brightly at night, North Korea shuts down. The lack of electricity produces this striking image, taken by a NASA satellite: You can see the country's border more clearly here: The effect happens because North Korea's supply of electricity is too small to keep shining through the night.

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12. Lastly, do a Google image search of "North Korean Propaganda"

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12. Lastly, do a Google image search of "North Korean Propaganda"

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Dramatic, public and brutal has become the modus operandi for executions in North Korea. If reports leaking from the secretive kingdom are to be believed, top officials have been killed by anti-aircraft weapons, mortars, and even flame throwers.

Defense Minister Hyong Yong-choi was the latest casualty of North Korea's internal war against its top brass. According to South Korean intelligence, Hyong was killed in late April after falling asleep during an event and not carrying out instructions. The method of execution chosen by North Korea's draconian leadership? A round from anti-aircraft guns in front of hundreds of onlookers. Hyong followed in the grim fate of the deputy defense minister, who was killed in 2012, reportedly by mortar rounds shot off at close range.

Some of the most unbelievable execution stories have been proven false-Kim Jong Un's uncle was likely not killed by a vicious pack of hungry dogs-but brutal purges of top officials have been a key strategy the leadership uses to keep a handle on power. And with a recent satellite view of a North Korean military training camp, these tactics may well turn out to be true.

In late April, the Committee for Human Rights in North Korea uncovered "a ghastly sight" at a military firing range: analyzed satellite images showed six anti-aircraft gun systems being fired upon a small target at short range last October. The group assessing the bizarre scene decided it was an execution that had been watched by high-level officials who'd driven in from the capital of Pyongyang.

"Anyone who has witnessed the damage one single U.S. .50 caliber round does to the human body will shudder just trying to imagine a battery of 24 heavy machine guns being fired at human beings. Bodies would be nearly pulverized," the report reads. "The gut-wrenching viciousness of such an act would make 'cruel and unusual punishment' sound like a gross understatement."

The victims of this brutality are unknown, but there is no shortage of past examples. In 2012, a shocked international press reported that a military officer was sentenced to death for drinking during the official mourning period for Kim's father, Kim Jong Il. The method of execution was reportedly by short-range mortar firing squad. According to a source talking to South Korean newspaper Chosun Ilbo, it was ordered that "no trace of him [be left] behind, down to his hair." The impact of the mortar thought to be used in North Korea can kill someone within a 17-yard diameter of its target.

In April, South Korea reported that an official who worked with Kim's uncle was reportedly killed by flamethrower. A few months earlier, an investigation by underground North Korean publication Rimjin-gang looked into similar rumors. "It is difficult to verify the information at this point," the author wrote, "but it is said that a rocket grenade was used for their execution instead of a rifle, and the remains of their bodies were incinerated by a flamethrower."

North Korea employees a fear-mongering tactic of constant government purges. Despite hopes that this would let up under new leadership, the young Kim Jong Un instead began his reign with a massacre of military officers and hasn't slowed down a tradition of top-level killing. According to the BBC, South Korean intelligence estimates at least one senior office has been executed per week.

It's not entirely clear how much can be taken as fact from these stories.

Information escapes North Korea in a trickle and many of the news reports rely heavily on information from South Korean intelligence, which is thought to exaggerate its findings. There is little possibility of fact-checking within the Hermit Kingdom.

"If all the rumors of purges over the last five years were true, then the parade review platform in Pyongyang would be desolate," wrote North Korean Leadership Watch's Michael Madden in Foreign Policy about the rumors of dramatic executions. "Still, amid a cytoplasm of deception, disinformation, and misunderstanding, Pyongyang palace gossip contains a nucleus of truth."

The most sensational of these rumors came in December 2013, when Kim Jong-un reportedly executed his second-in-command, his uncle Jang Song-thaek. His death sparked rumors that he had been stripped naked and fed to hungry dogs. This turned out to be unlikely, but the real method was likely brutal nonetheless.

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Kim Jong Un's Cruel & Unusual Executions

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Dramatic, public and brutal has become the modus operandi for executions in North Korea. If reports leaking from the secretive kingdom are to be believed, top officials have been killed by anti-aircraft weapons, mortars, and even flame throwers. Defense Minister Hyong Yong-choi was the latest casualty of North Korea's internal war against its top brass.

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Don't think so? Check this out!

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North Korea's latest piece of video propaganda gives a small window into the reclusive dictatorship and, as always, raises some eyebrows with its sheer ridiculousness.

Set to some kind of deafening anthem, the propaganda video is full of overly enthusiastic people cheering, clapping and (for some reason) riding water slides. The clip also features exploding newspaper headlines and random planes blowing things up.

But there's a serious message behind all the flash and pomp. As The Washington Post's Max Fisher points out, the song's lyrics are promoting Pyongyang's new domestic policy, known as "Byongjin," which refers to side-by-side development of the military and the economy.

"There's unrest in North Korea about how the focus has been on nuclear development, but not on developing the economy," New Focus International editor Shirley Lee told The Huffington Post over the phone Wednesday. "The song asserts that the country can do both. It's a statement to calm the unrest."

If you watch the video closely, you'll see the images appear to have been carefully chosen to promote this idea. Spliced in with the shots of missiles and tanks are symbols of the economy: factories, trains, crop fields and Pyongyang's famous high-rise apartment complexes, which Lee said are exclusively reserved for high-ranking officials.

Meanwhile, on-screen graphics proclaim that the country is "holding a rifle in one hand, and a sickle and hammer in the other," according to a HuffPost translation of the video. The sickle and hammer, in addition to being classic symbols of communism, also signify the importance of physical labor, possibly meant to boost the morale of the North's farmers.

Of course, knowing North Korea, the video was probably leaked to the outside world for publicity purposes. Memo to Kim Jong Un: Switch up the style next time.

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WATCH: North Korea's Latest Propaganda Video Is Hilarious

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North Korea's latest piece of video propaganda gives a small window into the reclusive dictatorship and, as always, raises some eyebrows with its sheer ridiculousness. Set to some kind of deafening anthem, the propaganda video is full of overly enthusiastic people cheering, clapping and (for some reason) riding water slides.

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Wow, just wow.

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From operas to pop, here’s what makes North Korea’s propaganda music so effective

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Eastasia or Eurasia or...

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Citizens ' Alliance North Korean Human Rights

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North Korea will "smash the US in one stroke"

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Kim Jong-iL's death reactions

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Kim Jong-il Dead - North Koreans cry hysterically

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Click to Tweet http://clicktotweet.com/Af4R9 Kim Jong-il Dead - North Koreans cry hysterically - Share and Discuss

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Best Moments of the Mass Games - Sep 18, 2013, North Korea

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A sampling of the best moments from the September 18, 2013 Arirang Mass Games. Pyongyang, North Korea. More info on my visit: http://www.waitbutwhy.com/2013/09/20-things-i-learned-while-i-was-in.html