My North Korean Holiday: The Funniest / Worst Place on Earth?
2024 ж. 19 Нау.
2 247 877 Рет қаралды
An unstable Soviet dictatorship, notorious for human rights abuses and known to be developing nuclear weapons, is probably the last place most people want to visit on holiday. But one travel agency, specialising in ‘danger tourism’, regularly organises trips in North Korea for tourists keen to meet ‘the last Soviets’. We join a group of three and travel around the country. Keen to experience first hand the realities of life in a totalitarian state, we even try to escape the official tour guide...
The porter wasn't trying to exercise his authority. He was trying protect you from authority.
And himself. I imagine if someone gets out on your watch it is bad news for you
No, mate. He was trying to protect his entire family from authority.
@@brotherben4357you have to wonder how many people starved, were harmed, punished and even lost their lives purely because of this documentary. Not hundreds, probably not even dozens, but people were, and only because they wanted to make this documentary, which really isn’t all that informative, ground breaking or interesting.
North Korea reminds me of George Orwell’s 1984
@@kjova251 Absolutely 👍🏻 You’re right !
The woman who directs the non existant traffic is so surreal and saddening to me.
Yeah me too ...imagine what type of life that would be .
That’s what really got to me.
Um verdadeiro experimento social em macro proporção!
23:40 yes...
A lot of the stuff in NK is all staged by the government. I like the video, somewhere on you tube, where the people in a car dealership are actors playing the role of people who want to buy cars.
No phones in sight just people starving in the moment.
I Believe this film was made in 2010. Still a funny joke!
This video is a just a liiiiiiiiiitle bit late to the party... Edit: 8:10 so much for keeping Henri's identity hidden--Great job.
damn 😱
that blond guy looks like a Bond villain
lol tellement vrai !
I went to the Soviet Union in the 80's the local guide for the foreigners was a real sketchy guy too. Think about it. Who takes a job like this and why.
@@HYDRA_MARK_VI Maybe he is Mads Mikkelsen's brother.
@@mikethemike232oui ! Ou Alan Rickman dans Die hard ! (Piège de cristal)
he has Macron's voice im ded
This video is older than I first thought. At 29:49 you see a statue of Kim Il Sung, but in 2012, that statue was replaced by two statues: one of Kim Il Sung and one of his son and successor, Kim Jing Il, who had died in 2011. Also, I googled and found out that the North Koreans sunk that South Korean navy ship in March 2010, and the narrator in the video mentions that this event took place recently. And later there is a reference to Kim Jung Il as the current ruler. So, this video must be around 14 years old. It's still an interesting video, and admittedly not much changes in North Korea, but I would have appreciated your giving the correct date of this video in the description. It is really misleading to only say that the video was uploaded 2 weeks ago. At first I thought I was looking at something much more recent.
Ironically.... thats propaganda
You can also see on some shoots that they use actual film rolls in the cameras.
Yes, this is old video, watched it about 5 years ago I think.
Many who have filmed there never release their video at the same time, but wait several years.
@@marwerno Some do and some don't. I wonder if using film makes it easier to get photos out of the country or if they force you to develop all film before leaving.
Henri knew exactly how to behave to avoid having his vacation “extended”
19:04 "... on the penalty of having to extend our stay for several month..." This is hilarious! What a way of telling someone "shut it or you go to jail!"
This is pretty sobering how good we have it in the free world of the west. I was born on a former Soviet satellite state, and while I left pretty young I do remember the hardships including the shortages of food till 1990.
The lady directing the invisible traffic is exactly how I felt 75% of my Army career when I wasn't deployed
And they try and make out we’re so different ! There’s just more tinkly bells and sparkly bits to distract us in the west , it’s as much of a fckn totalitarian state! I quite liked the lack of constant consumer shite and corporate advertising being shoved down their throats over there !
Yeah serving the dprk must've been tough
That's what my husband said. It was painfully boring.
Il n'y a pas d'obésité ou de personnes qui passent 24 heures devant un smartphone ou un ordinateur.
@@user-ct8re8xo5z Ah donc tout va bien alors 😅
I used to be a tour guide in a country under a dictatorship. If you live in a regular country and visit one of those, please be aware of this: the degree of participation of hospitality workers in the oppression can range from being totally brainwashed and ignorant of the truth, to 100% being willing to help the regime to dupe tourists with their version of history. Either way, those poor people hope to make a little money or benefits by having access to foreign tourists, but they're also subject to heightened scrutiny by the regime. So, never forget you have all those liberties, but they will stay behind living in hell. Did you notice that the girl in the museum was never by herself? She and the group guide were very much keeping track of each other's actions. Therefore, please, be wise and learn the evil ways of dictatorships without implicating locals into violations of their rules, they could lose everything, livelihood or even life, by not sticking to the script
As someone who's lived in a communist state, I can confirm everything you've written. People in the west simply can not comprehend how opressed and inflitrated the people of NK are. They can not understand, that the state raises people to snitch on one another because it's beneficial to do so and it also draws attention away from you as you show you're a good citizen. There will be those who actually believe in their system as they never saw any other, and there will be those who just want to live in "peace" and will do whatever it takes to make their life a bit better. And in the end? The system will simply kill you should you look at wrong person at a wrong time. It's visible in this film that a significant number of people from the "hospitality" divisions are terrified of having contact with foreigners. Because they know a single word can be harshly judged by the state with long lasting and dire consequence for them. It's sad there are still places like this in modern world, but people from the outside need to understand what they're looking at.
