North Korea isn't often at the top of people's travel bucket list, but travel vlogger Simon Wilson is here to change your mind. He shares what his visit there was like, including their strict rules about what you can film, and the surprising thing he taught to the locals.
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🎧 Full episode available to listen & download now:
tinyurl.com/yxf2y8m8
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🐦 TWITTER: / jaackshappyhour
📸 INSTAGRAM: / jaackshappyhour
🎬 JAACKMAATE'S CHANNEL: / jaackmaate
Again, a huge thanks to Simon Wilson for coming on the pod and sharing some MAD stories!
Is there a way to watch the whole video of this podcast? in all honesty you lose a lot when its audio only and I know you have a Spotify deal now. Any clarification would be great!
Get Bald and Bankrupt on!
@@VelvetyOnion init I only watch podcasts I can watch and what’s the point in recording the whole thing and only put up clips
@@williamadams7136 1000% agree but he is never in the UK :( so shocked to see Simon on here as I know him only from that!
@@williamadams7136 hahaha he can't come to the UK unfortunately 😂 owes hundreds of thousands in child support
I don't really agree when he says "these people are happy because they know what they know." The tour-guides obviously have a very different life to the common-man/farmer. You have to remember that many people in Korea lived through a pretty violent famine in the late 1990s.
I think every Country has had its own share of tragedy at some point in recent times. Just because North Korea went through a famine doesn't mean the people are living bad lives. I think he was saying that they've grown up with North Korea being ruled how it is and they've not known anything different so they see it as a normal and they're happy with it. Deep down most people do love their own Country and culture even if it's not UN approved.
most north koreans are in favour of their government and are happy. if you want to argue its not true happiness that's fine, and if you want to say its just because they are always lied to that's fine. but north koreans are definitely happy
@@akhan645 I doubt the hundred of thousands who are in, or have died in their 'Reprogramming Camps' are or were happy prior to their deaths. Being worked to death, starved and kept in cages where you can't even straighten out your whole body would not make many people 'Happy'. And that's without the torture used. The reason for being in these camps can be from something as petty as disagreeing with their leader to a member of your family managing to escape from Nth Korea. If someone from your family does manage to get out, the rest of the family is rounded up & pays the price. If that's what you consider 'happy' families, then you maybe need to reconsider your definition of happy. There is nothing 'normal' about having the threat of these camps hanging over a human beings head.
I think actually he might be careful with his criticism of North Korea in case he’s barred from going back
@Amrit Waiba Well there definitely is now in 2020. Not sure when you are talking about.
This guy has the best stories
Ay sills wassup
Does he
Check his channel out, great content. Absolute don.
And he’s good at telling them
Would love to ask him how a person has done so many of these tours with westerners and they have never heard of KZhead 🤷♂️
Get Bald and Bankrupt on the podcast
That's something I can get behind
Great shout that
Think he'll struggle to get him to the UK. Think he pretty much calls prague home now
@Crane phoenix soviet sink🤣🤣
and Harald Baldr!
If you tour England, your guide will only show you the nice places, sure. The BIG difference is that in England you're not prohibited from exploring all the shady places. Tourists in North Korea are obviously not going to be allowed to mingle with the people "back stage". The people who get shot in the back by a border guard when they attempt to flee the country.
i was thinking the same. feels insensitive to compare North Korea to London... from the videos i've watched about life in North Korea, the tours are heavily heavily scripted and monitored. the people tourists are allowed to see are actors and are the minority in NK. the tours of NK are propaganda for Westerners to take back to their countries to make NK not look that bad. which is exactly what he's doing
@@ZarahTaylor08 I agree. For all the travelling he's done, he comes across as being extremely naive about Nth Korea & what life is like there for the majority of the people.
Exactly Hahaha
@@ZarahTaylor08 You definitely don't see actors in NK, you absolutely do see the general public. But it's almost exclusively the Pyongyang public. To live in Pyongyang, you must be part of the upper class (and class in NK is determined by your families loyalty to the regime). You see the public outside of the capital, but only very briefly when driving past. That's when you see the poverty. But you're right about being scripted. Everything is planned, you can't even leave the hotel without your guides or you'll be arrested. The tour guides will also receive calls from the Government throughout each day, and will tell them to change the itinerary to something else. They intentionally show certain parts (the nature, for example) and dodge certain things (military parades, for example). And your group is being watched nonstop, by people outside of the group/guides. Someone does something wrong? Your guides will get a call from the Government within minutes.
@@tensemurm5924 yeah, i meant actors as in they are not free to say what they believe/would like to and they are told what to say, where to go etc, not actual actors haha
So living in North Korea is basically like The Truman Show...
