All language subtitles for Michael Palin in North Korea 1

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