Inside North Korea After 5 Years of Isolation transcript

on the 20th of February 2025 I became the first British tourist to gain access to North Korea in over 5 years I am not a journalist I have no political agenda and I do not support the regime of the democratic People's Republic of Korea welcome to the very very cold Yan Northeast China 20 km in that direction lies a country so secretive that when I was flying in we had to close the blinds on the Windows of the plane because we weren't allowed to look outside tomorrow morning I'll be among the first group of non-russian tourists in over 5 years to step foot inside North Korea without any further Ado roll the cliche intro featuring a compilation of news reporters saying the words North Korea over and over and over and over again North Korea North Korea North Korea North Korea North Korea British travel influencer Mike O Kennedy one of the first Western tourists to visit North Korea since before the pandemic [Music] looks like North Korea's back on the menu boys it's the most isolated country on Earth and since January 2020 it's been completely closed to the outside world until now while 13 of North Korea's administrative divisions remain closed one has opened up razon not only is it the one place in the world where Russia China and North Korea the three bad boys of Eastern politics stand side by side it also happens to be North Korea's controlled experiment with foreign trade come with me on this two-part series as we step into the most secretive and isolated country on Earth North Korea hello I'd like to speak to literally anyone outside of North Korea no didn't think so now before we head into North Korea let's clear up a few things this is going to be unlike anything I've ever filmed and that's because North Korea is unlike anywhere I've ever been I like to do things solo unaccompanied whereas I'm going to be very accompanied I'll be with a tour group and a tour guide it's the only way that you can see North Korea is with a tour I like to do things unplanned uh this is going to be very planned the next 5 days have been meticulously planned months in advance by the tour company I also like to do things as uncensored as possible now this is North Korea the rules are different I'd imagine there's going to be things that we can and can't do things we can and can't see but what we're going to do is what we always do and go in with an open mind with an unbiased perspective and I promise you I'll be showing you exactly what it is I see now I've got to get out of this [ __ ] Forest [Music] this is the Chinese border going into North Korea and it's a border that quite literally hasn't been used in over 5 years by a tourist it'll be interesting to see what the Koreans check my phone my camera my passport uh my 47 copies of the DVD Team America World Police and I'll try and document the entire process after crossing the bridge over the TW men River the body of water separating China and North Korea our passports were checked stamped and then we were instructed to list every electronic device in our possession that list had to match our items on the way out not because they're worried about what we might take with us but because they're concerned about what we might leave behind you're not allowed to bring anything that could be considered politically sensitive such as a book about North Korea or a USB containing external political content and just like that we're in North Korea let's see what planned Adventures there are for us over the next 5 days starting with a bus through the countryside let's see what we can [Music] see the very first thing that struck me was the sheer amount of Farmland with 80% of North Korea covered in mountains every available piece of usable land is dedicated to farming and I mean every single piece this isn't just due to necessity but also stems from the country's core ideology of self-reliance which prioritizes producing as much of its own food as possible rather than depending on Imports we were also told that the country doesn't use any form of chemical fertilizer the residents are asked to collect their own bodily waste which is then taken to the fields and used as organic fertilizer being a Socialist Communist country there were no advertisements in North Korea instead almost everywhere you look you'll see this government propaganda designed to inspire the people this one says unwavering loyalty we had five North Koreans with us three guides a driver and a photographer they were very friendly always polite and they did their absolute best to make sure that we felt at ease but no matter how welcoming they seemed there was no shaking this feeling that we were being watched always [Music] so walking into the into the the Nature Reserve now as much as I love this is where this just trip's going to be really tough for me because um as much as I love going around and seeing the things that they that they want you to see the deer park and we're going to visit a bank which is going to be very interesting what I'm interested in is what's going on beond those mountains and be on those mountains and in these Villages I've Got a Feeling there's not going to be a lot of human interaction on this trip makes me very sad give me a bag of your finest a bag of your finest carrots please sir I'll take I'll take whatever you've got I'll take some corn get some corn thanks dude there you go dude so they use these they rais them one of the one of the reasons they rais them for me is one of them and also they they cut off the antlers every year every couple of years and they use the antlers to make uh some kind of medicine go away no [ __ ] I'll go mate oh [ __ ] sake yeah oh you're scaring him off you were scaring him off oh [ __ ] hell I'm getting attacked by Korean North Korean deers don't worry I'm not from America I'm not from a [ __ ] H I said the word America and they've all gone nuts the fur changes color yeah completely different yeah very beautiful oh wow the thing is because we're feeding them every time they see a white dude now they're going to get hungry come with me to visit a Minal water Factory yay Mr Moon you said this is a factory yeah this is a factory where