Although it is officially the second century in North Korea, that doesn’t mean the Hermit Kingdom isn’t capable of groundbreaking discoveries. This point was driven home in 2012 when North Korea’s official state news agency announced the discovery of a unicorn lair.
North Korea’s official state news agency is the place to go for reports ranging from the reclusive totalitarian state’s unparalleled scientific achievements to the limitless love that its inhabitants reserve for their leaders. (Check out NK News for some great examples.)
Once in a while, you can count on the news agency to reveal some truly groundbreaking news. Just such an event occurred in 2012 when the Korean Central News Agency broke the news that archaeologists in Pyongyang had discovered a unicorn’s lair.
According to the reporters, scientists unearthed the lair of one of the unicorns ridden by the ancient Korean King Tongmyong, founder of a kingdom that ruled parts of China and the Korean peninsula from the 3rd century BC to the 7th century AD. The site was discovered near a temple in Pyongyang. It was identified by “A rectangular rock carved with words ‘Unicorn Lair.’”
This discovery is fortuitous, in light of earlier reports by the news agency that former supreme leader Kim Jong Il was born beneath a double rainbow and that a new star appeared in the heavens at the moment of his birth. The same news agency also proclaimed the news that North Korean scientists had created a drug that could cure AIDS, MERS, and Ebola all at once. The discovery of the unicorn lair should not be all that remarkable, all things considered.
The news report states that the discovery of the unicorn lair “proves that Pyongyang was the capital city of Ancient Korea.
Now that this discovery has been duly recorded, perhaps the nation’s scientists will focus their efforts on finding food for their starving population, where an estimated 20 percent of the 22 million people are malnourished and where as many as 3.5 million died of starvation in the years between 1994 and 1998.
Davy Crockett’s Tall Tales: How a Congressman Became America’s First Political Humorist
Explore Davy Crockett’s forgotten career as a frontier humorist, from tall tales and political satire to the Lion of the West and the Alamo. Discover how a congressman’s wit helped shape America’s tradition of political comedy.
Connect-the-Dots in the Sky: Who Invented the Constellations, and Were They Squinting?
Discover the history of constellations—from Babylonian star maps to Greek mythology and modern astronomy—and explore why connecting those dots into lions, bulls, and sea-goats takes more imagination than you think.
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer: How a Department Store Mascot Became Christmas Canon
Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer feels ancient, but he was invented in 1939 by a department store. Here’s how a glowing nose became Christmas canon.
Leave a Reply