By Tim Binnall
Despite the practice being banned in the country, fortune telling is having something of a moment in North Korea due to anxiety among government officials. The unusual uptick in people seeking mystic services can reportedly be traced to concerns among the 'powers that be' ahead of a forthcoming event known as the Ninth Party Congress. Held every five years, the gathering is where major North Korean policy and goals are set by Kim Jong Un and his advisors. With rumors swirling of a major governmental reorganization to be enacted at the meeting, many of the country's proverbial movers and shakers have turned to fortune tellers to find out how they will fare.
"It’s not just a few officials and their relatives who go to fortune tellers and conduct shamanist ceremonies," revealed a North Korean resident who smartly remained anonymous, "the higher the official, the more obsessed they are with fortune tellers, and the money fortune tellers receive is considerable." The increased interest in soothsayers has led to the development of a rather peculiar situation in the notoriously draconian hermit kingdom, where such 'superstition' practices are outlawed. "State security officers take bribes from fortune tellers and even get their fortunes read," the insider explained, "so they can't blindly arrest them" lest the tenuous arrangement be revealed.