Original subtitles

Can there be a country more shrouded in mystery and fear

than North Korea?

It's a brutal dictatorship. Many say it's intent on nuclear war.

A dystopian land of military parades, repression

and barbaric prison camps.

But I've been given an unprecedented opportunity

to go beyond the politics,

and visit the country 25 million people call home...

CHEERING

..to travel 1,300 miles, across a land of colourful cities...

Wow!

..and epic landscapes.

The Rockies or North Korea. Take your pick.

To understand the so-called hermit kingdom...

..I want to engage with its people...

My name is Michael. Michael Palin.

..at a unique time in the country's history.

There may be a change in relations between your side and America.

Filming under supervision, I'll need to tread carefully.

A good leader should be able to deal with criticism.

That's where we are so different from you.

But this will turn out to be the most revealing journey of my life.

CAR HORN HONKS

My journey begins in Beijing.

China is one of North Korea's few allies in the world.

And more importantly for me,

it's the place where you can catch an overnight train

to its capital, Pyongyang.

Now, I have to find K...

K27 is the platform.

Ah, there we are! I see it.

Two, four, five, six, seven...

Two must be down there.

We've lost platform two.

Let's find another one like it.

I'll just follow everyone, I think.

I presume they're all getting the same train.

Most of my fellow passengers are Chinese,

and are travelling to Dandong, a city on the border with North Korea.

The train is down here now.

It was two, it was four. It's now six.

And coaches 1 to 16...

Oh, blimey!

There we are. Number 11.

HE MUTTERS TO SELF

OK. HE GROANS

Ah!

Phew!

Well, that was quite an ordeal, actually getting onto the train.

We're on the move, and dead on time.

I've even got a spittoon.

HE CHUCKLES

They never think of that on Virgin.

This train will take me 500 miles to the North Korean border.

After a quick change of train,

I'll then travel a further 200 miles to Pyongyang.

I'm about to enter a country that has essentially been cut off

from the outside world for 70 years.

It's quite different going to North Korea, I think,

than anywhere else I've been.

I've never been to one country where there's been quite so much of

a sort of blackout on information.

So, what I hope is that, although it will be controlled - I know that,

all our movements and all that - that we'll get beyond that

and actually get to know, or meet or just observe the people themselves,

the North Koreans who live there and work there and play there

and bring up their children there and go to school there.

You know, if we can do that, if I can get beyond the politics,

beyond - if you like - a very strict regime, I want to find, hopefully,

the people who live this see us as fellow human beings.

Cos that's the point of travelling and going around the world.

It's to see that people, actually, are much closer to us than we think.

After a bumpy night...

..the train pulls into Dandong Station.

We're now only a few hundred metres from the border.

After clearing Chinese customs, it's time to board the North Korean train

that will take me to Pyongyang.

Right, a lot of merchandise being loaded on down there.

TRAIN HORN

I think we're going.

This is it.

The Sino-Korea Friendship Bridge is all that separates us from the DPRK,

the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

As we cross the Yalu River,

a stark difference between these two countries becomes clear.

I mean, you can just see...

..the Chinese shores full of tower blocks.

So it is an extraordinary... That contrast is amazing -

the sort of high-rise Chinese northern shore,

and the southern shore.

It's a completely different feel to it - much more open, low-rise.

I suppose now, we are more than halfway across the river,

so we're in North Korea.

Immediately, everything looks different.

It's as if we've stepped back in time.

High security.

North Korean military guards on the platform of Sinuiju Station

remind me that I'm entering a country under totalitarian rule.

And as they prepare to board the train,

to check our visas and passports,

we get our first taste of North Korean authority.

We're told to turn off the camera.

One hour later, I'm allowed onto the platform.

A lot of papers had to be gone through and signed.

One man would come in and take down all the details.

People in very impressive big cats would come in

and ask for exactly the same details.

Questions I didn't expect, like, "Did I have a Bible with me?"

And normally, you'd say, "Oh, yes, absolutely. I'm a good Christian,"

but, no, that's the wrong answer here.

If you say, "I have a Bible," they'd want to know about that.

So, you know, it's a little unsettling.

But it's intriguing at the same time.

I mean, they have my passport, so I can't leave.

I've just been kept slightly unsettled,

and this is probably deliberate.

