Holidays in the Axis of Evil (Short Version) ? North Korea Tx Date: This script was made from audio tape – any inaccuracies are due to voices being unclear or inaudible 00.00.00 George W Bush Axis of Evil! Axis of Evil! Axis of Evil! 00.00.04 Ben Anderson A year ago George W Bush branded six countries as the world’s most evil. 00.00.09 Music 00.00.11 Ben Anderson I wanted to explore the enemy territory. 00.00.14 Music 00.00.19 Ben Anderson So I took a holiday through the Axis of Evil. 00.00.23 Music 00.00.27 Title Page holidays in the AXIS OF EVIL 00.00.31 NORTH KOREA 00.00.38 Ben Anderson This is the last and oldest Cold War frontline in the world. It’s the absurdly named de-militarised zone; one of the most heavily armed places on earth. 00.00.48 American GI Checkpoint Bravo’s manned twenty-four hours a day and regulates all traffic in and out of the de-militarised zone. 00.00.52 Music 00.00.56 Ben Anderson We took a tour from the South. We had an American GI as our guide. This is the line that has divided Korea since the end of World War II when Russia occupied the North, America the South. 00.01.08 Ben Anderson Both countries then put puppet regimes in power. In 1950, after numerous incursions by both sides, North Korea invaded the South. 00.01.17 Ben Anderson The ensuing Korean War lasted three years and cost two million lives. 00.01.21 Music 00.01.25 Ben Anderson No peace treaty was ever signed and technically the two sides are still at war. 00.01.30 Aston BEN ANDERSON When you read articles about this place you, you’re told that the tension is palpable and I thought that was just writers trying to sound like tough guys but we’re being watched by at least two North Korean soldiers now. And you can really feel the tension. 00.01.45 Ben Anderson And the Americans have had some of their fellow soldiers killed; they’ve had soldiers killed. So, you get the impression that all of them are just itching to have a go at the others. 00.01.54 American GI Ok, ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the United Nations Command Checkpoint Three. On this ridge line, that’s the northern boundary of the DMZ, which is approximately two thousand metres from where you’re standing at right now. Over here on the left hand side of the tree line you’ll see what looks like some large white letters. That’s actually a North Korean propaganda sign. Once translated from …to English it roughly states; “Our general is the best general”. 00.02.14 American GI Now if you look straight out from that, that’s another Korean sign and roughly that one says; “Yankee, go home”. 00.02.19 Ben Anderson In about four or five days we’re going to do the tour of North Korea to find out what life is really like in there and then we’re going to film what they present to us as life in North Korea, which is very different, I think. 00.02.29 American GI They think that BMW is manufactured by North Korea. 00.02.33 Ben Anderson Really! 00.02.34 American GI They think that BMW is actually manufactured in North Korea. There’s a lot of things that they have no clue. See that radio tower? 00.02.41 Ben Anderson Yeah. 00.02.41 American GI That’s the city of Kaesong and those radio towers you can see, three more over there, they’re actually jammers to block all of our transmissions, our radio and our television transmissions. So that they have no idea of what actually goes on in the outside world. So I’m sure when you get there you’re going to see a big difference, what’s going on. Kind of like Hitler burning the books. 00.03.04 Will Any message for the North? 00.03.06 American GI No. 00.03.08 Ben Anderson There have been plenty of skirmishes along this line. The most famous was in 1976 when American soldiers used an axe to chop down a tree that was obscuring their vision. North Korean soldiers approached, a fight broke out and two Americans were killed by the very same axe they were using to chop the tree. 00.03.26 American GI Here, this man, he’s kind of hard to see but he’s actually fighting off seven North Korean soldiers. This is the helmet of Captain Arthur Boniface who was killed in front of his own vehicle. And here it includes a North Korean soldier wielding an axe at First Lieutenant Mark Barratt, who was later killed. 