Kim Jong Il's marvelous invention: the hamburger

A French photographer, Eric Lafforgue, was given a unique experience of the life and bizarre beliefs of North Korea.

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - Ushered around the country by Miss Kim, a 20 year old student studying English at Pyongyang's University of Foreign Studies, he was able to capture a glimpse of the nearly cultish mindset that the citizens of North Korea have.

"She had never previously left Pyongyang," Lafforgue told the Daily Mail. "It was a unique opportunity for her to visit her own country and to get to meet and speak to a foreigner."

Some of these radical beliefs are tragic, others are just shockingly and humorously wrong.

According to Miss Kim the hamburger was invented in 2009 by Kim Jong IL, who North Korea's dictator from 1994 to 2011; Mickey Mouse was created by China and riding a bicycle will ruin your legs.

While Miss Kim said she wanted to visit foreign countries, particularly England, unsurprisingly she maintained the party's doctrine on other countries. "I hate Americans," she said after explain that she only speaks England's English. Miss Kim also thinks that while those coming into the North from South Korea would be welcomed with open arms, those venturing south would be shot.

Send the Gospel where it's needed.

"The thing to remember is that almost everything she says is official propaganda, even the silly things," Lafforgue explained.

"People like Miss Kim are taught this sort of thing from kindergarten, so in that sense, she's a perfect citizen. North Koreans don't see the disparity between what they think is good to tell us and what we can see for ourselves."

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