From now on, my fate lies in the hands of the North Koreans.

But after a tense wait, we're allowed on our way to Pyongyang.

Some people simply just washing their bicycles on the river.

And along the side here, by the railway line,

everywhere seems sort of cultivated. People have...

It looks like very inhospitable ground has been dug,

and something has been planted.

With no Internet or international phone signal,

I'm now effectively cut off from the outside world.

And the world I've entered seems rather strange.

I haven't seen a car in all this development, or bicycles.

There we are, a road. Empty - completely empty of cars.

It all seems of a very different time.

Korea was divided in 1945 after the Second World War,

and has been largely governed on Communist principles ever since.

Closed off from the outside world,

and now under strict international sanctions,

it's seen little economic development.

When it comes to the dining car,

it looks like nothing has changed since the 1950s.

Table for one. Lunch, please.

Thank you. Thank you.

HE SPEAKS KOREAN

Ah, good! That's the first word I've used.

Hello.

HE SPEAKS KOREAN I've said it twice now,

and look what I've got as a result of speaking Korean.

It's beautiful, isn't it?

And I think this must be... It's the kimchi.

Made from fermented cabbage and chillies,

kimchi is a staple of the North Korean diet.

Wow! It's quite fierce.

After the kimchi, I think you'd need something that sort of

puts out the fire.

There's a sort of video playing, and there's mainly missiles on it.

Various shots of the great leaders, and applause.

Lunch, with a side order of North Korean propaganda.

Eventually, after six long hours, we trundle into Pyongyang.

I'm told this is where I'll be met by the two guides who will be

making sure that I don't step out of line for the next two weeks.

Hello. Pleased to meet you. Are you Mr Michael Palin from Britain?

I am, Michael Palin, yes, yes. Nice to meet you.

Nice to meet you! Hello! How are you? Nice to meet you.

Annyeong hashimnikka. Annyeong hashimnikka!

I've been learning that on the train.

You're a good student. Thank you very much.

Hardly the threatening minders I was expecting.

My name is Lee Soo-young.

Lee is surname... Yeah? ..and Soo-young is given name... OK.

..so you can call me either way. What would you prefer to be called?

If you want to be more friendly, then Soo-young. Soo-young.

I'll be more friendly, with your approval. Soo-young...

Lee Kyung-chul. Ah! Soo-young and... Kyung-chul. Kyung-chul, OK.

Michael, just Michael. Yeah, yeah! Michael. Yeah, yes.

As we drive to the hotel, I find it hard to believe I'm finally here.

I know that there'll be restrictions on what I see,

but despite this, I'm hoping Pyongyang will give me a greater

understanding of a country once described as being on

"the axis of evil".

MUSIC ECHOING

My first morning in Pyongyang -

and the world's most unusual wake-up call.

I first heard this, I think, at five o'clock this morning.

It's like music emanates from the whole city.

I don't know where it's coming from. No source of speakers.

It's just this fusion of sound.

It was quite menacing at five o'clock.

Now it's... Sun's come out, it's just rather strange.

Sounds vaguely Brian Eno.

Oh, there he is. Hi, Brian!

And the thing is that...

The other sound, when you think of a city, is screaming sirens -

you know, cars rushing around. None of that at all.

So that's why this sound can really...

You can't avoid it. HE LAUGHS

I suppose that's the thing. You can't avoid it.

It's just the sound of Pyongyang,

which is not the sound of any other city I've ever been in, in my life.

The track is called Where Are You, Dear General? -

referring to the first leader of the DPRK, Kim Il-sung.

And after breakfast, it's time to head out for my first appointment

of the day with the great leaders themselves.

While our growing group of minders are nervous about us

filming on the streets,

it gives me my first sense of daily life in Pyongyang.

And it's all very normal.

But I do notice one significant difference.

That's interesting. That's the first poster I've seen -

a kind of propagandist poster.

All clutching, clutching their weapons.

Cos there's no advertising here,

you don't see any sort of consumer goods. Just ideas.

Hello.

The Pyongyang Metro system was built in the 1970s,

but its grandeur is from a different age.

It's quite something. That's quite something.

This view of urban life is very different to what I saw

from the train yesterday, possibly because Pyongyang

is much more prosperous than the rest of the country.