Exactly what I was thinking. Keep your western version of history and events to yourself regardless of how outlandish the claims may be. You can't change their world for the better, and if anything you're more likely to get them killed by doing anything besides smiling back, nodding and enjoying the show.
@@Lex1uth3r I was thinking the same thing. Its rather ignorant to go somewhere like North Korea and complain and scoff. Part of the allure is seeing the shocking circus show in person.
And lucky you now you live it up hopefully your children will have a future to me it looks like the ruling class from DAVOS will have your children eat bugs and live under the night sky if the house prices keep going up, by the way, I grew up in a Communist country too and wasn't that bad let see no homelessness, no illegal drug use, everybody had a job and could bring up a family, free medical care, free hospitals, three weeks paid holidays every year, free education if you chose to, the funny thing is the country I live in now had most of these things before the collapse of Communism in Eastern Europe but slowly they all went away including with a lot off so-called rights and freedoms so give it a break with the bull s**t
@@chitskirits That's so nice! Let me list some of the great things in communist states you somehow forgot to mention: 1) People getting beaten up by regular police on a daily basis. Because you're trash and in communicm nobody tries to pretend you're not. 2) People getting locked up for criticizing the state. Well... if you were too stuborn to get the message, you'd eventually dissapear and many did. The state security police was VERY effective on what they did. 3) Not being able to leave your country because normal people wouldn't get a passport in the first place, but if they did you'd still need valid (state beneficial) reason to travel anywhere. Hell, in some communist paradise states you weren't able to leave your city or village without approval! 4) Empty store shelves and bacis food products like meat being rationed, but hey... we got oranges once per year for Christmas! 5) Indeed there was no risk of being unemployed, because if you didn't get a job? You'd be forced to take one and the state made sure you worked. 6) Money you earned was pretty much worthless, especially when it came to products made outside of your own communist paradise. And let's not mention real technology, because whatever was considered "current" was out of your reach, and outdated stuff still cost a fortune. 7) While talking about fortunes? You could have billions, but unless you got a "talon" for being a good citizen? You'd never be able to buy a new car, washing machine or TV. Because those were available in such small quantities, that it was laughable. 8) And if you managed to get a car? Chances were you weren't using it because of the fuel shortages. I do remember my father being woken up by our neighbour in the middle of the night, because he was a fireman and was informed that the petrol station got just supplied. So he'd have to go, because in the morning there would be no more gas left and only the state officials knew when the next truck with petrol would come in. So you know what? I'll take eating insects over your beloved communism. I've been there, did all of the above and have nothing but contempt for totalitarian regimes and people who try to glorify them. Just like you.
"There are gambling machines but no jackpot" that just sums up the totalitarian weirdness of North Korea.
13:47 she smiled so nicely then immediately stopped when she was told to leave . absolutely horrible
The sad thing is that visitors that try to dodge their minders and do things they weren’t meant to do, ends up with the guides getting punished for not doing their jobs
yeah its cuz of their stupid egoism, i know that they just want to show us more footage of nk but thats not a reason to get the guides killed
Yeah, I agree, and it doesn't really prove anything. I would like to ask some less pointed questions though and act the clueless foreigner, like what did they think of the Americans fighting Japan. It would be interesting to see their answer while not forcing anyone to get in big trouble.
The sad thing is a government assigning “guides” to make sure tourists don’t go to places they don’t want them to go, or take pictures of things they don’t want them to take pictures of.
@@Ravenwolf_Gaming For sure. But nothing anyone can do to change that except the people in power.
Exactly. When I was there a few years ago, my group was really good. However, I've heard lots of stories about people disobey the guides and then a few days later that guide isn't there and none of the locals will acknowledge that they ever existed. If you don't want to follow the rules then don't go. You went there voluntarily knowing it's incredibly messed up. Don't make things worse for the people there by acting like an ass.
I can’t just help thinking that the tourist were soooo reckless. They were pushing the boundaries really hard with their questions. People were arrested for less around there 😂
I think their saving grace is that they're not Americans 😅
Just going to North Korea is soooooooo reckless. People have been shot to death for less around there. They're lucky they got out alive. Good thing no one asked the question does the leader "poop".
@stage055definitely reckless… brave but reckless.
I know. Especially when they were honoring the brutal dictator with flowers and bowing like devout worshipers. Really boundary pushing
@stage055 Last thing I would ever do is give these coward tourists any type of credit for so ignorantly touring NK as if it’s a game. They were willingly used as pawns and looked like privileged morons doing it. Such an offense to the people who have no way out except near certain death
That old woman cleaning the stones being asked to leave just broke my heart. I really hope she's doing okay these days...
She has the same status as the people washing the autobahns. The same thing starts in US and Califormia + NY with the minimal wages.
I'm more baffled at "she's cleaning stones." WHY?!?!?
Plot twist: she didn’t make it
It seems as though perspectively, the old woman has been promoted to breaking rocks into much smaller rocks.
@@kraanz Well in Poland in the communism era (that is still here as we have socialist is-real-aelites here still - we had the grass being painted green so it would look better that dry one - really, they were painting grass green (instead of watering it prior) - simply the work force was so cheap that they could do anything just not to drink alcohol as the judeao-christan ideology allows (drinkink vodka) - painting grass was real! Why not clean the stones then...
The final video shot taken is really profound….a closed gate to the enlightened world only giving a tiny glimpse of an unenlightened one…… very profound indeed.
27:57 "Filming is forbidden"... immortal cameraman continues filming.
he isnt filming ,he is recording , no one used film for decades
cameraman never dies.
