The sculpture 'another winter' by artist Aleksandar Duravcevic depicts an unicorn at the Art Cologne fair in Cologne
A unicorn (Reuters)

Archaeologists in North Korea have claimed that they have discovered a unicorn lair belonging to an ancient king.

The bizarre announcement, which observers say may be a retaliatory spoof in response to China falling for a joke story on The Onion website naming Kim Jong-un the Sexiest Man Alive, was made by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA)

The lair was apparently found 220 yards from a temple in the capital of Pyongyang, the wire service claimed.

"Archaeologists of the History Institute of the DPRK Academy of Social Sciences have recently reconfirmed [the existence of] a lair of the unicorn rode by King Tongmyong, founder of the Koguryo Kingdom," reads the report.

Jo Hui-sung, director of the institute, told the news agency: "Korea's history book deals with the unicorn.

"The discovery of the unicorn lair, associated with the legend about King Tongmyong, proves that Pyongyang was a capital city of ancient Korea as well as Koguryo Kingdom."

Another famous claim by KCNA was that mountains cried and birds lamented when former paramount leader Kim Jong-il died.

China