00.03.41 Music 00.03.43 Ben Anderson My journey to North Korea was going to be controlled by government appointed minders who would not allow me to meet any ordinary North Koreans. So I travelled to Seoul to meet defectors who had completed the long and hazardous journey to the South. At least a quarter of a million have fled across the Chinese border; only the lucky few make it to the South where they are finally given refugee status. 00.04.05 Ben Anderson There’s a couple of North Korean refuges here who will talk to us but don’t want to appear in front of camera. I don’t know if they’re worried about their own safety or the safety of their families back in North Korea. 00.04.14 Ben Anderson It seems there are very few entire families escaped and even when families escaped they have distant family members like cousins back at home, even they can be arrested and sent to prison for a, a short sentence in prison is ten years. And the prison camps sound brutal. There’s hardly any food, forced labour, and public executions regularly. I think there’s about two hundred thousand prisoners in the north east of North Korea at the minute. 00.04.40 Ben Anderson This would be the only time during my trip I could talk openly to North Koreans. 00.04.45 Ben Anderson I’m just trying to get a sense of what, what daily life is like there. You know, what are the hardships? What are the dangers? 00.04.52 Woman Voice over They educate you from the moment you are born. The moment a child utters a word they start him on ideological training, making him say; ‘thank you Dear Leader’ and ‘thank you Great Leader’ all the time. So they can’t think for themselves. 00.05.08 Ben Anderson In the mid-1990s a tragic mixture of natural disaster and state failure led to a famine that killed between one and three million people. 00.05.18 Man Voice over North Korea is a country where people die of starvation. Can you imagine that? People say; ‘may the Great Leader live ten thousand years’. Even those dying of starvation say it. When you go to North Korea you’ll only get to meet those saying; ‘long live the Great Leader, Father General’. However, everywhere you cannot look would be full of corpses. North Korea is a society where human bodies are stacked up like firewood. I couldn’t think because of the brainwashing. I believed that the hunger resulted from the American economic sanctions as I’d been told. 00.05.56 Ben Anderson I was travelling with Will, my producer, armed only with a small camera. We had been told to expect heavy questioning and possibly even a strip search upon arrival in North Korea. 00.06.06 Ben Anderson Korean guide book, which includes a big section on South Korea. Take that in? 00.06.11 Will Have you underlined anything or…? 00.06.12 Ben Anderson Yeah. I’ve highlighted stuff. Oh they’ve mentioned the famine here and I’m not sure we can mention the famine to our guides. And certainly it’s got pictures of South Korea in it which could be seen as very dangerous because they show a quite a successful, well-fed South Korea. Now look, market places full of food, that’s probably not a good picture to show North Koreans. 00.06.37 Will Enough journalists have got in before posing as tourists, with tourist cameras. 00.06.41 Ben Anderson Yeah and some journalists have even said that it’s a little cat and mouse game where they kind of know you’re a journalist, it’s just a case of them letting you take pictures of what they want and you trying to get pictures of what you want. 00.06.51 Music 00.06.56 Ben Anderson I left the bustling and prosperous streets of South Korea expecting a grim faced and hostile reception. 00.07.02 Music 00.07.06 Graphic “North Korea is the Road-Kill of History” Condaleeza Rice, US National Security Advisor 00.07.12 Will Can I have a welcome to? 00.07.16 Ben Anderson Say… 00.07.17 Mr Pak Welcome to, welcome to Korea. Welcome to Korea. Yes. 00.07.24 Ben Anderson Our two guides were Mr Pak and Miss Pak – no relation. They would accompany us in our every waking hour for the next seven days. 00.07.31 Mr Pak Okay, this is your driver Mr Lee Jong Han. Mr Lee. 00.07.34 Will Mr Lee, okay. 00.07.37 Music 00.07.40 Graphic We Advance Confidently along the Socialist Road Songs of Korea 00.07.50 Ben Anderson In just one line of his Axis of Evil speech, George Bush condemned North Korea as a regime arming itself with missiles and weapons of mass destruction whilst starving its citizens. 00.08.01 Ben Anderson Last year only one hundred and fifty western tourists came here. With no Internet, mobile phones and only state run media, North Korea has rightly been described as ‘the hermit kingdom’. 