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The North Korean flag that’s baffled Teesside was put up by a dad - simply because his kids liked the look of it.

Everything from secret nuclear launch bases to a holiday home for dictator Kim Jong Un were mooted by conspiracy theorists for the flag’s appearance in Ingleby Barwick.

But dad Chris Whitfield raised it just to make moving home easier on his children.

“When we moved in there was a flag pole, and I asked the kids what they would like to put up there - they picked the North Korean flag,” said Chris.

“I said they could have anything they wanted but that’s the one they liked the look of.”

But after louts gave the working dad grief for the flag, dejected Chris said: “The flag is coming down.”

“I don’t know when I will get it down, but it will be coming down.

“I had some idiots come around when the kids were not here, saying ‘why have you got that up?’.

“It was just a bit of fun.

“I’ve got a few things to replace it though, including a pirate flag.”

Neighbours were split over Chris’ move, after he moved onto the estate just weeks ago.

One said: “I hope he keeps it up, I think it’s hilarious.”

But another labelled it “inappropriate due to the oppressed Asian state teetering on the brink of nuclear conflict with the West”.

A nearby workman added: “I can’t think of anything less suitable to put up a flag at the moment - you are just asking for trouble.”

Following the backlash, Chris joked that he may be forced to seek “diplomatic immunity” after hoisting the red and blue flag 20ft above his Sober Hall Avenue home.

“I had even been thinking about getting a little flag on my car!” he added.

In a bid to solve the mystery, the Gazette even contacted North Korea’s embassy in London - however a diplomat replied: “Why would it be strange anyway for our flag to be up?”

Critics of the shut off state have accused it of stockpiling nukes and starving citizens, while elections only have one candidate - Kim Jong Un.

Despite that, Chris said about North Koreans: “I’ve got the absolute utmost respect for them even if it is probably the worst country on the planet to live in.”