On the global stage, few nations provoke as much unease as North Korea. Under the Kim family’s rule, life inside the country is tightly controlled, with citizens told everything is fine, even when the rest of the world sees otherwise. But not all of North Korea’s offenses are about missiles and military might; sometimes, they’re oddly petty.
For example, North Korea ordered 1,000 shiny new Volvos from Sweden in the 1970s, drove them off the lot, and then simply never paid. To this day, Sweden still keeps the bill open, making it one of history’s strangest cases of international “car theft.”
From nuclear threats to unpaid car bills, North Korea’s history is filled with stories as scary as they are curious. Click through to learn more about one of the strangest chapters of its global reputation.