Some viewers were able to glean that this was made in April of 2010. The exact dates of the trip ought to have been stated in the video itself or else at least given in the description. Maybe the channel could add a pinned comment with more information.
Taking film using a Nikon? Is that to get around the checks on digital photos. Or is this very old footage??
@@girlsdrinkfeckone guy is shooting with a film camera on the ferris wheel
That guard at 52:00 getting real with them and being like "we have to walk back or they'll kill me" -- that's scary.
I hope he is doing well
@@_vla how could he?
He was easy to see and therefore recognizable, I sincerely hope that he is doing well.
@@_vla They probably watched this video also and I could see him getting in trouble for saying that.
@@_vla the maker of this video is a pure narcissist to put that man's life in danger by posting this video
The porter didn't seem to be doing it out of authority, rather he seemed genuinely afraid of the reporters getting in-trouble for leaving
He would likely be punished too.
The seeping sarcasm in this narration is brilliant
The woman cleaning glass off the road after an accident. How do they manage to have a traffic accident with five lane boulevards and only three busses at any given time?
Maybe someone lost it and acted deliberately. Another possibility would be a collapse due to malnutrition. Someone could've simply dropped a glass container or similar.
You're a cutie.
Maybe the lack of safety in addition to ancien transportation that lead to brake failure. It can also be the malnutrition
They ran out of break pads for the cars in 1962. ;-)
Staged accidents.
This was filmed in 2010. The owner of the channel should have said this in the notes, in my opinion. Don't be fooled into thinking you're viewing something new just because it was uploaded yesterday.
The fact Kim Jong-il was the leader and it latter says King Jong Un was set to replace him kind of gives it away. That said, i doubt much has changed in North Korea since then nor will it for decades to come.
Wouldn't make any difference in my opinion, infact after 25 years, one can reupload this and say its failrly new, wouldn't change anything in North korea..... its fucked up
the camera quality show clearly that this is old
Thanks for confirming my suspicions. In the first 30 seconds I could tell that this seemed a bit dated.
Well, I bet nothing has changed in North Korea. They keep things the same, always.
This was some awesome footage, felt so surreal to watch. I wonder if anything bad happened to the guide who made the neck chopping motion
Props for getting the secret video's out, that takes some real balls.
18:21 USS Baltimore was never in Korea. She was in the US from 1950-52 and the Mediterranean in 1953. She was never sunk. She was decommissioned in 1956
Its north korea what can you expect.
That is just a detail. To insane people, if the government says the Baltimore is sunk, it was damn well sunk.
Judge not lest ye be judged.
You're right
Correct. Here is what really happened: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Chumonchin_Chan
remarkable upload. despite the original age of the documentary, i'm still grateful.
I love how they decided to translate only some of the documentary while leaving in entire scenes of someone speaking French directly into the camera without even adding subtitles 🙃
Oh there were plenty of subtitles. In French.
I know exactly which part you're talking.. I'm speaking french and she's saying they're so closed-minded, and basically complaining about not having (for herself) internet and tv... kind of a client complaining about the costumer service she's having.
@@valeriebeauchamp2263 31:10 ? Isnt she more like complaining about how the people are so detached from reality and dont even notice it themselves. And that this dillusional mindset might keep running the country of North Korea for years to come?! I put the french subtitles in google translate and she is not complaining about internet or tv there ^^ - but maybe we are talking different parts of the video.
The conversations held during filming make this film feel much more like a suicide mission.
No
not only the conversations but also behaviour too, going out to meet the locals and get angry that you have to delete photos and complain about statues, these idiots forgot that north korea is a dictatorship and this could mean the death of them and also the guides. it shows how disrespectful some tourists can be even in a dictatorship
@@xrazzr1 A dictatorship is not a foregone conclusion. All these things are open to interpretation.
I felt like their lives were on the line.
@@HowManyHintsDoYouNeed same! i kept thinking why ask that? why do things you know aren't allowed? it felt more like a horror than a documentary...
There’s not a single chance that “electrified” fence is actually powered 😂. The museum made for tourists didn’t even have powered lights
I also wonder that.
They would easily be able to hear if it was.
That's where the power is prioritized tho.
@@carneasadaburrito you can't hear an electric fence
Even if it was powered it would be useless
I prefer Cuban communism to North Korean. The warmer climate makes the starvation much more relaxing. Nobody likes to shiver through the hunger pangs.
That's just dictators not communism. No matter how much you want to say it.
@PvtPooter Regardless, I would much rather starve on warm beach.
Communism can't be a dictatorship/authoritarian regieme by DEFINITION. It's power to the people, not power to one single person or political party. It also means no social classes, all citizens are equal, no upper class and working class. North Korea very much might be planned economy and strict autocratic control, but it ISN'T, by any definition, communism nor socialism. 😑
The robot "virtuoso" child playing the violin with a fixed grimace-smile on his little face was the most absurd, horrifying sight ever.
reminded me of that one season of American Horror Story
This video was made over 12 years ago, before Otto Warmbier was murdered. In 2020 North Korea closed it's borders to all tourists. I wonder what it's like in North Korea now.
I thought they opened a ski resort around 2020 and had invited tourists to come?
@@sterling557 I think there are still approved agencies from China that offer tours of NK. Not that anyone should be throwing their money at NK but still... the option is available.
warmbier got sick and died, there is no evidence he got "murdered" there are way more foreigners who die in america each year.
