/InsideNK Follow @inside_nk
InsideOverviewPeopleMilitaryEconomyEnergyDaily lifeHuman rightsPropagandaClass systemWorldSanctionsHistoryReligionSport & cultureHealthDefectorsCitiesTransport
SPORT AND CULTUREUPDATED 24 OCT 2026

Mass Games, World Cups and K-pop bans

A country that can put 100,000 people in one perfectly drilled display - and whose women's football teams keep beating the world.

SportSpectacleCulture
Sport

On the pitch

1966
Beat Italy at the World Cup
Then led Portugal 3-0 in the quarter-final before losing 5-3. Source
3
Under-17 women's world titles
2008, 2016 and 2024 - beating Spain on penalties in the last final. Source
Every
Summer Games it entered
North Korea has won a medal at each one. Source
2027
Women back at the World Cup
First senior Women's World Cup since 2011. Source
Spectacle

The Mass Games

100,090
Performers
The 2007 Arirang Mass Games set a Guinness world record. Source
30,000+
Children holding cards
They form giant moving pictures in the stands. Source
2025
Back after four years
The Mass Games returned in October 2025 for the Party's 80th anniversary. Source
2013
Dennis Rodman visits
The former NBA star befriended Kim Jong Un and trained the national team. Source
Culture

What is banned

K-pop
A "vicious cancer"
Kim Jong Un's words. Sharing it can be punished by death under the 2020 law. More
1
Golf course in use
Pyongyang Golf Complex, 18 holes. Source

More inside North Korea

Who runs it, the military, energy, daily life and more.

All topics
Sources

Where this comes from

Figures are public estimates and may be dated - North Korea publishes almost no statistics.