More like the Matrix. With the Kims as the big phallic robots.
Or the hunger games with the districts and the soldiers.
@@benjaminfreeland1922 agreed it would also make good telly
With a tad more starvation
Have you ever been?
PART 2 NEEDED !
From watching Simon's videos when he went on this trip, you could tell a lot of the areas they toured were setup for tourists. Like, in what country are you allowed to take a tour of a school, and then have those same students perform for you 20 minutes later. I'm sure those more premium districts are great for the people that live in them, but as for the people outside of there, I'm sure their lives are hell.
Oh definitely Everything they show is fake and the actual people of North Korea are starving
@@Liam-dd9vx Most of the people are, in Pyongyang they are not. As he said though, only certain people are allowed in Pyongyang. The upper class, as determined by your families loyalty to the regime, are the only people in the capital.
@Dinesh Truth Didn't know Kim had a secret KZhead account...
He’s niave
How do u guys know? 😅😅😅
Surprising Simon has the small world view that he’s shocked about them not know queen and Elton John. Hardly surprising giving that Asia have their own famous musicians, actors and artists. Doubt few in the UK have heard of Beyond, Chang Yu Sheng or even Kris Wu
@femboy erin true, but my point was that in Asia, let alone North Korea, they have their own stars (such as the ones I listed) which we in the west have never heard of. Of course some artists are world renowned, but to be surprised at North Koreans not knowing who queen or Elton John are is very naive for a guy who has traveled so much.
@@jako9330 I think he was just trying to prove a point, in that North Korea is very cut-off.
You guys don’t even know Mohammed abdo
The thing is queen and elton john aren't popular worldwide,only normally english speaking countrys,try the beatles or Mj ppl will know them worldwide for sure
To be fair, it’s not even comparable as the majority of artists come from the US or UK anyway. So it is expected that people in Asia would know certain people/artists.
Loved listening to this episode, Simon is probably my favourite youtuber to watch and Happy hour is one of my favourite pods so this episode was spot on! 🙌
Wasn't going to listen to this pod but after listening to this I've stuck it straight on! Mad stories
I was waiting for this so much. Love his videos.
I want Jack to be able to buy a house and not rent so I always watch his ads
You’re the hero I don’t deserve
@Absolute Reactions lol hey bro
@@fatgamer919 i found you comment
The guy could buy several houses I'd assume...
@@Josh1eFC you that guy who was in fatgamer 919 Detroit becomes a human stream
Love the content Jack, from Ireland 🇮🇪❤
Well in at the footasylum house 😂
"Well in"? what does this mean?
@@imogeninsufferable good job or well done 👍
@Dinesh Truth I think she’s telling the truth
this was fascinating and really insightful
i literally just watched the video then saw this on my fyp. Simon wilson is the best hes mad.
What a great podcast and interesting bloke
WE NEED PART 2!!
I love Simon's videos quality guest for a podcast
I think if you work there six years you can assume that a 'random change' is probably not random
can’t wait for the whole podcast
He is so good at telling stories
Simon is a legend his Skoda series is incredible
Imagine trying to compare it to london and only showing the good bits.
He has such an underrated youtube channel. great travel content. love his videos
Let’s gooooo it’s Simon wilson
where's the full episode? really enjoyed the clips thus far. Cheers!
Spotify
@@measth thank you. 🤙
Simon is a legend but Jack needs a lot a respect for giving smaller channels a voice love the podcast. Lovely guys aswell
Simon has 740,000 subscribers 🤷♂️
@@joshfunnell814 what I meant by it was hes smaller than Jack given him a bigger platform was a nice comment, so I thought anyway
@@lolfunny6587 he’s massive on Facebook
@@RB-NZ2 yeah that’s how I first saw him I should of worded this comment better
By far the best guest on the POD!! My favourite episode to date ✨
Simon is generally one of the best youtubers out there, his videos are incredibly interesting and give insights into countries and what they are really like, watched all of his videos and not one has been poor or boring, top quality guy.
Genuinely*
Yeah his North Korea video really gave an insight of what that country is like 🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄
Simon j Wilson absolute beast love he’s videos
Would love to go but it's difficult to justify supporting that sort of regime.
Exactly . Curiosity makes u really want to see with your own eyes . However there's no way I could go knowing that I'd be supporting the regime providing them with much needed foreign currency .