You could just stay here, really. Why bother to catch a train?

You can watch the world go by.

I've arrived in the DPRK at an historic time.

State-controlled newspapers are covered with photos of a meeting

between the current leaders of North and South Korea -

one that heralds new hope for peace.

KIDS SPEAK KOREAN

Ever since Korea was divided in 1945,

North Korea has been ruled by the Kim family.

Their images are everywhere.

And everyone seems to be wearing badges featuring their faces.

I've been told that to understand North Korea,

you need to understand the role of the leaders.

So I'm heading to the Mansudae Grand Monument...

..one of the most sacred places in the whole country.

These 22-metre tall bronze statues

depict the first two leaders of North Korea.

Kim Il-sung on the left was supported by the Russians,

to lead the newly formed country in 1945.

After he died, his son, Kim Jong-il,

took over until his death seven years ago,

leaving his son, Kim Jong-un, as the current leader.

Well, there they are - the biggest leaders I've ever seen.

And there's something about the size and the scale,

which is, undoubtedly, incredibly impressive,

and yet, there are very few statues to great leaders around the world

where they're smiling, they're looking accessible.

They've got this specs on, they've got their gear on,

they're sort of embracing the country.

I think that's what... Although it seems very grand and overpowering,

they're actually trying to show the love,

embrace the love of the whole country -

by smiling and making themselves like the benign fathers,

rather than the sort of stern rulers.

That's how I read it, anyway, but...

..judge for yourself.

In the West, the Kim dynasty is known as a brutal dictatorship,

but here, the great leaders cannot be criticised.

So I've been warned to tread carefully.

I notice that you wear the badge - the party badge there -

with the two leaders on. Yes.

So, we say, our Korean nation is Kim Il-sung, Kim Jong-il's nation,

and we are all members of the nation.

So it's the symbol of that. And it's...

The reason why we have them on our left-hand side is that it's...

Where your heart is? Yeah, yeah. Yes, yes.

Is it significant that they're smiling?

Is that important, that they're seen to be smiling?

Yeah. So, when you are smiling, they look very happy and very alive.

So we Korean people think that they are still alive.

They are alive in our hearts, even though they've passed away.

They are more like fathers than just political leaders.

We call it single-hearted unity.

The popular masses are united around the leaders and the party,

and with one will and one ideal.

And presumably, when you're growing up, from fairly early on in school,

you're learning about their work and what they represent?

At school, of course, we learn what they have done.

But we all have got our own outlook on the world.

And so it's not like, what you call, you know, brainwashing?

It's not like that. OK.

We learn from our hearts that they have done really great things

to all Korean people.

The people who come here... I see people getting married. Mm-hm.

How many times a year...

..should you come here? Is there a time everyone should come?

Or... It's voluntary.

It's open for everyone, and there is no, like...

No-one tells us to do, what to do.

"You should go there," or "You should go here."

It's more, like, to our...

Of our own volition. From your heart, OK. Yes.

There are many more questions I'd like to ask,

but now is not the time.

It's made apparent by our minders that I've already crossed the line.

North Korea claims to have no religion.

But it's hard for me not to think that, for many people,

the great leaders are filling that void.

And in a country that has a widely reported

appalling human rights record,

I worry that they've put their faith in those who do not always act

in their best interests.

After lunch, it's a quick walk to the east side of the Taedong River,

and a place that offers me the best view of the city, the Juche Tower.

The tower?

Annyeong hashimnikka. Annyeong hashimnikka.

That's right, I'm learning. Annyeong hashimnikka.

Annyeong...? Annyeong hashimnikka. Annyeong hashimnikka. Hm.

Annyeong hashimnikka. Annyeong hashimnikka.

Annyeong hashimnikka. Yes. Annyeong hashimnikka.

Hashimnikka. Hashimnikka? Hashimnikka. Hashimnikka. Oh!

Annyeong hashimnikka. Yes! Annyeong hashimnikka. Good!

THEY LAUGH

It's a good thing it's a high building! Yes!

All that, just to say hello.

OK. Please. Yes.

Wow!

The stunning view from this 170-metre tall tower

gives me my first proper sense of the size and scale of Pyongyang.

I shouldn't say "Wow," but that is the only thing you can say up here.

