No, North Korea didn’t ‘land’ someone on the sun

News outlets have reported that North Korea wants to plant its flag on the moon, but in the meantime, has it landed a man on the sun? 

"North Korea confirms it has landed a man on the sun," reads the text in a social media post. Above it, an image shows what looks like a still from a news broadcast with a picture of a rocket launch.  

The Instagram post was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram.)

The post includes a website — tweaktown.com — where we found the story about North Korea landing a man on the sun, posted in January 2014.

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stated on May 14, 2019 in a Facebook post

Says NASA spent more than $165 million over 10 years to develop a pen that "writes in zero gravity, upside down" and in extreme temperatures while the "Russians used a pencil instead."

It cites as a source waterfordwhispersnews.com, which posted a story at the time with this headline: "North Korea lands first ever man on the sun, confirms central news agency." 

But the website has a disclaimer at the bottom of the page. Readers who click on it will learn that Waterford Whispers News is a satirical site.  

Even so, anyone who is trying to land on the sun should be advised that it’s a giant ball of heated gas that’s about 10,000 degrees Fahrenheit with no solid surface. 

We rate claims that North Korea landed a man on the sun Pants on Fire.