Just when you thought North Korea could not be any crazier than it is already, a man by the name of Shane Smith changes everything when he and his friend travels to Kim’s paradise. When I first saw the link posted to these videos, I figured this would be like any other documentary, but it is not. Shane Smith takes his tour one step further and at serious risk.
Welcome to the Vice Guide to North Korea. As we all know, getting into North Korea is not easy, and this guy describes how he got into the secret state via Shenyang. He tried other ways to get in by legitimate means, but goes the “back way” when talking to defectors. Then the madness starts from the first moment the money is slapped on the table and visas are granted. It is interesting to note he does not go into details on how he bribed the consulate to get in, but somehow he was granted. I would be kind of interested to know how he did it, but for all intents and purposes, I would understand if he did not want to tell others how he did it because as the videos get posted, he does not make many friends on his trip because he tends to break the rules. What kind of rules does he break? Quite a few, well, according to North Korea. Amazingly, he takes a lot of it with a grain of salt which pisses off his guards even more as the series progresses.
Please note, not all thee episodes have been posted yet, but one episode a day has been posted, so I check every hour or so to see if something new has been posted. Call me crazy, call me obsessed, but this series is by far, one of the funniest and interesting documentaries on North Korea I have ever seen. As of this writing, 12 episodes have been posted, and according to the web site, there are 14, so the entire series should be available by Thursday. I am sure me and other K-bloggers will keep you posted even though we provided you links. Why? We are helpful like that.
Shane Smith adds a flavor not found on other documentaries and adds commentary others would not dare to try. As a result, he skates on very thin ice. Also, he does make commentary away from the guides, but I am very sure he was well aware they were within hearing distance, but he is careful a lot of the time. Some examples (or my favorites):
* At the ROK side of the border, he points to North Korea out the window, and one of the guides tell him not to point. I am sure it was one of the U.S. troops.
* When preparing to go to North Korea via Shenyang (which seemed to be a very difficult process until he talked to defectors), he talks about having to sleep on a concrete bed. Also on the preparation of the trip, he knows he is not supposed to make a documentary, but he knows he is doing it anyway and says himself: “This is terrifying. So from the first minute I got there, I was shit scared”. And he had every right to be scared. North Korea is nothing to mess with, and jail in North Korea makes the worst of U.S. jails look like a resort. Also, his guides could see even more trouble. If they did or not remains to be seen, but in all, he took a very large risk doing what he did. Another question I have is, if he was not allowed to shoot for this film, how was this shot on the sly? His guides are all over the place, and I am sure they know what a camera looks like. Did they shoot with a point and shoot camera with a lot of memory? I clue is in the Friendship Museum, but that was not expressly made clear on how they got away with it:
[...] After we went back and forth with their representatives for months, they finally said they were going to allow 16 journalists into the country to cover the Arirang Mass Games in Pyongyang. Then, ten days before we were supposed to go, they said, “No, nobody can come.” Then they said, “OK, OK, you can come. But only as tourists.” We had no idea what that was supposed to mean. They already knew we were journalists, and over there if you get caught being a journalist when you’re supposed to be a tourist you go to jail. We don’t like jail. And we’re willing to bet we’d hate jail in North Korea.
So maybe North Korea knew they were journalists with cameras but maybe allowed the cameras in because they were a tourist with a video camera? Who knows?
* In Pyongyang, Shane shows the disrepair of North Korea if he meant to or not (I am sure he meant to) by showing the crumbling buildings. There are rumors the rooms are bugged (I would not be surprised, East Germany and the U.S.S.R. had them), so the guy mentions he was told the room was bugged and did not know if whispering would help. Probably not. Maybe he needed some background noise (Maybe turn the propaganda on TV very loud) and then whisper the commentary. Ah well, too late for suggestions now.
It was kind of funny to see him look for the bugs behind the mirror, under the lamps, temperature control unit and the device next to the bed. What was that thing, to call room service? “Come in, Tokyo!” If the room was bugged, I wonder if the guides knew what they had in store with this guy. Maybe they even chuckled. Alright, probably not.
The meal commentary is some of the funniest parts in my opinion. It is very clear he does not like the food, and notes the weird things that go on in the DPRK’s quest to show the food situation is not a problem and is a lie generated by the imperialist press. Of course, the choreography is so obvious he notes that by when he notes:
First of all, they give you three or four courses of absolutely inedible food. It’s just matter. It’s like…fried…matter. And you’re kinda going “yeah, yeah…” but you are waiting for everyone to fill in when is this banquet happening, when is this banquet? There is no banquet.”
He says aloud, “Where is everyone? It’s not very busy here.”
You realize they have gotten so much bad press for not having food that they want to show ‘Oh, there’s plenty of food! Food everywhere!’ And they are carefully laying out the food the whole time you’re eating, and as you are leaving you notice they are pulling all the things they just carefully laid into little tiny trays that they are going to carefully bring back and keep for the next day. And you are just sitting there, by yourself, eating your matter going, “OK, I’ve come to crazy land”.