It's astounding.

The west side of the city is dominated by grand buildings...

..stadiums and new developments

that look like something from a science fiction movie.

The east is a sea of Soviet-style concrete apartment blocks.

They used to be grey, but Kim Jong-il instructed

that the buildings be painted in bright colours,

transforming the skyline.

One thing I do know is that Pyongyang was just bombed flat

in 1953, during the Korean War, so what we are seeing here has -

with, I think, the exception of one building -

all been built in the last sort of 60 years.

That's quite impressive.

The name of the Juche Tower refers to Kim Il-sung's ruling ideology...

..one which has perpetuated the idea of self-reliance and isolation

from the rest of the world for almost 70 years.

Funny how cities all have a sort of name, a ring about them.

And very often, countries are known by their cities.

You know, Paris, France and all that.

And this is Pyongyang, North Korea, which is a name I've known -

a lot of us know - in always, slightly threatening context.

This is Pyongyang. What comes out of here is vaguely sinister.

What does it mean, a city's threatening, a city's sinister?

A city's a city, and this...

..has its own grandeur in a way.

Pyongyang also has a bizarre charm.

And on my way back across the river, I find it hard not to be transfixed

by the traffic police stationed at busy intersections.

Their choreographed, robotic movements are strangely hypnotic.

They also, I notice, all appear to be young women.

There's a rumour that Marshal Kim Jong-un hand-picks them himself.

It's Sunday... WHISTLE

..the one-day weekend in the DPRK.

Volleyball, big thing here?

Yes. Quite a big sport. Popular, yeah. Yeah.

Soo-young and Kyung-chul are keen to show me what they would be doing

if they weren't having to look after a British film crew.

Have you ever shot a pistol?

Well, not often, but I have, yeah. I've had a go.

Shall we? OK.

He's going to show me, first of all, what a hot shot he is,

and why he has earned the name of

the Wyatt Earp of the Korean Peninsula.

Oh, good! Yeah, yeah, yeah!

Oh! Yeah. I keep aiming at the yellow bit behind.

I get that every time.

Very close!

Almost.

Last one, OK? Cos I don't think I'm destined to...

..get one.

Oh! Wow!

Bravo! On camera or not?

LAUGHTER

To unwind after our efforts at the shooting range,

we find ourselves somewhere I really wasn't expecting.

A North Korean health spa.

This is the state-run Changgwang Health Complex.

It's about as far from prison camps and nuclear missiles

as you can get...

..and includes a hair salon

which has a rather prescriptive approach to hairstyles.

Ah! These, I think, are the recommended haircuts.

All the styles you can have here are up there.

And these, actually, look remarkably similar.

No, you know, mullets or ponytails

or anything sort of disorderly like that. Very neat and tidy.

Hello. Can you do a sort of massage, not haircut?

No haircut, but massage, OK?

Thank you.

Ooh! Already, I feel the pressure slipping from my shoulders,

down my back, and into this chair, which is vibrating slightly.

That's just what I want.

Hope it doesn't come off.

Thank you. This is a relaxing end to a long day.

Thank you very much.

My hotel room gives me a rare moment away from prying eyes and ears.

Well, at least, I hope it does.

Filming isn't easy here.

Everywhere we go, we're accompanied by an entourage of about five or six

men and women in suits,

who watch our every move and check everything we're seeing

and everything we're doing and everything we're saying.

But, you know, they do things completely differently here.

That's the way it is.

We can't just come blundering in and say, "We're from the West.

"We want to see this, we want to see that."

If you're going to learn anything at all, I think, about this country,

you've got to prise the door open very, very gently.

We need to keep their trust, and it's a slow process,

but if we step out of line and we shoot things we shouldn't shoot,

then the door will be slammed shut. That'll be the end of it.

So it's really all about us trusting them and them trusting us.

I mean, so far, it's working quite well, but we'll see in the end.

Day two in Pyongyang, and it's time to go back to school.

From a young age,

children in North Korea are taught the revolutionary history

of their country's battles against Japanese occupiers

and American aggressors, and the heroic deeds of the great leaders.

THEY SPEAK KOREAN

What is more surprising is that learning English is also compulsory.

Annyeong hashimnikka!

ALL: Hello!