00.08.13 Ben Anderson The first thing you notice is just how quiet it is everywhere. I mean there’s literally, I don’t know, ten cars, I mean I’m looking over half the city and I can probably see ten cars. In addition to that, along the riverbank, I can see at least fifty or sixty people fishing. And even on the very carefully controlled and mapped out drive from the airport to the hotel, which took us past all the great and huge monuments and landmarks, we saw dozens and dozens of people fishing and quite a few people just crouched down going through the grass, presumably looking for a piece of grain or rice, I don’t know any scraps of food. 00.08.57 Ben Anderson I’m saying I’m not paranoid and I’m relaxing but I haven’t made the break out of a whisper yet; in my own hotel room! So, I don’t think that’s quite true. We’ve been told by quite a few people, most people we’ve asked actually, that it’s not safe to talk in the hotel rooms because they’re bugged. The highlights of the room include an empty fridge and a TV, which has got one channel only. Oh, had one channel! 00.09.24 Music 00.09.26 Graphic We’ll Win Victory Flying the Flag of the Supreme Commander The Korean People’s Army Chorus 00.09.34 Ben Anderson North Korea is desperate to engage with the outside world and it soon became clear that our tour was going to be one long advert for North Korea and its heroic soldiers, factory workers, farmers and intellectuals. 00.09.46 Ben Anderson I was taken to the statue of North Korea’s President, officially called Great Leader Comrade Kim Il Sung. And for a few US dollars was told to lay flowers at his feet. 00.09.56 Miss Pak Oh Mr William don’t forget to take the full picture of the statue. Okay, don’t cut the, don’t cut it in half. This is the most sacred place. Yes. 00.10.07 Music 00.10.12 Ben Anderson The Great Leader ruled from 1948 until his death in 1994 and over two and a half billion dollars was spent on ceremonies and monuments in his memory. 00.10.23 Ben Anderson He holds the office of President eternally making North Korea the only country in the world with a dead President. 00.10.29 Ben Anderson Is Kim Il Sung just a human being, or more? Greater? 00.10.33 Miss Pak Of course he is a human being, but he is highly…what? 00.10.40 Ben Anderson Developed? 00.10.40 Miss Pak Yes, I think. He is not God but I think he is very hard working for the people and he do everything for the people. 00.10.56 Ben Anderson And the people are still working hard for him. An army of volunteers keeps his statue spotlessly clean and when a bird threatens to blemish the great leader there is panic down below until the bird is finally chased away. 00.11.10 Ben Anderson After three years of official mourning for the Great Leader, his son, Kim Jong Il, was declared the country’s Dear Leader, creating Communism’s only ever dynasty. 00.11.19 Ben Anderson Kim Il Sung was called the Great Leader and Kim Jong Il is called the Dear Leader? 00.11.24 Miss Pak Yes. 00.11.26 Ben Anderson Does that mean he is less than his father? 00.11.29 Miss Pak No, that does not mean… 00.11.31 Ben Anderson Just different. 00.11.32 Miss Pak Yes. 00.11.32 Music 00.11.33 Graphic Defend the Party with Arms The Korean People’s Army Chorus 00.11.43 Ben Anderson The Victorious Fatherland Liberation War Museum was the first of many I would be taken to. Here I would learn that the Great Leader single-handedly defeated Japanese imperialism in 1945, with no mention of World War II 00.11.56 Music 00.11.58 Guide This picture shows the invincibility of the Korean people united strongly once the Great Leader, General Kim Il Sung who defeated imperialism, US and Japan. 00.12.12 Music 00.12.17 Ben Anderson In 1950, after finally getting support and permission from Russia and China, General Kim Il Sung invaded the South in an attempt to reunify Korea. 00.12.26 Guide In this room and next room you can see how the US aggressors occupied South Korea and prepared the aggressive war against the northern half of the republic. 00.12.41 Ben Anderson If the attack came from the South first, how come the North made so much progress into the South? 00.12.47 Guide Oh, I will explain later. 00.12.48 Ben Anderson Okay. What were the Russians and Chinese doing in North Korea? 00.12.54 Guide I will explain later. 