An image of a North Korean banknote has surfaced on Reddit. The man who posted the image claimed he was smuggled out of the country in a sock. The banknote (a 5,000 won note) features a smiling former North Korean leader Kim Il Sung, the country’s founder and grandfather of current ruler Kim Jong-un. The photo has garnered more than 74,000 votes on the forum where it was posted five days ago. The image has also sparked a long conversation among Reddit users.
The person named John from New Zealand posted the image under username Hos_In_Chi_Minh. “I traded this with a local bus driver and hid it in my socks on the way out,” the user wrote in the post, adding that he visited the country a few years ago.
Other users were intrigued by the photo and wanted to know what the man was trading. “I traded 10 notes of the same denomination that we exchanged for use in the tourist shop. The other notes did not have the face of the leaders and he was happy to give his money 10x for the trade,” John responded.
One user said he also visited North Korea and asked John if he saw the “insanely deep” subway underground and if a child was singing there. “No kid, but yes to the deep subway. It was built as a nuclear shelter and as a transportation hub. We went to the school for gifted children and many of their performances were blatantly just for the tourists,” he replied.
Others, however, were concerned about John. “You risked everything for a souvenir,” noted Reddit user D0ctorwh010. “No idea why anyone would risk their life just visiting these countries, let alone something like that,” added another user, Yasai101.
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