My name is Michael, Michael Palin.

I live in Britain. Anyone know London?

That's it. Very, very good - capital.

I'll tell you what I've got.

I've been to lots of places in the world,

and I travel with me with this - a globe.

ALL: One, two, three, four...

I'm intrigued to know how well these kids know the world around them,

especially as international travel is effectively banned

for all North Koreans. ..eight, nine, ten.

Yes!

APPLAUSE Very good!

Who would like to show me where Britain is on this map?

Who'd like to have a go?

It's in Europe. Good, yes. It's in Europe.

And it is...?

No, that's... There we are. Yes, that there, yes.

Now, throw it around. Have a look at the world.

That's it. OK.

You've got to name a country. India. India. Very good.

Now you can throw it very hard at anyone you don't like!

Russia! Russia! OK. Who are you going to throw it to?

Japan. Japan.

That's to me, OK.

America.

Canada. Canada. Canada. Canada. Good, yeah.

Well done. Now,

if there's anything they would like to ask me about my life?

How many children in your family?

I've got three children. How many in your family? Four. Four.

What do you want to do when you grow up?

I want to be a scientist.

Anyone else? I want to enter the Korean People's Army.

Good.

Very good.

I want to be a famous writer.

You want to be a famous writer? That's good.

Have you got a poem? Can you remember a poem that you've written?

Say it in Korean.

Aw! APPLAUSE

Mount Paektu is a sacred volcano in North Korea,

which Kim Il-sung allegedly used as a hideout while plotting against

the Japanese in the 1930s.

It's a beautiful poem, but I get the distinct impression

that critical thinking is probably not on the school curriculum.

But excelling at sport most definitely is.

I'm told by my guides that Kim Jong-un wants North Korea

to become a sports superpower.

And judging by this lot, table tennis may be the way to go.

It's like a factory farm for ping-pong champions.

I was quite impressed, first of all, they were learning English,

but also, the ideology was there, underneath everything

but not pushed absolutely all the time.

And yet, the poem was about Mount Paektu.

The boy wanted to be a physicist to do things better for Kim Jong-un.

It's always kind of there, very much embedded,

that feeling of working together for one leader.

But it wasn't pushed at me that hard.

And the ping-pong was just incredible.

The speed, ferocity with which they play,

and the determination to be world beaters.

What I'm learning is that the sense of unity and togetherness

is incredibly strong here - if a little disturbing.

After all, this is the land of mass military parades.

Mm!

Now, that is a really, really good cup of coffee.

About the best I've had in Pyongyang.

This rather nice, sort of intimate, almost Austrian-style cafe.

This all feels rather pleasant.

And yet, it's in quite an odd location, really.

This intimate little place is actually right on the corner...

..of Kim Il-sung Square.

A place where those vast processions of military might,

it all takes place on this amazing, amazing area here.

You can see,

when they do these enormous ballets with thousands of people

all doing the same thing at the same time, there are the dots.

Little positions where people stand.

So you've got somebody here, doing all that sort of stuff,

and then you've got somebody here doing all that sort of stuff.

So, you've got to sort it out. It's incredibly difficult -

when you see it done - to actually get it done properly

without bashing the person next to you.

Of course, when the parades come along, it's along this roadway

that the weapons and the missiles will come.

It's just so... It's a strange sensation to walk across it,

and here we are.

At the moment, there's not many people here - just me at the moment,

doing my own display of synchronised television presenting.

It's never going to catch on. It's never going to catch on.

The billboard showing a Korean soldier is just one of the many

pieces of military propaganda I've seen in Pyongyang.

Most of it is produced behind closed doors,

here at the Mansudae Art Studio.

But for the first time we are being allowed to film one of the country's

leading propaganda artists at work.

Can you tell me what this

painting, what this work is about?

This picture of pan-Korean peace and unity is very timely,

and might be just for my benefit.

But I think there's more to propaganda than missiles.

It's another way to keep people united to the cause.

What is the secret of making a good propaganda poster?

There are over 1,000 artists here, producing art for the state.

In this studio,

a painter is working on a canvas celebrating the fishing industry.

And this man has been responsible for sculpting the giant statues of

the Great Leaders.

I'm aware everything I'm being shown is designed to give me

a positive image of North Korea.

