North Korea sees Ice Bucket Challenge

With the Ice Bucket Challenge taking the world by storm, participants have found new twists to add to the fundraising campaign. Hollywood star Matt Damon, for example, dumped toilet water on his head to call attention not only to Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), but also the issue of water scarcity.

The bar has been raised in recent days, however, with two participants completing the icy challenge in one of the world’s most isolated countries: North Korea.

The North’s first ice bucket challenge, filmed Thursday, came courtesy of the Singapore-based non-profit Choson Exchange, which provides business-related programs for young North Koreans.

Andray Abrahamian, executive director of the organization, decided to take the challenge on a Pyongyang street after seeing a mass dance nearby for the country’s Youth Day.

“We'd just wrapped up a two-week workshop and I'd heard I'd been challenged. When we got back to the hotel, (the dance) was going on across the street and we thought, ‘This will do,’” he told The Korea Times in an email.

The North remains largely cut off from much of the world. Westerners, however, are becoming more common in Pyongyang due to tourism and other ventures. CE is among the handful of international groups that engage the North on economic matters.

In a video posted on CE’s Facebook page, Abrahamian dumps water on his head as citizens, many wearing colorful tradition garb, continue to dance in the background.

“I'm going to give my $100 to 'Together Hamhung', which is an educational center for deaf, blind and non-disabled kids in Hamhung, DPRK,” he added. DPRK is the North’s official name.

Three days later, Grammy-award-winning rapper Pras Michel joined the challenge while standing in Pyongyang’s Taedong River.

A founding member of the critically-acclaimed hip-hop group Fugees, Michel was in the country to watch a pro wrestling exhibition that took place the previous day.

Over three million people around the world have joined the Ice Bucket Challenge for the ALS Association, generating more than $100 million (100 billion won) in donations to knock out the disease.

ALS, or Lou Gehrig’s disease, is a progressive illness affecting the nerve cells in the brain and can lead to death.