That's interesting
@@sterling557 Opened in 2016 actually, decent slopes but pretty expensive
That tour guide is scarier than any of the guards
You really think he is really a 'tour guide' ? He is fully trained ruthless loyal commando/spies assigned to babysit tourist. In seconds he can make your nose less than 1 inch from earth. Other guards/army are not so well fed. though.
100% this man is a military intelligence officer
Needs to be if you think about it. Takes a special kind of person to be in that position 😁NEVER stop the optimism ... OR ELSE so... be CrAzY 🤪
He is the good guy. He is protecting the tourists from the omnipresent military guards. A citizen taking photography, going to the amusement park when it is not their assigned day, and asking questions in a military museum, would be severely reprimanded and maybe sent to a work internment camp. He made certain the vile westerners returned to their capitalistic, cesspools of oligarchic rule and inequality. They must spread the word of righteous socialism and the holy Kim Jong-Un, the Dear Leader and savior of Korea and later the planet.
if you think about it this is a great job to have in a country like NK where most of people are basically laborers , he must be very well connected to get a job like this
Next time you complain that your Door Dash order is cold or food costs to much, remember these poor souls.
except food literally costs too much
Simp
Remember your amazon driver having to urinate in bottles and defecate in plastic bags to meet deadlines for their job that barely pays them enough to eat, while you are telling yourself that USA and their nonce president is so much better than North Korea.
@@madazzahatter9257 Get cheaper food then.
next time u complain about ANYTHING, remember every few seconds a kid is dieng because of hunger.
Imagine your job is brushing water on unused roads. Wild...
The French ladies with their most dramatic indignation at the Embroidery Museum’s exhibits is very telling. Complaining about embroidery is almost comic when you consider what they have witnessed, especially the incident where the poor elderly woman is being whisked away to be out of sight of the prying eyes of the foreigners. Clueless!
its poverty tourism. what do you expect.
It was really disrespectful actually. The Korean staff have no idea about our lives and probably have no idea why the tourists were so disrespectful towards their museum
She was being French
She wasn't cleaning the stones....unless you name her looking for new tender plant shoots to eat....
It's about expectations.
32:50 The scene with the children marching, and then showing the children on the playground, made me feel something. I can't quite describe it. I'm watching these kids so enthusiastic and genuinely joyful, but I know they are going to be forced to grow into all the adults you've shown so far that have that empty happy look on their face. That expression of "I'm smiling, please don't say anything bad to my boss", you don't see that on the kids. It makes it painful to even watch them playing like nothing bad is happening. I hope they have a better future in store.
Yes, and if the world is like that in London, imagine how other places must be.
I wouldn't have children if I lived there
Those kids are adults now, nothing changed.
You can rest easy knowing they already are adults (this was filmed in 2010)
As a French person I can tell you those two women were absolutely insufferable. And Henry too. Claude watching kids getting brainwashed and being like "Oh thats cute"
Yeah, they're the weird type. As a French myself, I can only concur
C'est des boomers de gauche. Quoi d'autres?😂
they didnt want to go to nk prison...
Le gros marxiste à la 8-6 qui est ébahi tout du long mdrr Qu'il aille se faire enfermer dans sa belle dictature rêvée; c'est sûr, lui son père il voulait apprendre l'allemand pour une raison à l'époque les boomers français 47:26 ce moment est lunaire
@@cvmashito S'ils sont "de gauche" ils sont aux anges car leur vision du monde selon eux est ici représentée : comme ils en rêvent. Censure : obligation : interdiction : soumission : obéissance etc
Wow. Thank you for making and sharing this. I feel pretty certain that the person or people filming this documentary quite literally risked his or her or their lives to take this footage. Had they been discovered, not only would their equipment and recordings have been seized and destroyed, but they themselves would have vanished without a trace. This is incredibly interesting, and horribly tragic. The viewer begins to understand the attitude held by certain world leaders that toppling these sorts of regimes is a moral imperative. Those of us living in relatively free parts of the world mostly have no idea just how good we have it.
George Orwell's 1984 in reality. Unbelievable
That country sure looks like someone mistook Nineteen-Eighty-Four for a manual.
@@0x777the west is currently on the path to Brave new world so not much better either.
My thoughts 😮
The west will soon look the same.. "Ordo Ab Chao"
@@christianriddler5063 Ok, who left the door open and let the conspiracy nutter in?
Photos are checked and deleted, yet the entire time there's a cameraman just chillin and getting absolutely everything. LOL
yes but secretly
@@SDE1994 There was little to no "secretly" sized video devices in 2012 that could produce that level of quality....
@@skvltdmedia 2012 not 1912... With enough budget you had the best espionage gear back in the day. If you were CIA you had micro-cameras to your disposal of better quality then your modern day smart phone
@@skvltdmedia There were even Hi-Def button cameras back in 2010. Dont forget, your eyes see at a 1 megapixel resolution. Everything above that is just a luxury that you may/may not differentiate under normal every day light conditions
@@YashaDecat Ah yea sure as if they would risking doing that and wouldn't be controlled first... these people are maybe poor but not dumb.
The electrified barbed wire fence along the shore is on the inside of the posts. That is designed to keep people in, not out.
Also it wouldn't have been an effective barrier to a landing party in 1944, much less in 2014.
Good eye.
I feel so sorry for this people, they have been so isolated by their gouvernment that have no idea what has happend in the world the last 50 years.