are the factory workers the people working here what's the the the the day today is Saturday Thursday Thursday Thursday yeah what I've just noticed this is a this is a mineral water Factory the water runs they the water run straight from the mountain into this building and there is kind of kind of like a grotto I'll get some more uh videos with my camera with my phone kind of like a grotto where there's just water pouring out and a cup where you can go and drink the water and nothing else here and no one house here let me show you what this thing looks like on a good camera little bit of the old what did he say don't drink too much of it cuz it could get you could get sick said it was very good for you then the last it's good pretty much every individual house I saw in this region looked exactly the same simple white walls with blue roofs in North Korea all property is owned by the State and the people don't get to choose where they live housing and living arrangements are largely influenced by a family's political social and economic background however many believe that this traditional system is becoming outdated with financial wealth playing an increasingly dominant role over social status one thing that really impressed me with these new rural housing developments my guy told me the government is currently building 500 highquality homes in every County per year with 145 counties across the country that's a huge number of hous is being put up Hi how are you let's see what North Korean hotel room looks like in 2025 what do we have coffee tea water I think this is a heated bed scenario that' be F that'd be nice we've got a phone let's try and call someone hello I'd like to speak to literally anyone outside of North Korea no didn't think so um oh the windows have been sealed shut we love that we do love that good for fire emergencies first impressions of North Korea we spent 2 hours um traveling on a bus from the border of China I reckon I saw about 20 people in that time not a lot of people no cars maybe like one or two taxis in that whole journey um people on bicycles the people that I did see were on bicycles they're out on the farm I didn't see any farming equipment didn't see any considering the amount of farming equipment there is here no tractors no harvesting crap you know um where I am now rason is an incredibly unique and very very unvisited part of North Korea even before covid and it's very very interesting a lot of foreign investment think of it as a as a kind of experiment by the North Koreans to introduce some form of capitalism into the country I'm going to learn about it we're going to look around we're here for days man ah forget about it chill out man chill out I'm going to bed I'm going to bed this okay I guess I'm buying a whole I guess I'm buying a whole deck of siggies then so those are 727s yeah 727 stands for 727 1953 The Day of the uh uh end of the Korean War the most expensive one and the most nationalistic one and the one Smoked by chairman Kim thank you madam so the cigarettes I bought back there in the souvenir shop are used Chinese money for now you might be thinking Mike you're in North Korea what are you doing using Chinese money Ras on the District I'm in at the moment is a special economic zone which means that its uh uh economic policies differ from the rest of the country now let's speak to someone who actually knows what the [ __ ] they're talking about because I don't Justin what makes rason different and and why is it a special economic zone so a special economic zone such as rason invites foreign investment so we have a lot of um Russian and Chinese companies that are doing business here it gives Northeast China uh easy access to the Port also uh vlasto the port there freezes over for about half the year so it gives the Russians access to uh a port that isn't Frozen in the region and um it also gives um the dprk the opportunity to earn hard foreign currency which they can then put into social programs that you know um are used to uh prop up the rest of the rest of the country and the uh and the social programs uh uh on which the dprk exist this is the Golden Triangle Bank in rajin and I've just gone and opened up my own North Korean bank account account I'm supposed to say cash card um but it's a North Korean bank account and North Korean dprk money which you can uh not spend really this is primarily used by locals to pay their monthly electricity and water bills which comes to a whopping 5 us cents per month and uh this is about a pound and I've got about 13,000 dprk money big TV screen out on the street playing a children's cartoon and it looks like locals have gathered around to watch it let's go and take a look hello sir how about you it was quite nice then even having that very very minute interaction with that man shaking his hand and getting a smile from him that is the absolute most interaction I've had an entire day with any member of the public any member of the public here in North Korea strange atmosphere here in North Korea and it's one I fully expected I mean there's quite l literally other than the group that I'm with no one here it's strange there's one lady there Hi also finding it incredibly strange to like not be able to to to just go and do my own thing in the morning I won't be able to wake up and and go for a walk won't be able to wake up and go and have food you just always always with we've got four guides with us four people watching us at all times did the for the past 5 years there's been no traveling for you between here and Pyongyang just individually ah okay is that because of Co or anything Co yeah very serious was co uh here for the whole 5 years how how long did covid situation last sir okay later okay can I ask you later yeah later okay thank you perfect perfect thank you sir uh no camera no camera as you can see my guy wasn't comfortable talking about Co on camera but off camera he told me that the virus was sent over in a package attached to a balloon from South Korea it's spread fast but thanks to Kim jong-un's quick action North Korea completely contained the outbreak in exactly 90 days honestly that's not too hard to believe considering how easily the