* On the way to the Pueblo, he points out North Korea does not like America too much (go figure) and they are on a tour and you are not a tourist (I am sure he knew this, but may have made this clear for those that never went there how travel is in the DPRK). However, he does point out the guides and the guards are there to keep you in line and maybe he also knew once he got out of line, they are not very friendly with you. After the tour of the spy ship, he does note North Koreans on the tour of the ship just heard how bad Americans are, and are not very happy to see the only Caucasian guy there. He says this in a lowered tone, hopefully away from the watchful ears of the minders. He does not break any rules here, but if the guides did hear his commentary, he might have been in trouble. With the tea shop and the lonely tea girl, he notices there is still nobody around. She is so happy to see the guy she is jumping up and down for joy. I personally have to say Pun Yun Shi was pretty hot…
* The first real trouble he gets into is at the North Korean Peace Museum at Panmunjom. Here, his camera guy turns on the night vision because there is no electricity there and tries to sneak in some footage from the inside of the building. “So we have to go now because the guards are mad.” Then he asks flat out, “Do you think one day they will be unified?” And the answer was right on message. “Oh, of course yes, why not? The masters of the Koren Revolution are the masters of the Korean people. And we have the leader. We have the army. We have the party.” This guide says it with such passion, Shane Smith could not help but note, “These guys are serious, serious dudes” That I agree with.
After the DMZ, they go to a restaurant in Kaesong and make it seem like it is just some random stop and Shane again notes it is choreographed. Everything on the tour is that way, and will remain that way the entire trip. “….crazy food, politics. Crazy food, politics. So you start to get a bit freaked out at this point.”
*Another bit of trouble is at the “State sanctioned karaoke place” when his guard gets mad about poking fun at the song Pangasumnida. He mentions he bribes the guards with some booze (who does not like booze?), but Lee was not too happy. Shane seems to take all these threats in stride, and I do not know how he did it without shitting his pants.
*After laying flowers at Kim’s statue, another bit of trouble comes Shane’s way when he visits the Friendship Museum, and NK watchers know the rules are very strict and filming is strictly prohibited. So this guy takes some pictures from the outside, and the guards get suspicious, calls Shane a liar and grabs the memory card. So after getting busted, makes some more commentary on how he is hiding from the guards because they are having tea and calls it the “International Insanity Museum”. His guards must of loved him…
* At the Peoples Study House, he talks about the desk that Kim Jong Il personally sat in and taught them the adjustable desk should be at the correct height. Now this rang a bell because I saw the same line from another documentary called Welcome to North Korea. It is also the same guide. I thought that was pretty funny.
* At the barrage, Shane and his camera guy get into real trouble, and this time, he is not taking it in stride. Not only did he stand in front of the Dear Leader, he points to it and other things. This is when the guide audibly gets angry. To add insult to injury films the barrage, and by this time, he threatens them with jail. The guides and the guards were not happy. I am very surprised nothing happened, and I cannot say if he made it by the skin of his teeth, but all the same, it was good he did not find out. Personally, I would have been scared out of my mind at this point because as said earlier, North Korea is nothing to trifle with.
* At the Palace of the Children, this is when it gets to be pretty sad because he knows the kids are there for show and to be a showcase of the state. They are pulled out and forced to learn, be the best, and work for the revolution. These children are children of the elite of the elite, and may be on their way to be policy elites. Being a policy elite is not easy and status can change at any moment if the state thinks there is any evidence of dissent at any moment with them. If their background has any tarnish, they will not be there. That’s the way North Korea works, and in all, these kids are groomed to be the face of the Korean Worker’s Party, and that face is central to the facade of the Kim regime. i agree. It is very sad, but it is the only way to be “somebody” in North Korea. Also, the performance has a song I recognized:
* The 13th installation is the mass games. This is sort of interesting because the kids with the cards are in view. Other than that, it is pretty standard.
*Part 14 he audibly slams the food again and gives some commentary on what the North Korea experience is.
Overall review: It is very funny, sad and questionable at times. This man took great risks to make this documentary, and the last karaoke song was not a really good choice because the karaoke host was very uncomfortable putting his arm around her.
Yes, North Korea is backward, strange and a time machine. It is a sealed hermit kingdom and it will not changer anytime soon. This made me laugh a lot, and is very good, but there are some pros and cons. I will recommend this to others, but I will NOT recommend others to sneak a camera in and pull the stuff he did. Carries way too much risk.
Aside from the obvious assumptions he made (i.e. the kids being “forced” to learn to play the instruments), the documentary clips are pretty interesting.
Yeah, the kids may be forced to learn, but that’s how it is in North Korea. They have to be a face of the regime. And to be anybody, they do that, because so few get to that point and be the face of Kim Jong Il. Thanks for visiting Jeku.
Getting visa to North Korea is difficult only for Americans as they don’t have diplomatic relations. As a Finn, I would get in (as a tourist) relatively easily if I really wanted to go. I’d just need the 3000 or 4000 euros to buy the trip from a Finnish travel agency that is specialized in making trips to NK.
Yes, it is true that as a journalist one does not really have a chance.