Bet they don’t have a fentanyl problem
Slots with no jackpots well that’s same at Hollywood Casino too !!! 😂
I'm sure there are a lot of parallels that can be made between N. Korea & The USA & the UK and other neoliberalist countries. Trump did nothing letting half a million of his people die during covid. And throwing all the poor onto the streets and off health care is such a sport for inhuman neolibs. I visited the soviet bloc in 1981 and see many parallels between that & the disaster that is N. Korea The crony capitalists are no better than the crony "communists". Power is evil.
They got you too!!! Im from Ohio, they get me all the time
@@KellAdk76the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over with no difference in results 😂
HAHA! I used to work there, and you're 100% right!
This one line is actually what has me quastioning the objectivity of the documentary. There is no way the tour guide would have told them this, so how would they know?
Those kids were heartbreaking.... So much of this was.
We do the same exact thing. In fact, when I was in elementary school, there were pictures of Presidents looking down upon the class room. American history class was all about our heroic founding fathers and the war against Britain. I learned to sing patriotic songs like God Bless America.....
@@tarstarkusz Doesn't make it right....
@@caveymoley Sure it does. Everyone does it.
@@tarstarkusz Not in the UK or many European countries.
@@grahamx8623 OF COURSE THEY DO!
I visited China back in '81 as a twelve year old. Reminds me of it . Everyone either in uniform or dark blue, grey or dark green. Only colorfully dressed were the young kids. We weren't shaperoned constantly though. We had" tourist money" that was worth more than the yuan.
those tour guides are definitely special agents
Lol, without a doubt.
23:42 - "Her movements are of those of a puppet gone mad" what an awesome line.
They never showed the whole road, so I'm calling a bullshit on this one.
I also found it profound. Dressed up beautifully like a doll and reduced to a traffic light.
@@klin1klinomThere is a lot of imperialistic propaganda in the video, not just communist propaganda.
@@A.X.76This happens all over the planet. Constables always dress in a nice uniform, even when performing the humble traffic duty. Have you not been to Toronto? Halifax, Ottawa, London, Manchester, Tokyo, New York, Washington, Boston, Mexico City?
Only the puppeteer can be mad, and he definitely is.
HUGE RESPECT for the people having the balls to film all of this and publish it. Never forget there are foreign agents of North Korea.
What foreign agents? The vast majority of them struggle to keep allegiance to North Korea when exposed to the 'real world' a.k.a. Not North Korea. And for a many of them, even threats to family and friends don't weigh enough for them to take the chance to flee ~ assuming there's any of those left for them, even. North Korea is a complete joke abroad and is not a real intelligence threat for any nation. However, while actually within its borders? You are fucking *insane* if you dare risk anything to displease them, including fruitless attempts to poke holes in the propaganda stream they feed you. What's it going to do? The tour runners will deny it or brush it aside, and you just look more and more worrying to the *real* handlers that are watching you both. What a fantastic way to ensure that both of you end up with an extended stay in an NK gulag - the tour giver also, most probably, for failing to quash your insubordinate line of questioning effectively. These French 'tourists' on the video are astounding me with how much they're risking their necks with useless questions and protestations while within the NK tourist system. Suicidal.
yeah but all they can think about is a cheeseburger bro. north Korea is like, whatever is less threatening than no threat at all. it's kinda sad. America could fart and half the continent would no longer exist. they are too easy of a target, that's why we put up with them. also like the guy says in the vid, we are in control over there.
Scary shit. I was really scared that those people were not gonna make it out of there onfee was though
Imagine! Everyone grows a set and doing something.
Careful commenting, they can get you
I enjoy the straightforward, staunch, unbiased opinion.
LoL
LMFAO at the fair, and the guy "filming the joy"
Watching the kids perform for the tourists is brutal. Imagine being that teacher and NEEDING your kids to obey. Imagine being the kid and NEEDING to obey. Imagine being the kid and watching the consequences of a failure to obey. Its utterly terrifying to imagine my own kid-- autistic-- in this world. It chills me to the bone.
Two grandsons with ASD and completely agree. Scary to think of them in the wrong hands.
Would children with autism be tolerated under this regime
Possibly in the countryside, but I imagine they'd be treated pretty harshly in school and definitely wouldn't be welcome at one of the elite kindergartens.
I would assume that those kids wouldn't the the light of their first birthday candle, as sad as it is. We had another regime like that, and those people their had to breath something unhealthy.
I thought of exactly the same thing. Would anyone care for autistic kids in such a society?
Nice job, Henri. I have never understood the flirtatious attitude towards totalitarian communism by many French.
The kids giving a performance at 37:00 starts getting in to real uncanny valley territory. They look like animatronics, the girl playing piano especially. Crazy.
It's crazy, people live more like we used to before civilisation - as we evolved to...
This is by far one of the best North Korea things I ever seen. Usually it’s the EXACT same footage. Just glad these tourists are ok. We appreciate you willing to break rules but my anxiety just watching it is insane and I don’t even know you. Truly appreciate your bravery
There is an old documentary from german railway enthusiasts. They paid a lot of money to travel with an old steam train through the countryside. They collected a lot of interesting footage apart from the propaganda stuff
@@gringo9170 where i find?
glad u got excited about footage that is 14 years old
@@vsenafilmsI will look it up but it's in German.
The title is "Hinter Dem Letzten Eisernen Vorhang Verbotene Bilder Aus Nordkorea". I just skipped through the video. It's from 2002 and maybe it's not as interesting as I remembered because this documentary already showed a lot of non touristy stuff.
The school reminds me of the “it’s a small world” ride at Disney, except that the children are real instead of animatronic.
They use real children at Disney? No substitutes?