country can lock things down and control its [Music] people there is a strong possibility that I was the drunkest man in North Korea yesterday apparently the the Soju so there's a very um popular alcohol in in Korea South Korea and North Korea called Soju uh which is made from don't [ __ ] know and it's apparently the one that they have in North Korea because because of the the products uh all um domestically produced for example the cigarettes and the alcohol they're domestically reproduced and they're organic so apparently the alcohol doesn't really give you a hangover what are we doing today we're going to a Bookshop a North Korean Bookshop government approved authors government approved themes about the party basically and then we're going to maybe buy some propaganda memorabilia and uh and then we're going to go and look at go see some schools a secondary school and an orphans school which is like the secondary school but the kids don't have parents so that'll be fun for the orphans hey kids today uh we have a surprise for you a fat hungover white dude is coming to look at you this is a foreign language Bookshop and I'd say 99% of the material here is about the leaders about the party let say thank you so these are anti- American propaganda postcards knives and these are American soldiers here God um I'm actually running a giveaway where I'll be personally writing and sending these postcards to five people all you have to do is follow me on Instagram and messag me telling me one thing that you learned from this video warning if you're from the US and you get one it might come with a visit from the National Security Agency big North Korean Soldier lots of American soldiers in a crash plane down here dude this is a bottle of North Korean rattlesnake Brandy and it's supposedly a classic drink here in dprk um I'm going to get a bottle of it and I'll update you on whether or not I can actually leave not just dprk but get out of China with this thing one of the guys picked up this book on Due North Korea's core ideology in simple terms it promotes total self-reliance politically economically and militarily rejecting any dependence on foreign powers the irony is I'm in razon a region actively experimenting with foreign trade and investment it seems like we're living in a world where even North Korea can't survive without outside support can you explain to me what these big circles on the floor are a massing point yeah Special Occasions are our the birthday of President Kim and the birthday of General Kim yeah we had a grand mass B here okay young people students on on the birthdays of the of the leaders uh students will come around and they'll do some kind of um choreographed dancing yeah very very interesting and what does this say over here this big sign yeah long live the Revolutionary idea of the great comrade Kim Jun ker is socialist country the first Criterion for the calling socialist country the first is education completely free it also very easy to handang the back detailed instruction about how to make it better ah so Marshall Kim Jong-un had these ideas yes ideas to make this and make this bigger and that was his ideas that he implemented [Music] interesting what about this thick forest yeah okay now think about why the rainforest are in danger and what you have to do to protect them okay just discuss in groups and play some roles oh hi what are you doing and you see we are picking up the flowers yes look at me I'm very yes I see so oh my God good Heavens oh what's the matter oh it's no right yes no is and to get hello my name is Michael can you say Michael perfect perfect I'm from can anyone guess what country England fantastic well done my name is wow and what's your name my name isim put your hands up if your favorite subject is English you like English cool what's your favorite thing about English my favorite thing is conversation conversation me too I love conversation well this English teacher nice to meet you Michaels nice to meet you what do you like about the countryside beautiful the wi leadership of ouring in Z the country side has been changing yes I I don't know no how is it been changing now your houses were built and also gymnasium Park and swimming pool and so buil feel like daughter is a do I but have a daughter I have no children but I think I would like to have a daughter because girls are much nicer than boys do you think so I think girls are more uh polite boys are not polite what do you think um I think so but it's very different on every some boys are more polite than some girls okay I agree I think you are ah thank you so much one day would you like to visit any other countries yeah what countries would you like to visit first England because I learning English and then Chinese and so on very cool I've been to China very nice very beautiful country how manytimes have China I've been to China three times yeah yeah one year ago I traveled across all of China with a truck driver his name was Mr Chen and he was awesome how long he take it took me about 5 days yeah thank you guys thank you so much thank you so much thank you you're about to see possibly the most cringy performance anyone has ever given on a volleyball court in the history of forever [Applause] [Music] what you're about to see is the very latest number one chart topping single released by The dprk performed by the the Children's Academy of rajin it's called friendly father [Music] while we enjoy some little no North Korean space aliens dancing I thought I'd share my thoughts on this experience almost every song that comes out of the dprk is as expected a tool of worship towards the country's current or former leaders the recurring theme throughout this trip was the utter devotion people had towards Kim Jong-un while I'm fully aware that they probably don't have much choice in the matter since openly speaking out against the leadership would lead to arrest the public image of Kim Jong-un is more than that of a leader to them he's a god God [Music] [Applause] hey there you go well done God this is so weird that was a performance for about 20 people and it lasted 30 minutes and it was probably better than the uh opening of the Paris Olympics