00.12.56 Ben Anderson Okay. 00.12.59 Will What do you make of it all then? 00.13.01 Ben Anderson Well, every time I ask a fairly obvious question we’re told we haven’t got time or we’ll talk about it later on. 00.13.09 Guide These are captured American soldiers, captured guns. 00.13.14 Will From? 00.13.15 Guide The US armies. How can you express this was captured weapons, in other words. 00.13.20 Will Yeah. No, no, that’s right, captured weapons. 00.13.23 Guide Captured weapons is right? 00.13.24 Will Self Yes. 00.13.26 Guide And this was from British, British armoured car. 00.13.31 Ben Anderson And what biological weapons did they use? 00.13.33 Guide So many insects. So many biological weapons. 00.13.36 Ben Anderson They dropped insects that had diseases in them. 00.13.39 Guide Yeah insects, yeah. So many insects; flies, grasshoppers. 00.13.46 Ben Anderson And they captured them and dropped them on North Korea? 00.13.50 Guide They dropped all these insects on the lines of North Korea. 00.13.54 Music 00.13.59 Graphic Song of Annihilation through Encirclement Songs of Korea 00.14.12 Ben Anderson The showpiece of the museum is a huge revolving panoramic painting of a famous battle. 00.14.18 Ben Anderson The unshaven alcoholics are the US imperialist aggressors; the sun-tanned heroes with white teeth are the North Korean army. 00.14.26 Music 00.14.28 Guide These are captured American soldiers. 00.14.30 Music 00.14.34 Ben Anderson The Great Leader himself came here fifteen times and each time declared it a masterpiece and a national treasure. 00.14.40 Music 00.14.41 Guide In this battle we killed and captured twenty-four thousand American soldiers. 00.14.46 Music 00.14.49 Ben Anderson This is the USS Pueblo, which is the only US naval vessel in captivity in the world. Which they’ve proudly kept open for us a little bit later than normal. 00.15.01 Ben Anderson The USS Pueblo is North Korea’s greatest trophy and is moored permanently in the country’s capital. 00.15.07 Will Who’s he? 00.15.07 Ben Anderson He’s a veteran who played a part in the battle to capture the USS Pueblo. 00.15.14 Ben Anderson After a gunfight the crew were captured. One sailor was killed. 00.15.18 Ben Anderson The American soldier was killed here. 00.15.19 North Korean veteran Yes, here. 00.15.24 Ben Anderson The crew were only released eleven months later after the US government wrote a grovelling apology. 00.15.30 Ben Anderson Can I just read this? 00.15.31 North Korean veteran Yes, yes. 00.15.33 Ben Anderson ‘The government of the United States of America shoulders full responsibility and solemnly apologises for the grave acts of espionage committed by the US ship against the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.’ 00.15.44 Ben Anderson It’s nice to see something where both sides agree. 00.15.46 North Korean veteran Yes. 00.15.48 Ben Anderson This is the first time. 00.15.57 North Korean veteran Voice over Our seven men boarded the Pueblo and captured eighty- three of the armed villains. If American imperialists infiltrated this land again we’ll chase them to the end of the world and bomb their bases. We’ll crush them mercilessly under our feet. 00.16.17 Will What does he think of Bush? 00.16.23 North Korean veteran Voice over He’s a war fanatic and a warmonger. 00.16.27 Ben Anderson ‘I’m glad to visit this spy ship of the US for the third time. This spy ship will remain vivid in the mind of all visitors on the shameful spying activities of the US. Keep this spy ship on exhibition forever.’ 00.16.40 Ben Anderson Someone from Mauritius. I can’t think of anything funny to write. 00.16.46 Will Fairly neutral, I’d suggest. Low pressure. 00.16.50 Ben Anderson I can’t win because they’re watching and you’re taping, I can’t win. 00.16.56 Man Subtitle Did he write ill of the Americans? 00.17.01 Ben Anderson Fascinating glimpse… 00.17.02 Miss Pak Yes. 00.17.03 Ben Anderson …into a very dramatic incident. The guide was very helpful and I witnessed finally an incident both sides agree on. There is hope. 00.17.18 Ben Anderson Understand? 00.17.19 Miss Pak Yes. 00.17.19 Music 00.17.22 Will Is this Korean food? 00.17.30 Ben Anderson That’s chicken as well? No. Pork. 00.17.34 Ben Anderson We’re getting offered the best food available and it’s literally, the pork is tiny lumps of gristle and fat so goodness knows what they’re getting. The chicken’s okay but again, what part of the chicken is that? 00.17.57 Music 00.18.06 Will Self So where do you live? Do you live near here? 00.18.09 Miss Pak This is the middle district and I live here just beside the river. 