You thought they were animatronics ??? LOL Third world kids , Walt had a deal to purchase them cheap
Their sad smiles had a plastic quality to them.
True happiness cannot be faked
You mean like how western schools put on shows and plays, once you've practiced in drama class? Oh the horrors of being taught drama and dance! Should look at your government and country, look how they got you thinking lol. Every government treats their citizens this way, you try stepping outside of societies rules.
36:38 "Exact replicas of MiG fighters" had me cracking up hard, something tells me its not exact
bro, the first time i memorized something consciously as a 2 or 3 year old kid was when i realized that stabilo fineliners are not meant to be planted in a row in a flower bed
French tourists book a tour to visit the worst dictatorship in the world, and are surprised that it's the worst dictatorship in the world. I'm shaking my head in disbelief.
Thats the French for ya. *Chuckles in German*
Yes, same as any other tourists. Nobody is ready for that.
@@AshleyMakovickova that's honestly peak french behavior. Trust me. i'm one of them.
Sami byli dyktatorami. Gdzie rządzili został bałagan, bieda, wojna: Haiti, Indochiny, Afryka Zachodnia
@@andrzejtomasik7740 Nope. When the French ruled there was peace, order and prosperity. After they left, war, chaos and poverty without end. Honest Africans themselves will tell you that.
18:20 The cruiser USS Baltimore (CA-68) was under decommission in 1950 and was recommissioned into the _Atlantic Fleet_ the year after. During the rest of the Korea war, she sailed around in the Mediterranean. Was decommissioned again for the last time in 1956 and was stricken from the register in '71 and scrapped the year after. In conclusion: The DPRK did not in fact sink the USS Baltimore.
I'm shocked I tell you. Shocked and surprised.
Your statement sounds like propaganda to me.
@@seeer3240 A running dog lackey of the imperialist American lie-mongerers!
@@seeer3240....but it's not. It is factual information. The truth. Propaganda is lies made to prop up a cult of personality. North Korea is all about one man, not one nation. I would much prefer to learn more about that poor North Korean woman that was washing the rocks then any of their selfish leaders.
@@seeer3240, why?
You guys are very lucky, you went on the very edge will all your tricky questions 😉
Well done Marianne driving in that place, yikes what a nightmare especially in Trudy amongst the trucks, cars, bikes etc, shame about your roof thing being damaged but that’s van life I guess, enjoy and stay safe!
Its crazy how spot on george orwell was about this place.
In the rest of the world was Aldous Huxley who nailed it.
@@sofazenexactly! With a huge touch of Orwell (newspeak, surveillance) as well
I assume you refer to Animal farm...
Omg, the scenes of the regimented children in the classrooms and performances were pretty terrifying.
@@creasunset Nice try Kim!
@@creasunsetthere’s regimented and there’s prison-like. The way these people are treated by authority is truly disturbing.
@@creasunset So what are you waiting for, move to North Korea then. And have fun. 🎉🎉
Little do they realize, mom or dad wear a pair of jeans, sing a pop song...they are all dropped into a camp. Estimated mortality rate.. 3 months.
@DavidMCammack This was filmed in 2010. The owner of the channel should have said this in the notes, in my opinion. Don't be fooled into thinking you're viewing something new just because it was uploaded yesterday.
Great journalism, keeps the masses amused away from the important things.
I would not test the limits in a place like that. It seems like they tried to make the lives of the guides difficult at every turn.
Absolutely. Totally oblivious to the fact they might be making the lives of the people there even more miserable by their actions.
Навпаки . Вони поводять себе як справжні туристи. Ніби не знаючи що вони в тоталітарній країні і типу щиро дивуються чому неможна. Все ок . І гіди якраз знають що робити в таких випадках. А коли людина постійно остерігається значить боїться і знає або думає щось не добре про цей режим. Гарно грають.
that's an extreme exaggeration, and suggests you wrote that before watching most of the video
That poor museum girl… what if she was imprisoned to prevent her from telling others about the sunken South Korean ship??
That's exactly what was going through my mind. @@rosalinda-305
As a professional classical musician, the most heartbreaking moment was seeing the violinist and pianist. All their movements were so precise and every moment of "expression" was so clearly programmed into the child. The horrific discipline placed upon those children make it so much clearer how much further the extremes of north korea are
horrific discapline? you are upset a child can play thre violin better than than you can. those children are amazing, such talent at such a young age amazing, i disagree with you. oh yeah because our children in the west or not out of control are they
@@network735I'm sorry, but you do not understand. The "talent" of these children will NEVER be realized. Even if one of these children actually has the innate gifts of a virtuoso, he or she will never be able to fully express it. The regime will rigidly control their existence, what, when and to whom they can play. Eventually whatever creative spark they had will be extinguished by the relentless pressure to conform. There will be very little room for creativity or innovation. This is a living death for any artist.
@@network735 They are dead... They are robots.
@@network735 I'm not a violinist, and I can play better those children, but that doesn't detract from the fact that these children are just FIVE years old. If you have ever tried to teach a five year old classical music at any capacity, you would understand the extremes one has to go to to squeeze out such results from a child so young and in such a short time. Every movement of physical "expression" was clearly performed by the pianist as was ingrained into her by her teacher, as if it were ingrained in the score. You are clearly not experienced in the field, so I wouldn't expect you to be able to differentiate the real from false in this regard, but there you go.
@jarrahtree5130 As a professional musician, you have a unique perspective of these children. To be a true artist, one must have freedom of expression. Otherwise, it is just a copy of some other artists work.
