North Korean officers flip to ‘fortune tellers’ regardless of authorities ban
Whilst fortune tellers are officially banned in the Hermit Kingdom, officials loyal to Kim Jong-un have secretly sought their advice amid fears of a purge by the dictator
Kim Jong Un’s forces are secretly breaking ranks to find out what is in store for them, one source has claimed(Image: KCNA VIA KNS/AFP via Getty Image)
North Korean officials are breaking the law to secretly speak with fortune tellers, it has been claimed. They are going behind closed doors to find out just what could be in their future ahead of a potentially huge shake-up in the government.
The Hermit Kingdom is as isolated as it has ever been as it continues to ramp up talk of nuclear missiles and a deep-rooted hatred of the West. It has also ramped up propaganda, distributing pro-regime films to every corner of the country.
However, despite Kim Jong-un’s demands for loyalty, some officials are reportedly fearing for their own position and turning to clairvoyants for help. This including bribing known fortune tellers to see whether they could survive the purge.
According to Daily NK, fortune tellers have been outlawed in the country, as they could present a future that is different to that prescribed by the government in Pyongyang. Nonetheless, with tensions appearing to be at an all time high within the country, some officials are breaking ranks to find out what could be next.
Soothsayers have seen a meteoric increase in interest since the start of the new year, one source in the South Pyongan province explained. This is not extended to just the officials, but also includes their entire families to find out what could be in store for them in the coming year.
The insider added that some security officers are now “patrolling the homes of fortune tellers to see who visits them”. It comes amid fears of a total shake-up of the regime’s government, which essentially acts as a rubber stamp to anything dictator Kim proposes.
The source explained that one official, who was facing a harsh punishment for freeing a drug offender in exchange for a foreign bribe, was told if they held a shamanist ceremony and bribed his own higher-ups, he could get away scot-free. Meanwhile, a party official’s wife allegedly gave 10 kilograms of rice to a clairvoyant in exchange for information on her family’s future.
“It’s not just a few officials and their relatives who go to fortune tellers and conduct shamanist ceremonies,” the source said. “The higher the official, the more obsessed they are with fortune tellers, and the money fortune tellers receive is considerable.”
However, in order to avoid being caught seeing a fortune teller, some officials have even been summoning the fortune teller to their own homes in order to perform the ceremonies needed to find out what is next for them. This must be done very quietly in the neighbourhood, otherwise the head of the local neighbourhood watch could dupe the official in.
It isn’t just North Korean officials who are flocking to fortune tellers, but even normal people have come out in their droves to find out what is in their future for 2026. As a result of the constant stream of punters, state security officials are reportedly baffled at how to stop the clairvoyants from working.
Some reports have been made that in order to keep the heat off from the authorities, fortune tellers are using money made from their predictions to pay off security guards to give them less hassle. This means that few of the fortune tellers themselves are actually arrested and prosecuted.
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