00.18.15 Ben Anderson Do you live with your family? 00.18.17 Miss Pak Yes. Mother-in-law and father-in-law and my husband and one daughter. Her name is Teun, meaning the pond of knowledge. 00.18.29 Ben Anderson Really. 00.18.30 Miss Pak The lake of knowledge, yes. 00.18.32 Ben Anderson And she’s only one year old. 00.18.34 Miss Pak Yes. 00.18.37 Ben Anderson Do people here like American music? 00.18.39 Miss Pak I just forgot the name of the famous singer. It starts from E. 00.18.45 Ben Anderson A man or a woman? 00.18.46 Miss Pak Man. 00.18.47 Ben Anderson E? Elvis. 00.18.49 Miss Pak Elvis, yes, yes, I only know him. 00.18.52 Music 00.18.57 Ben Anderson Before I kind of came here I’d read all the articles, I’d read all the books and I was coming here really to sort of laugh at the personality cult here and you know the ridiculousness of it all. And I came here actually thinking that by the end of the week I’d, I’d confront our guides and say; ‘look what you’re showing me is a sham’. But, I don’t know, they’re breaking my heart. 00.19.19 Music 00.19.20 Graphic Soldier Hear the Sound of Rice Ears Swaying The Korean People’s Army Chorus 00.19.26 Ben Anderson The next day we were driven for three hours to visit what we were told was a typical co-operative farm. 00.19.32 Music 00.19.41 Ben Anderson This vision of agricultural perfection did not tally with what I had read about the great famine. 00.19.47 Ben Anderson Many people are dying from starvation? 00.19.52 Miss Pak I don’t think it’s so serious. It’s not that serious. 00.19.55 Ben Anderson Really? 00.19.56 Miss Pak Yes. Yes. 00.19.58 Ben Anderson Because we read that many, many people starve. 00.20.02 Miss Pak There is still a lack of food but not very, not that kind of serious problem, many people dying. 00.20.11 Ben Anderson Are we, are we wrong because in our newspapers it said that maybe a million people died from starvation. 00.20.19 Miss Pak Maybe it will be propaganda. I think it’s propaganda. 00.20.25 Ben Anderson Not today but in ’97, ’98, it said that as many as one million people were dying through starvation. 00.20.36 Miss Pak As I said, it’s maybe the propaganda. 00.20.39 Ben Anderson Propaganda; the response I got every time I suggested there might be a few cracks in the Great Leader’s sunshine state. It seemed pointless to mention the fact that many aid agencies think the number of deaths from famine could be as high as three million. 00.20.53 Miss Pak Let’s go inside. 00.20.56 Ben Anderson If millions have died through starvation, loyalty to the Great and Dear Leaders remains unbreakable. 00.21.05 Music 00.21.14 Girl singing Subtitles Sun, sun If there’s sun it’s the morning Sun, sun If there’s sun the birds fly The Great Leader’s picture is the sun to whom I am grateful I can’t live without him I am thankful to him I am thankful to him 00.21.58 Ben Anderson Everywhere you go in North Korea you see evidence of a country constantly prepared for war. One in ten North Koreans wears military uniform and you often see army trucks carrying soldiers and weapons. 00.22.12 Will What was in there? 00.22.16 Mr Pak Beef! 00.22.20 Ben Anderson Lots of boxes of shells and machine guns. 00.22.23 Mr Pak Beef! 00.22.27 Ben Anderson The beef will go off. 00.22.30 Will That was a lorry full of beef? 00.22.32 Mr Pak Beef, yes, right. 00.22.34 Ben Anderson Beef can mean trouble. Like if I have a beef with you, it means I have a problem with you. 00.22.41 Will So America has a beef with North Korea, you could say. 00.22.44 Mr Pak Lots of it, I think the nuclear beef they have. 00.22.55 Music 00.23.00 Graphic My Song in The Trench The Korean People’s Army Chorus 00.23.15 Ben Anderson We’re just entering the de-militarised zone from the North. We’ve just walked under a tank block, which can be dropped onto the road to block American tanks coming through. 00.23.31 Miss Pak Ben. 00.23.32 Mr Kim Mr Ben? 00.23.33 Miss Pak Yes. 00.23.34 Ben Anderson Or Mr Anderson. Mr Ben Anderson. 00.23.35 Mr Kim Anderson? 00.23.36 Will William. 00.23.37 Mr Kim William. 00.23.38 Miss Pak William Anderson. 00.23.39 Ben Anderson And you are? 00.23.41 Mr Kim Mr Kim 00.23.42 Will Mr Kim. 00.23.45 Ben Anderson Just one week later and I was back at the de- militarised zone; only this time I was inside the ‘Axis of Evil’ looking out. 00.23.52 Korean Soldier Those are American soldiers. 