Are you saying that you do not purchase any products made in China? You don't eat chocolate bars? You don't use a computer or electronics? Guess where these products are made, or where the minerals used to make their components are sourced, etc., The current US president has done more to support and legitimize that regime than all tourists, businesses combined -well, short of other commie countries. See the world with your own eyes, and make informed opinions, man
@@storagebox1793 Big difference between buying the odd imported good Vs actively buying a plane ticket and giving thousands directly to the government lol But nice try
@@Ze-Germanzuk got to completly agree with the other guy a trip there will cost pennies compared to everything else you're comparing billions to a few thousand how many people is it compared to products bought is like comparing selling Pepsi to tesco value coke big difference
A lot of people living in Pyongyang know even less about the atrocities being committed outside the city than the Western world. Hence why the tour-guides can seem perfectly happy-they're blissfully unaware. I would almost liken it to Panem in the Hunger Games....
Ignorance is bliss.
please release the full podcast Jack. This guy is awesome.
spotify
@@demi-qs5zc i meant to watch on KZhead
@@jamie1744 he won't. Are you new here? They moved over to Spotify so you can listen to the full thing there. KZhead is just for little clips
@@profscoff I am new. Sorry didn't know
@@jamie1744 no problem glad I explained then 👍
Stevie once again popping up once in a blue moon with a truly awful question, getting used to it now🤣🤣
This was very interesting
I cant believe hes on the podcast hes one of my favourite youtubers
Wow what an experience and what a story to tell
Thumbs up for Bald and Bankrupt!
The mass starvation in North Korea has been labeled as genocide by many. Around 40% of the population face severe food shortage. Annoying that he’s so naive to this. Obviously not something his guides are planning to show 🤦♂️ you guys should have picked him up on this
Bollocks
Yeh to compare this to going to nice places in London is very naive, the difference between poorer areas which would be the richest in North Korea btw and abject poverty. To say they could be more unhappy in western world is insanity, litterally startling to death
Load of shite
Caused by whom? The country was and still is entirely blocked off from the rest of the world through sanctions, and was denied loans during it. Where do you think they would've got the food from during a series of floods and droughts while being blocked off from trade? It's easy to call someone ignorant while oneself being blinded by one's own ignorance.
@@SapphFire NK's own fault.
Really interesting take on it
Mate I bloody love Simon wilson
I've heard that from a lot of the visitors to N.Korea, that they relatively often had a seemingly last minute change in the itinerary....so, it looks almost as if they even scripted those..
@Dinesh Truth Yeonmi Park is from North Korea dude ..
Simon Wilson is elite !!! Got his merch lol 😂
Best guest?!
I could listen to Simon ALL DAY! His stories and life experiences are just so inspiring
He seems so pleasant and upbeat
I love his channel
This is Plato's 'Allegory of the Cave'.
Having been to North Korea myself, I enjoyed this clip. Was similar to my experience. Elton John? Interesting point is languages that are non-Romanized, that don't have our alphabet, may use totally different names for people, movies etc. They may know them, but not know the English name. A simple recent example would be the (rather crappy) movie Aquaman. Ask about that film in China, they won't have a clue, not because it was censored/blocked, but because in Chinese its called 海王 which means "Sea King". When I first went to China, David Beckham was a global superstar, but few knew him until you showed a picture. And they knew him as Da Wei Bai Ke Ha Mo.
Totally agree with Simons explanation of the staged experience. I also went to North Korea on my 23rd birthday by myself, but within a tour group. It really did feel very safe and was very easy to organise. You have an instant connection with the other people in your group, since you all share this same niche interest.
i get his point, interesting guy and no disrespect but come on... comparing life in north korea to a life in your hometown in england without social media is a bit off mate
I think the point he was trying to make is that their lives are really simplistic and basic, they don't live within our information age, with our level of technology and standard of living they only know what they know.
@@---cf9bj Yeah...because they have no freedom to have a "complicated" life, complicated being...ya know, "free"
@@lukek1192 Well yeah, being free to live your life in anyway you want can make things complicated.
@@---cf9bj ...
I think when you compare to South Korea where suicide rates are insanely high and individuals compete for consumption to fill their souls, the idea of having a much more simple and community oriented lifestyle, however limited, seems somewhat appealing. Aside from the constant fear, of course. That’s not so say North Korea is good, it’s admitting that certain aspects of their lifestyle could teach us something about our own. Perhaps having such a consumerist and hyper-individualised society hasn’t actually helped us live fulfilled and happy lives. Maybe if we stripped back a bit and looked at what really made us happy we’d rethink how we live. I’d recommend watching Michael Palin’s documentary on North Korea. It shows a side not often talked about yet remains very level headed about both the atrocities and be positives of their society.