"exact replicas of MiG fighters" *kids bigger than the 'replica'*
That's quite disturbing. Especially the scenes in the Kindergarden feel so out of this world. But these "tourists" are very "special" as well...
These tourist are lucky they weren’t detained.
Being detained is the best that can happen to you in this case. There are a lot of options much much worse.......
anyone who actually visits north korea knows these "documentaries" are proropaganda at best.
@@Mae-nr7wr Dear Leader tells us so, and as we follow his visionary lead we will be propelled into appropriate socialism, as it should be comrade
@@UhtredOfBamburgh have fun thinking a documentary from 2010 is new
@@Mae-nr7wr I think there are enough defectors telling how fued up this country is...
The truth is the Porter could be severely punished and the people should not do that to him. He is trying to protect himself and likely his family. Failure in N Korea could bring execution! Fact!
Exactly. He was probably killed after this smug "journalist" released this.
Well, at 5:15 , surveillances cameras are also everywhere in Switzerland and as far as I know, UK is maintaining the world record of surveillance since years, isn’t it?
This documentary is as propagandistic as the North Koreans..
We are visiting as soon as the borders open! Can't wait to film some videos for our channel there!
Whats up with old North Korean documentaries being reuploaded and passed off as current? For the sake of posterity, please include a date in the description
@@busimagen The fact that it was uploaded 1 month ago with no acknowledgement of the original filming date in the title, description, intro or outro. A viewer with a knowing eye will be able to spot through certain things here and there and clues in the dialogue, but for the average person probably not. It's especially relevant when a country like North Korea is the subject, a place visually outdated.
If you watched the video you'd know it was made in 2010 you communist shill.
lol did you really think this quality footage was recent? MY WORD
This video is dated by the mention of French President Sarkozy, 2007 - 2012
Gotta demonize those countries that conflict with your ability to make wealth.
i cant get over the old french lady constantly going "so they dont have this?!!!" lmao what did you expect
you may notice several other repulsive traits she possesses.... and your repulsion is natural, yet you are not allowed to express it, lest you be canceled
She expected a minimum of necessary tools for the „normal“ daily life. It is totally normal to ask that question. You would’ve asked that as well if you were on her place!
You are not seeing druggies defacating on the streets like they have in California. Nor homelessness living in tents on the streets and under bridges in every state of the US.
@@elaine1034 Oh, that's because most of that is hidden. You can google child gangs in north korea - there is video footage of them, ganging up and intimidating people, but their all malnourished and trying to steal food - however, filming is forbidden, so footage is rare.
@@elaine1034 nah all's good where I'm at
5:21 Bonjour monsieur Bond, I've been waiting for you
I visited in 2015 for a month and it was an amazing place. Watching this brings back many memories 😅
Slot machine with no jackpot? Them dudes are on another planet! ZERO PERCENT CHANCE I would ever step foot in that country!
Yeah the dicator ship is but a minor issue but god forbid the gambling machine doesn't pay out
So you just watched this entire documentary and it was the slot machines that were a step too far for you?
@@TechGamesAU you guys missed the joke
This reminds me of HK back in the late 60s and early 70s. It is like traveling in a time machine. Imaging going back to your elementary school to see it the way it was when you were there....
World's biggest prison.
Henri has a weird fascination with all this.
Haha, I was raising my eyebrows a few times because of his behavior 😆
Simple, he's a communist.
Psychopath and serial killer.
Definitely sus
That's because he knows what will happen if you talk shit openly, they'll make you disappear. He went to Iran also so he knows how people of these countries work somewhat.
For anyone wondering, no, NK did not sink the Baltimore with torpedo boats. She was neither in the Pacific during Korean war, nor was she ever sunk. According to wikipedia "The actual battle involved the U.S. Navy light cruiser USS Juneau, the Royal Navy sloop HMS Black Swan and light cruiser HMS Jamaica. Together they destroyed several North Korean motor torpedo boats without loss or damage to themselves. Nonetheless, in 2023 North Korea named a North Korean People's Navy Sinpo-C class submarine Hero Kim Kun Ok after the North Korean naval leader who claimed to have sunk Baltimore on 2 July 1950." It is amazing how blatantly they can lie, but not so amazing at the same time when you consider the extent to which they control information within their country
*Imagine how that whole thing was cooked up.* /North Korea loses like 5 Ships in 17 Minutes one day. "Kim! You sink my battleship again! You too, Kim! And you! Stupid Kim!" "General Kim, Sir, you never teach us how drive battleship! We just steer & yell like my Chinese Aunt Suki does in her Camry!" "Get yourselves together, Kim, We will notify Great Leader that this was merely a prank & we ACTUALLY sunk 5 battleships from elsewhere!" "In 1950!" /Roaring applause. Promotions for everyone.
Hahaha
Nice try with the american propaganda
@@k1mpman how do you get youtube access in NK?
How could you get the videos without being caught or checked?
The South Korean Poses are hilarious. Bloody GI Joe poses
As old as this documentary is (2010) I can almost guarantee that NOTHING has changed in North Korea besides the dictator.
And I was wondering why that one of the tourists still had an old analogue camera with film rolls. Explains why
Probably not, but are the facts there. Probably.
same to same with Chlna
@@vindobonaificationDigital cams were already pretty common in 2010. He is either an analog enthusiast or he's pretty smart since your negatives on film cannot be immediately scrutinized like digital shots. That was my first thought.
And who are you that you have this insider knowledge?