00.24.04 Korean Soldier Voice over This place is very volatile. In other places you’d need a big incident to start war but here even the smallest mistake made by one soldier could lead to a war. During the Korean War my whole family, eleven in total, were massacred. My father was the only survivor. Because of my family history my father has been in uniform all his life and his five sons are all serving on the front line. 00.24.44 Korean Soldier American soldier. 00.24.49 Ben Anderson I didn’t dare tell him we’d been shown around by the very same American soldier just a week before. 00.24.56 Ben Anderson In the newspapers it said that they have an axe on display. 00.25.01 Miss Pak Oh yes. 00.25.02 Ben Anderson That they used to kill American soldiers in the 1960s or 1970s. Not true? 00.25.07 Miss Pak Kill American soldiers? 00.25.08 Ben Anderson Yeah with an axe. 00.25.11 Miss Pak Subtitles He saw in a newspaper that the axe that hit the American soldiers is on display 00.25.19 Korean Soldier Subtitles Didn’t you see it? It’s there. There are photos there as well 00.25.24 Mr Pak Okay, then we will have to drop in there to see the axe. 00.25.29 Korean Soldier Subtitles Sorry about the power cut Can you film in this light? 00.25.38 Ben Anderson And in the darkest part of the museum, we found the axe, proudly displayed in a glass case. 00.25.44 Korean Soldier Subtitles The Americans in their desire to dominate the world didn’t want to leave South Korea So in order to have an excuse to stay they provoked this incident 00.25.59 Ben Anderson Smiling, waving North Korean soldiers; it’s very different to how we are told in the West. 00.26.06 Miss Pak Yes. 00.26.11 Ben Anderson I had expected a hermetically sealed communist state to be cold, grey and heavily industrialised. So I was surprised to find an afternoon on the beach as part of our itinerary. 00.26.24 Ben Anderson We’re on the beach. But there’s a kind of wooden fence then there’s an electric fence to stop American espionage scuba divers from swimming in from ships and becoming spies in North Korea somewhere. He told me this fence is electric but I’m not sure I believe him. 00.26.45 Ben Anderson Mr Pak! I can touch it? 00.26.48 Mr Pak No. 00.26.49 Ben Anderson Are you sure? 00.26.50 Mr Pak No... 00.26.52 Ben Anderson I don’t believe you. I don’t believe it’s an electric fence. Nothing, even normal electric doesn’t work here. TV, light, lights in the museum don’t work so I don’t believe they can power a fence twenty-four hours a day to stop scuba spies from getting in. 00.27.09 Will You want to risk it? 00.27.11 Ben Anderson No, I’m not going to touch it just yet. 00.27.27 Miss Pak Wow! 00.27.32 Will Maybe that’s why the fence is there – to keep people in, not to keep others out. 00.27.39 Ben Anderson It’s difficult to tell because our two guides are hand picked, aren’t they? They’ve obviously come from pretty privileged backgrounds. They’ve obviously had life as, as comfortable as anyone. So there wouldn’t be any hint of dissent from them. 00.27.58 Ben Anderson But with more and more people crossing the border between China and North Korea and with more information slowly coming in, the World Cup was on TV; people listening to South Korean radio; some people have got satellite TV here. You know, maybe that’s the sprout to a dissident movement that’s going to lead somewhere. 00.28.19 Music 00.28.25 Graphic We’ll Support Our Powerful Nation with Arms The Korean People’s Army Chorus 00.28.34 Ben Anderson Who do you think might attack this country? 00.28.37 Mr Pak This country? 00.28.37 Ben Anderson Yeah. 00.28.38 Mr Pak Americans. We think like that. Yeah, we think like that. If we have not enough the arms, then maybe it will be attacked by the Americans. Because anyhow maybe it’s happened in Iraq and then here. Iraq today and then here. The Afghanistan and the like. If we are not ready of course, you see for their attack, then maybe they can easily of course, occupy this land. 00.29.00 Ben Anderson Yes. 00.29.00 Mr Pak It means anyhow we lost everything. 00.29.05 Mr Pak It is literally one hundred metres deep. 00.29.08 Ben Anderson It’s an air raid shelter. 00.29.11 Mr Pak Yes. Yes. Yes that’s true, yes. 00.29.13 Ben Anderson If there’s another war everyone will come down here to be safe? 00.29.15 Mr Pak That’s right. 