Simon seems such a nice guy
Simons got some bloody stories
Not being able to travel is the absolute last problem that they have. The lad has had first hand experience in the place which obviously we haven’t but he doesn’t seem to be aware of the atrocious human rights violations in North Korea
I'm glad Simon Wilson got home safe and rediscovered British pies....
Love Simon!
I love how all the people who are saying he is ignorant have never been, nor know nothing about North Korea, other than what the media has told them. Its like you going to a televised concert and telling me that the atmosphere was amazing and then me saying no it wasnt because i can only hear the artist, didnt hear the crowd, even though the crowd noises are blocked out
Haha true
Is he delusional? He doesn't know the tour guides are made / paid to be a certain way and everything they could possibly see is completely set-up and in place? Sneak off of the mines and see how happy they are.
No he isn’t delusional. It’s his story, his experience we all have different ones and this is his point of view. There is no way it could have been set up as North Korea is a very strict country.
He didnt see even a second of the real DPRK, didnt see children eating maggots out of the ditches or trucks running off wood burning stoves because there’s no gasoline
@@susbaggy7080 It would be set up by the government
I think he’s probably just talking nice so they’ll let him back in if he wants to go again
just a bit thick to be fair
Most of the German people were “happy” knowing what they knew about the nazis in the 30s. Because they were told what they want to hear (for the most part) I’m sure some North Korean tour guides are happy but only really because they think that’s what the best life is exactly like the German people In the 30s
Germany in the 1930s was much better than it is now. Beautfiul cities, no run down ghettos and shady places.
Wilson is going places.
In two different ways
He's already been to quite a few mate
Never heard of this guy but he sounds really interesting and like he has the best stories
Oh my God Simon WHAT A LOVELY GUY 😂
I love Simon Wilson but I do feel like his view is a little ignorant
Yh I agree I think he was taking his time of North Korea quite literally not realising this is what they want you to see. Contextually that not how they really live their lives so in that respect I think he was a bit naive
@@amirakbar6985 Yeah and its so obviously fake aswell if you see the videos you get led around a specific path of travel, you can't venture off at all like you can anywhere else in the world. I think he was just taking his trip at face value but I think thats a little naive really I think its best to be honest about what its like and say its just them leading you around and faking being happy about being there.
He literally stated in the video that he did realize that it was the view of NK they wanted him, and that there was an entire different side he couldnt see, are you dull?
@@RhinoGore38 are you feeling ok. He said that for 10 secs of the vid the rest he was saying how he thinks North Korea is this great country when in fact it’s not. Even jack was trying to him make him say something negative but he wasn’t having it.
Very Naive in my opinion
Looks well different to how I remember him. I legitimately thought this must've been his brother or something to start with. Cool story anyway fella 👏
He’s lucky he didn’t mess up and get set up like Otto warmbier I think it’s very ignorant that he says the Korean people are happy because that’s “ all they know “ yet there’s no birds because every single birds was eaten because there’s no food
Otto didnt get set up....he was trying to steal a poster from the hotel lobby Sad though how they dealt with him....truely disgusting treatment
@@dbigdog79 he didn’t try to steal anything tho it’s a conspiracy
so the guy who voluntarily entered an oppressive communist dictatorship, known to use western visitors as political pawns, and who voluntarily entered into a restricted area to steal a poster was set up? Sounds like the actions of an entitled brat. Though, much like the black dudes murdered by the police for crossing the street on a red light, he didn't deserve to die. Anyway, trump pardoned North Korea and the Kim regime for the kid's death, so it's now moot. The official American position is that the commies did nothing to that man.
@@storagebox1793 if he did actually try to steal their stuff then fair enough but apparently he was set up as in he didn’t do any of that, not sure
@K M there’s literally no birds in North Korea. 0.
He is a ninja and his best disguise is plain sight
You should do an episode on Missing 411
This guy is a King 🤴
Simon Wilson is a legend !!!! Just saying 😂
Jack looks like the special kid in your class with the headphones
Weird one, but please get Ben Foster - The cycling GK on!
Guys are full podcasts on yt just not a thing anymore or is it only a Spotify thing
We're Spotify exclusive mate! This is a highlights channel now and the full audio is only available on Spotify.
@@HappyHourPodcast thanks for replying dude no worries will be tuning in on both platforms
Believe it or not but Australia in 2021 has check points at every state with covid and at times you arnt allowed to cross curtain state boarders !
As much as I respect Simon and his work (and ive never been N Korea), the population live a life worse than death. Mass rapes, torture, starvation and labour camps.
Incredibly naive what they was all saying
Sound like you just described the US
@@andrewmohan8371 N Korea
YES, WE GET WHAT YOURE SAYING!!!