But what I'm also realising is just

how tightly everything is controlled.

There's no internet, no international phones, no freedom of

the press. The government controls

it all, and there are no voices of dissent.

And, after a few days,

you start to feel the propaganda seeping into your soul.

KOREAN POP MUSIC PLAYS

There's so much that is so different about North Korea that I find the

offer of dinner and a few beers with my friendly guides refreshingly

familiar.

Have you ever done barbecue before?

No, no, I haven't had Korean barbecue.

Not like this. It's messy, is it?

Is there going to be a lot of spray flying?

Yeah, yeah. Oh!

I think actually she's tied me to the chair!

You look great in it. Do I? Is it my colour? Oh...

So, this is the raw meat? Yeah. This is... Raw meat.

Koreans like meat?

We love it. You love meat?

OK, I got the wrong verb, you Love meat, OK.

You wrap.... Oh, you wrap it up? OK. OK. Mmmm.

Mmm. How is it? Mmm. It's very, very good. Mmm!

North Koreans enjoy a drink.

Apparently, each man is given weekly beer coupons by the state,

which provides them with five litres of beer a month.

Thank you! In Korean, geonbae. Geonbae. Geonbae. Geonbae.

It's nice to see the guides relax,

but I'm told tomorrow is the day I'll really see the North Koreans at

play.

It's my last day in the capital of North Korea, and it's May Day -

International Worker's Day - and it's a holiday.

The parks of Pyongyang are filling up with the city's 3 million

residents.

WHISTLE BLOWS

CHEERING AND CHANTING

WHISTLE BLOWS

The game is, people have to pick up bits of paper,

and then the bit of paper will tell them they've got to take something

and run around the ring. It might be a ball, it might be a hat,

it might be a jacket, it might be a man, a woman or a child.

And they race around with it.

There's also music and dancing.

UPBEAT MUSIC PLAYS

I suspect this gentleman is a frustrated Fred Astaire -

office manager by day, who knows what by night?

May Day seems to be giving me what I've been hoping for -

an opportunity to mix with ordinary North Koreans when their guard is

down.

CHEERFUL YELLING

Mmmm, that's good food.

LAUGHTER

KOREAN POP MUSIC PLAYS

And as the day goes on, so does the dancing...

HE YELLS CHEERFULLY

..and, I suspect, the drinking.

To an inhibited Englishman, a sort of mass fun day like May Day in

Pyongyang seems, at first,

slightly intimidating.

But actually you just have to join in.

Everyone's out, and they're all in the centre of the city.

They don't go out to the countryside.

And they start with lots of little parties, then become bigger parties,

and then become these huge occasions of spontaneous dancing

and a bit of drinking the rice wine to keep you going.

After a bit, the whole, sort of, hill is just humming.

Are singing and dancing quite important?

I mean, everyone seems to have a song or a dance.

Yeah, every Korean knows how to sing and dance. Yeah.

Except me, I have a poor voice. THEY LAUGH

LAUGHTER

Thank you.

These people might live in a repressive system

that I find hard to understand,

but there is a joy and humanity to this that's undimmed.

And this goes on all day, you know.

We're only, kind of, well, it's about 2:30.

What's it going to be like here at night?

It's going to be, you know... "What is it going to be like here at night?" I ask myself. Oh.

Thank you. CHEERING

Thank you.

Oh, dear. He's being dragged back by the family.

Well, I'm off to be a tree somewhere else.

May Day, and my time in Pyongyang has left me with more questions than

answers.

Much of me wants to take everything at face value,

to accept the North Korea that I'm being shown,

but I know there's another side,

and I've seen enough to realise this is a country with none of the

freedoms we in the West take for granted.

Maybe I'll learn more outside the bubble of Pyongyang.

After much negotiation, I've been given permission to

explore parts of the country that are normally off-limits to

outsiders. Tomorrow we start a journey that will take us into

uncharted territory.

'Next time... I come face-to-face with the North Korean military...'

Warheads and nuclear missiles have cost your country a lot of money.

'..explore rarely filmed areas of the country...'

We remember hearing in the West that you had a very bad shortage of food.

'..and push the guides to breaking point.'

All right, I'll tell you what I think. A good leader should be able to deal with criticism.

And that's where we are so different from you.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media