00.29.16 Ben Anderson The obsession for war is everywhere. The metro stations are a hundred metres deep, the roads are wide enough to double as runways and there are tank traps everywhere. 00.29.26 Ben Anderson The Korean War ended almost fifty years ago but it seems clear the North Koreans would fight to the death tomorrow. 00.29.33 Miss Pak If the US imperialists want to fight then we will fight. So we have to prepare. But if they want to make up, if they want to talk peacefully then we also want. 00.29.48 Will Self That’s good. 00.29.49 Ben Anderson Yeah. 00.29.51 Will So you want peace? 00.29.54 Ben Anderson She thought you laughed at her. She thought you laughed at her idea and she got, she got a bit upset for a little while then. She says that all Westerners and tourists are the same. Whenever you mention peaceful reunification they just, they just laugh and they don’t believe. All we believe is the propaganda we’ve been told. 00.30.11 Guide This is Korean Fine Art Gallery. Okay? Fine art. Here, the camera is not allowed. 00.30.22 Guide This is the Great Leader General Kim Il Sung and the Great Leader General Kim Jong Il. This is the great leader General Kim Il Sung during the anti-Japanese armed struggle period. 00.30.39 Will This is great. What does it say? 00.30.41 Guide Let us reunify, dragging the US troops in South Korea. Let us unify our country. 00.30.50 Ben Anderson The gallery was dedicated to the deification of the great and dear leaders, celebration of the Korean War and a few messages to America. 00.30.59 Subtitle from painting We will wipe America from the face of the Earth 00.30.03 Will The modern art we just saw, to me was propaganda. 00.31.06 Mr Pak This one? 00.31.06 Will Yeah. 00.31.07 Mr Pak Then of course the Koreans anyhow maybe not say this one is for propaganda. They say this one is for the promotion of course, for the education of the people here. 00.31.18 Will But can’t you criticise this society and still let society develop? 00.31.22 Mr Pak At this moment, of course, you see, no criticise, at this moment. No criticise at this moment. 00.31.32 Siren 00.31.36 Will What’s that noise? 00.31.38 Miss Pak Twelve noon. Twelve o’clock. 00.31.41 Ben Anderson Not an air raid warning. 00.31.46 Miss Pak No. You have to run. 00.31.49 Ben Anderson Yeah, that’s what it sounds like. 00.31.52 American man It’s an air raid siren. 00.31.53 Ben Anderson Yeah, he’s saying the same thing. 00.32.01 Miss Pak I told you, you have to get the permission… 00.32.04 Will Sorry? 00.32.04 Miss Pak …maybe they will get angry. 00.32.05 Will Oh, what if we film? 00.32.06 Miss Pak Oh yes, people. Get the permission. 00.32.10 Will To film? 00.32.11 Miss Pak Yes. 00.32.12 Will Oh, okay. 00.32.13 Miss Pak Is that alright? 00.32.14 Will Yeah, no it’s fine. 00.32.15 Miss Pak …look like Americans. 00.32.17 Will Oh, so they think… 00.32.18 Miss Pak Oh yes. 00.32.19 Will …I could be American. 00.32.20 Miss Pak Yes. 00.32.21 Korean Man You look like an American. 00.32.24 Will That’s not good here, is it? 00.32.26 Korean Man Bloody bad imperialist bastard. 00.32.36 Ben Anderson Miss Pak was faithfully toeing the party line. However, a conversation about books showed that her world didn’t revolve entirely around the Great and Dear Leaders. 00.32.46 Miss Pak I like the books of the Great Leader and the Dear Leader and because it have a philosophy. And I also like the novels. 00.33.00 Ben Anderson So which book is your favourite book of all time? 00.33.07 Miss Pak Maybe mostly I read Jane Eyre. 00.33.12 Ben Anderson Oh really! 00.33.13 Miss Pak Yes. 00.33.13 Ben Anderson I didn’t know you had that here. 00.33.14 Miss Pak Yes. 00.33.16 Notice on wall in bookshop The book is a silent teacher and a companion in life. Young people should carry books with them at all times and read and read various good books zealously KIL IL SUNG 00.33.26 Ben Anderson Miss Pak then took me to a bookshop but we couldn’t find any copies of Jane Eyre. Just books by or about the Great and Dear Leaders translated into every other language. 00.33.37 Will So which is the best book? The best Kim Il Sung book. For a beginner. This one? 00.33.43 Miss Pak Yes. 00.33.44 Ben Anderson That’s the best one as an introduction? 00.33.46 Will Memories. 00.33.50 Ben Anderson Even Mr Pak was opening up. 00.33.52 Mr Pak This one is a bourgeois watch. 00.33.55 Ben Anderson Bourgeois watch. 