Look! That’s me!
Why are you not uploading full podcasts? :/
We've been Spotify exclusive since September!
@@HappyHourPodcast Oh shit! Thanks!
where can i watch the whole episode
this guy is so niave its painful... difference between nk and uk is you can travel anywhere in london... in north korea its literally illegal to travel outside your designated tour area😹 your every move is controlled
He literally addresses that? He doesn't say he supports the regime or that the country is great he's just sharing his experience and giving his viewpoint. He doesn't know the full story because he doesn't live there
@@nathanwappett7306 he doesn't lmao he literally said "its just like going to london obviously theyre only going to show the best bits" when the difference is you couldn't see the bad bits of nk even if you wanted to because its illegal. no ones stopping you from walking around the bad parts of london
@@amyamy9973 no he does, several times he condemns the regime and says they should be allowed to travel and have a choice. The london thing is just an analogy about how nobody will ever show you the bad bits of where you live. He isn't comparing the bad bits of london to North Korea hes just saying if you go anywhere in the world the tour guides wont take you to the horrible places cause it's bad publicity
Amy has selective hearing it would seem, talk about being naïve then posting an incredibly naïve comment...irony at its best.
@@nathanwappett7306 she very clearly isn't saying he supports it, but rather that the analogy is a bad one because the two aren't really that comparable.
Should watch the yeonmi park podcast where she went on Rogan. You see the true side of what it is like to live there
PLEASE get Bald and Bankrupt on the podcast!
This needs to be highlighted
and Harald Baldr!
UPLOAD FULL EPISODES ON KZhead I DON'T HAVE SPOTIFY ATLEAST POST IT ON GOOGLE PODCASTS
Its free
you do know that spotify is free right?
They have a contract dumny
@@floralsparkle7125 I don't have spotify in my country
@@ethanrodway4797 wtf don't attack me I didnt know
Only just noticed Jack's Greek tattoos! He got any heritage from there or just likes the alphabet?
Simon got the wool pulled over his eyes here.
The North Korea experience will be the stage managed tourist experience and not the real deal.
Quick question maybe it’s obvious or a known thing but why does the happy hour not upload full podcasts like I mean I understand that the clips make people listen to the whole podcast but couldn’t the same be said for if they just uploaded the full podcasts on KZhead and surely KZhead views are also beneficial ?
We went Spotify exclusive a few months ago mate, this is now a highlights channel and the full audio is only available on Spotify!
I get it he might have had a nice time but North Korea can't be such an amazing place if loads of locals go to extreme lengths to escape
Lockdown hit simon hard
Do you (and I can not stress this enough) get what he's saying?
d'ya get wot I'm sayin
I love Simon ?!!
Simon is basically an unknown fugitive
"I can't imagine anyone ever thinking 'birthday? yeah, North Korea'" Funnily enough, my brother also went to North Korea and he pretty had that exact line of thought. (He didn't manage to actually go on his birthday because the timing didn't work out, but he sort of went as a birthday celebration anyway)
Get him on again interesting stories
I wouldn’t feel happy if I was living in my home town and starving to death.
The point he was making is the old saying ignorance is bliss, those people don't know anything other than their own little world. so they don't know what they're missing out on, it's all about perception isn't it.
@@---cf9bj What they do know is hunger, starvation and the constant threat of being sent to reprogramming camps. Nothing to do with ignorance.
@@katiethorne22 Obviously, there's both subjective and objective realities at play, objectively they're starving, subjectively they don't know anything else to compare it to.
@@katiethorne22 agreed
@@---cf9bj Anyone can compare 'starving' to 'NOT starving'. You don't have to be a rocket scientist for that. Anyway, I'm sure the really poor in that country have seen their fellow countrymen looking healthier and fatter than they are. They might not have much to compare their lives to, but they are not stupid !!! Stop trying to be a smart arrrs with your objective and subjective bs.
i love that jack has tattoes in greek
telling us that the tour guides were happy... lmao, no shit. the tour guides get paid loads and have their families accomodated for if they are good at their job, which is providing a false perception of what north korea is like. silly imo.
Get vagrant holiday or shiey on the podcast they both do free travelling videos by freight trains and basically live off grid around Europe it’s very cool imo would be good stories
Vagrant wouldn’t do it. Great content, but he’s basically anonymous.
@@lylecatcliffe they can wear a mask or something
Nice vids jack
This podcast is underrated
@@rayyan26 what u going to do
@@rayyan26 was addressing his vids as a whole so don't cry
@@rayyan26 lol why r u chattin wen u released a fake giveaway lmao im dead..
@@curtzzy336 when and what are you talking about