These tourists are acting so recklessly and naively...the one blurred out dude at least knows how to play the game. What do they not understand about THEY CAN STOP YOU FROM LEAVING. If I was paid enough to go there, you BET I would act like I loved Dear Leader! 😄😬
You have to remember this was before that western tourist was jailed and eventually died because of simply taking a poster off a wall from his hotel. I think nowadays they would be much more cautious.
Yeah, when they were talking about him bowing to the statue and impressing the guides, I was like "Yes. That is how you should behave while you're there." This was obviously not his first rodeo. Keep your criticisms to yourself until you're out of NK.
My uncle Kenny fought in the Korean War. He never talked about it. This is a depressing indictment of how far we humans can be manipulated.
The narrator does such an excellent job.
I am shocked with the perfection of their French accent and vocabulary. Specially the women presenting the movie and doing the visit. She sounds French like she been living in France for 40years.
possibly educated in France, the rich/connected know there is no good education in NK
@@potatothorn the north korean presenters, down to the kids, seemed extremely trained. just to make good impressions. bet she studied french like her life depended on it
@@meatbleed right, could be that too/ plus they get a lot of practice with tourists// could be either way. their rich folks get a lot of european education/ like one of the only things we know about kim is he went to school in switzerland.
@@potatothorn Nor in France 😁😁 There's very very few french people who speaks english as well as that korean lady speaks french.
@gokuzawa268 I know americans who lives in France for 20+years and their French is not as good as theirs. It doesn't matter where they learned it. The way they speak is remarkable!
23:13 this scene gave me chills; as the sun rises, the haunting music echoes through and over the sterile urban environment that seemingly paused in time 60 years ago. Everyone gets up at the same time to start their day and not a single car on the streets with traffic controllers still doing their duties like they have become instruments of the state; no more significant than the very roads they stand on, robots that serve their makers, no longer human. What an alien world this is... inspiring for writers and artists like myself who enjoy world building in their work, but devastating when reality hits that we are not watching some kind of fiction, but rather real life with real people suffering. fantastic documentary.
And no crazies sleeping on the streets, smoking crack, deficating . . .of sorry, that's most American cities, not North Korea.
Welcome to a dystopian society, all governments around the world aspire to?
@@jerrybarnes6611 There's plenty, just buried 6 feet down.
@@jerrybarnes6611 Those are on the countryside, just famine.
Agreed, such depressing wake up call. A dystopian at it's peak.
"he had an Italian chef from Naples come over for several years" dude was kidnapped...I mean invited against his will
He was voluntold.
There are more people hating the US than you think, you know the US as a country of peace. Anywhere outside of it, its know as the state to start wars.
Are you assuming... or is that fact?
😊😊
He wasn't kidnapped, but his passport was taken away. He wasn't allowed to leave until his contract was over. On the other hand his pupils took extremely detailed notes of pizzas. They even measured the distance between olives. You wouldn't find so highly motivated pupils in any other country.
11:32 North Korean soldiers on their territory and Samsung equipment from South Korea in the background 😂
Fun Fact the USS Baltimore wasn't even in the Korean War Theater and only in the Pacific Fleet in 1955 (two years after the war ended). The actual battle involved in 1950a US light cruiser and british sloop and another light cruiser... none of them were sunk or received damage.
the entire bit on the inside of the school was fucking heart breaking. Knowing all those happy faces are already lost causes to the evil rule of a dictatorship.. With nobody coming to save them
Theyre lost due to western sanctions on a poor nation
If china didn't support them for some reason, basically the entire country would be gone by now.
That's what has been happening in America and Canada now with children being brainwashed in public schools.
Don't be sad, it's just propaganda made to tug at your heart strings and lead you to believe a false reality.
Enslaved minds that will never be free. So sad.
The narrator of this film is a legend 😂
I know this is from 2009 or 2010, but I'm seeing comments about Henry and his "fascination" or enthusiasm during the tours. But it is clearly mentioned at the start that Henry actually travelled to Iran before (and maybe other dictatorial countries). He knows how to 'behave' in those countries as a tourist. He's not in France, he's not behaving like a 'typical westerner' anymore; he was intelligent. You have to play the part, play the role. Be happy there, follow the rules, nod when ordered and asked to do things in specific ways, and congratulate them on their history. Maybe it's considered "boot licking" but in North Korea it's considered respect. It's not about Henry actually believing the things he said out loud, it's about showing a good face in front of the North Korean agent posing as a guide, and not being sent to a forced labour camp and never going back to France. The two other ladies, on the other hand (especially Jacqueline) risked a lot more by being "themselves" and openly complaining or showing impatience or disappointment in their voices and facial expressions; they were oblivious - for some reason - about the very fact that they were visiting North Korea, of all places on the planet.
23:45 the lady directing traffice with no cars with such enegry....wow
That’s because she wants her $2 a month income.
Freonsmurf❤that's a good name!
more passion more passion more energy
She knows she is being watched, and scored on her level of enthusiasm.
it's sad
It looks like this was North Korea 15 years ago, you can see from the statue of Agung Mansu Hill that only Kim Il Sung was there at that time.When the late Kim Jong Il died, his statue began to be kept next to Kim Il Sung in 2012
Oui c'est aussi ce que j'ai pensé : la vidéo date un peu, non?
Yes, this documentary has been reposted a bunch of times.
No it has to be much older right? The ancient rotting decor you see makes you feel it´s the 50´s.
its from 2010
The South Korea warship was attacked and sank in 2010 so yeah that is the right timing. They don't have those traffic women anymore as far as I know and invented a new amazing magical creation called the traffic light, only in north Korea that is for sure!