00.33.55 Mr Pak Bourgeois watch. 00.33.56 Ben Anderson So how much? 00.33.57 Mr Pak Maybe one thousand dollars. 00.33.59 Ben Anderson Fourteen dollars. 00.34.00 Mr Pak Fourteen! 00.34.01 Ben Anderson Fourteen. 00.34.01 Mr Pak Fourteen dollars. 00.34.03 Ben Anderson How much was your watch? 00.34.04 Mr Pak Twenty. 00.34.05 Ben Anderson Twenty dollars. 00.34.06 Mr Pak Yeah, approximately. 00.34.06 Ben Anderson Ah, you’re so bourgeois! I am proletariat. 00.34.10 Mr Pak Proletariat. 00.34.11 Ben Anderson You’re bourgeois with your twenty-dollar watch. 00.34.18 Ben Anderson The most excessive display of nationalism is the Ararang Festival where one hundred thousand performers praise the Great and Dear Leaders and mourn the division of their country. 00.34.27 Music 00.34.50 Ben Anderson The South are shown as long lost family members with reunification blocked by the American military presence. 00.34.56 Music 00.35.03 Ben Anderson While all the people of North and South live for reunification, I wondered if the Dear Leader felt the same way. 00.35.09 Music 00.35.12 Ben Anderson He had to realise an open border and the information it would reveal would surely mean an end to his reign. 00.35.17 Music 00.35.33 Ben Anderson On our last night, our guides finally agreed to join us for a meal. 00.35.37 Mr Pak We are happy to toast with the British bourgeoisie. 00.35.46 Mr Pak Cheers! 00.35.50 Music 00.35.52 Graphic Suspicious Minds Elvis Presley 00.36.04 Will Are you glad we’re going? 00.36.05 Miss Pak How can you ask in that way? I am so sad. Really, yes. 00.36.11 Music 00.36.15 Will What have you enjoyed most this week? 00.36.17 Miss Pak This week. Every time when I was with you I enjoyed very much. Yes, really, it’s true. 00.36.28 Will Even when we argued about politics. 00.36.30 Miss Pak Oh yes, of course because that is the stage we are getting close and we are getting understand, yes, I think. 00.36.41 Ben Anderson Mr Pak; do you still think we’re bourgeois? 00.36.42 Mr Pak Maybe you are turned into the revolutionary I think. Socialist from bourgeois. 00.36.48 Ben Anderson When I go home I’m going to give up all my luxurious goods. 00.36.50 Mr Pak Precisely yes. 00.36.51 Miss Pak I’m a revolutionary, yes. So I think in politics you’ll never convert me. 00.37.00 Mr Pak I ask you to show this film anyhow maybe to your friends and then maybe to your parents and to your friends. Anyhow, of course, for the promotion of course to bring a lot of the British people in and then anyhow to see what I think the so-called ‘Axis of Evil’ looks like. 00.37.23 Will Mr Pak, I can’t film in there. Say goodbye on camera. 00.37.27 Mr Pak Say goodbye. 00.37.28 Miss Pak Goodbye. 00.37.30 Ben Anderson Predictably I hadn’t seen why North Korea should be included on George Bush’s Axis of Evil list. But if my minders had given me a cosier impression of North Korea than it deserved, I was about to get a reminder of the North Korea I’d read about before my trip. 00.37.47 Ben Anderson I met an American merchant sailor who’d been helping deliver food aid. He’d just spent two weeks in a prison camp for making a joke about the Great Leader. 00.37.55 American Man …really believe this man is freaky, Jesus Christ himself. 00.38.00 Will So what was the joke? 00.38.01 American Man The joke was, how come he’s so fat and everybody else so skinny. They just went berserk over that, man. I’m glad to be getting out of North Korea man, that’s a bad place. Communist dog, the United States and the world food better quit feeding the communist dog and starve him. That’s the only thing that’s going to make him understand. When his belly’s hungry and he starts to eat the bark off a tree. 00.38.30 End Music 00.38.41 Ben Anderson Two weeks after I’d left, the Dear Leader’s officials confirmed America’s suspicions. They announced that they are indeed actively pursuing a nuclear weapons programme. 00.38.39 www.bbc.co.uk/correspondent 00.38.40 Credits Presenter BEN ANDERSON Dubbing Mixers LANCE ENGLAND PHITZ HEARNE Titles WHY NOT ASSOCIATES Production Team SARAH EVA MARTHA O’SULLIVAN Production Manager JANE WILLEY Unit Manager SUSAN CRIGHTON Film Research NICK DODD Web Producer ANDREW JEFFREY Research BARBARA ARVANITIDIS Picture Editor RYSHARD OPYRCHAL Executive Producers LUCY HETHERINGTON KAREN O’CONNOR 00.39.04 Director/Series Producer WILL DAWS © BBC MMIII 00.39.09 End BBC Holidays in the Axis of Evil 1 1