Brooklyn, New York (VBS.TV) — Getting into North Korea was one of the weirdest processes VBS has ever dealt with. After we went back and forth with their representatives for months, they finally said they were going to allow 16 journalists to come and cover the Arirang Mass Games in Pyongyang. Just before our departure, they suddenly said, “No, nobody can come.” Then they said, “OK, OK, you can come. But only as tourists.” But they already knew we were journalists, and over there if you get caught being a journalist when you’re supposed to be a tourist you go to jail. We don’t like jail. And we’re willing to bet we’d hate jail in North Korea.
via Vice Guide to North Korea – CNN.com.
You have to jump through a couple hoops to get to the rest of the videos, but trust me, this is an awe inspiring look into North Korea. One of the first times that I’ve seen this much video of the country.
Favorite This!
I’ll be back when I finish watching it.
I finally finished the series. I didn’t really like most of Shane’s comments. Some of them were interesting, like the tea girl… 🙁 that was sad, but his punk rock was disturbing Oo. The school kids were amazing, and that sucks about the Barrage.
Did you finish it nyokki? What’d you think?
I’ve watched a couple of the parts. It’s just so weird over there. Do they really think they’re fooling anyone? Do they care if it’s westerners or their own people? Sitting alone in a huge banquet hall w/ food for 100, but he’s all alone in there, then they’re just gonna start the whole charade again the next day?
On the other hand, I did subscribe to vbs.
Yeah, it was a bit bizarre. You’d think they’d choose more intimate settings that didn’t reflect the emptiness of these places.
Did you find Shane kind of annoying?
Sometimes, yeah, but that’s usually true of any subjective style documentaries. I liked him well enough to continue watching though.