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‘Inside North Korea’ Tonight: Don’t Miss This One

A reader reminds me:  National Geographic Explorer is airing a special tonight at 9 p.m., “Inside North Korea.”  This program, done by Lisa Ling while traveling undercover, is not going to be the standard guided tour we’ve come to expect from the networks.   Do yourself a favor and read NGEO’s teaser.  This one looks good.

Update:   It is good.  Channel 109 on Comcast.

Update 2:   This was definitely one of the best NK docus I’ve seen, if for no other reason than  what it  says about  just how  skeptical you  should be about every piece of film that comes out of  North Korea.  “A State of Mind” received a dishonorable mention.  I can’t be certain, but believe I have  met the soldier who told the horrible story of his escape, last April at the Korean War Memorial.  If I’d known then what I know now, I would have kept the guy’s address and stayed in touch with him. 

I think the kicker had to be seeing the reactions of people  whose sight was restored by the Nepalese doctor.  Whom did they thank?  Why, the portrait of His Porcine Majesty, of course!   One woman —  and I am absolutely not making this up —  promised  the Dear Leader’s icon  that she would  to work harder in the salt mines.  One old guy promised the icons that he’d thank them by slaughtering all of the evil Yankees, and on some ceremonial level,  he looked like he meant it, like the “two minutes’ hate” in “1984.”  You still couldn’t help pitying the whole joyless, shriveled lot of them. 

It’s hard to say how much of this is fear, how much is Kool-Aid,  and how much is genuine.  Most likely, it’s a complex and partially unfathomable blend of all three.  This crap would have made no sense to me a decade ago.  But since then, I’ve lived in South Korea, and I’ve seen some South Koreans act almost as wacky even without the fear of ending up in Camp 22.

Update 3:   And Lisa Ling.  What is not to like about her, on any level? 

Update 4:   The Chosun Ilbo has the story.  How will Koreans react?  My very apolitical wife was visibly moved by the stories of the defectors, and  absolutely flummoxed by the behavior of the North Koreans.  Unfortunately, there was no info on when the show will be broadcast or rebroadcast in Korea.

22 Responses

  2. Eastern US time. I regret that I don’t have times for other areas, and would suggest you check at the link I provided.

  4. I do not think I have National Geographic where I am right now. But if they did, that 9pm Monday slot will be a three way tie between 24, Heroes, and this. Hope someone posts it on the internet later.

  7. i don’t have a TV at home, but i wish i did for this one. just from reading the teaser, you can’t help but wonder how in the frigging world did State department — not to mention Bush himself — get to a point where they may negotiate getting this regime off the terrorism watch list and even send them loads of humanitarian assistance? what a profound disappointment Bush is turning out to be.

  8. If it is a good special, $10 says you will be able to get it off emule within a month…

    You can get some of the other well-known NK human rights documentaries there last time I checked…

  11. Joshua said, ‘“A State of Mind” received a dishonorable mention.’

    Was any rationale provided as to why?

  12. It was shown as depicting North Korea as, quote, “a workers’ paradise.”

    My personal caveat here is that I haven’t seen the film, although Don Kirk did.

  13. I re-affirm my comments that were made at the link cited above.

    I consider the film to be in the ‘must see’ category.

  14. Point taken regarding copy rights. However, I was able to watch a 45 min doc on youtube about the children of NK recently. I presume some time has to lapse before a doc can be youtubed.

  15. My guess, and I’m no lawyer though OFK is, would be that the person who put the document on You Tube figured he/she was unlikely to be sued for doing so.

    Thought like that have crossed my mind from time to time…

  16. Ok, just found out that YouTube now has 18 mins worth of clips of this documentary. Best bit : a visitor wants to take a pic of KIS statue whilst lying flat on the floor – so the whole statue can fit in the shot. The reaction of the minder is priceless.

  18. My apolitical Korean wife can’t stomach watching stuff like this. She tends to obsess on things that interest here (kind of like me) but that means she tends to avoid things that depress or irritate her (unlike me). She couldn’t handle more than a few minutes of the CNN-aired documentary last year…

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