Hidden state: Inside North Korea | Fault Lines

join military exercises between United States and South Korea a regular occurrences this one codename max thunder took place in November at the Kunsan Air Force Base 150 miles south of Seoul this type of exercise takes place every year but for the North Korean government they consider this a provocation and a threat I mean North Korea is to a flashpoint we're still at a state of war with North Korea this is a 1953 Hamas's if there was some day heaven forbid a real war here we would need to work very closely we are always practicing together always working together thankfully we've helped stabilize and ensure the security of the peninsula for the last 61 years but in spite of that long time we have to be ready to fight tonight and that really is our mantra North Korea is under new leadership kim jeong-hoon looks funny he is overweight and sometimes does strange things but he's smart when his father died 7 top officials four generals in three top civilian bureaucrats worked next to the coffin of his father in December 2011 in three years time none of them was alive and in a high-level position when it comes to international relations Kim jong-un's rule has been described as a Radek since coming into power he's launched a long-range rocket and carried out a nuclear test most recently the u.s. accused the north of orchestrating a cyber attack on Sony Pictures last all fault lines was granted rare access inside the country we went to understand what if anything has changed since Kim jong-un came to power and how US North Korean relations looked from the other side our visit to North Korea was part of a highly controlled press tour sponsored by the government our guides decided where we went who we spoke to and they were with us at all times so we have to wear this to identify ourselves as international press and we have to use it while working on the streets the Kim family and the Workers Party have rolled North Korea for over six decades apparently today is the 17th anniversary that Kim Jong Il was elected secretary of the party and people here are coming to this statues to pay their respects you don't come to me North Korea has one of the largest standing armies in the world men are conscripted for up to 10 years it's because of the idea of some goon which means military first we're heading to the border between North and South Korea is one of the most heavily fortified border areas in the world which is fast three checkpoints but who are not allowed to film because of security we went to meet lieutenant colonel Nam Tom home of the Korean People's Army 120 humic acid in the given section window moon country song John chapter 1 - bond - Hinda on this side of the border is North Korean on the other one is the United States and South Korea now I'm new to the Masuku now - stop conducting it duty towards battle in Nam located to the west is always saying North Korea needs to dismantle their nuclear weapons program North Korea has to do this and have to do that what would it take Maran movie under him little piano wasn't God human are hanging off to suit their money movie we were told the nuclear deterrent as they call it means the government can focus on other things like development until we are building our more fancy looking apartment buildings along the river and among them who has made that but success our treatments for the society then he will be kind of first our priority to go there our guides brought us to see one of these new buildings but we were told is for families of professors at Kim il-sung University Shin Jung Joo lives there with her daughter son-in-law and grandson she was worried about the health of kim jong hoon who had not appeared in public for several weeks jung yong kim dongwan forceful mancuso similar gman kid are you human system boys the animal mommy kill dr. Maria young and you're going to play - we're all crying then the conversation turned to the United States she told us the Americans provoked and threatened North Korea regularly but she's certain they will not attack because they would lose the still feel the possibility that there can be a war again Geneva is in we have something here we will run the money holds head woman yeah - hit I'm trying not to get in the Mario community on that we are living through the onion me with his niece endure throughout our visit it was difficult to know where propaganda ended and genuine sentiment began to get a fuller picture of life under kim jeong-hoon we have to leave the country in North Korea we spoke only two people chosen by the government so to get a sense of what life was really like under Kim Jang hoon at least for some we travel to Seoul we're on our way to meet a couple from North Korea who's left the country after Kim jong-un came to power the husband apparently has just arrived to South Korea and neither of them has spoken to the media before Kim Jong hoon has tightened border security unless North Koreans have managed to defect in recent years we've been asked not to reveal their identities or where they live because even though they have left the country they're still afraid we're changing their names and distorting their voices and their requests Kim min-soo and on Sabine escaped separately across the river to China she was born in Somalia tourists don't see me and Nicky from Jersey we hope she did be no more to be serving the tampoco units on the City Council sometimes it will be a vertical critical critical to the idle period are you gossip or did you ever feel in danger good nigga Santa Marta p.m. you'll to call returned Baumann Kiko Rojas you a Mongolian catarrhalis didn't condone torture how he no progeny captain Jung it's hardly because that is truly nigga now yo get no more negatives or get here - got that - come with me go to boil Subin told us she wanted to leave North Korea ever since her father was swept up in a purge when she was 14 go home uncle Suleiman Shido psychomotor books on since she said after her father disappeared her family was exiled from Pyongyang come Yamaguchi varlet Islands hand uncle since a premium in today's she needed to achieve aksaram present a more humble cook a tiger shimmy mm the government allowed us only to speak to people that were approved by them of the people you know what is the general feeling among the population who are new to television technology was a transition regime in 2013 the United Nations released a groundbreaking report on human rights abuses in North Korea concluding their abuses including forced labor deliberate starvation torture and the complete denial of the right of freedom of thought quote have no parallel in the contemporary world we put a hex IDO mitten times what I said core you're getting from the diversion time on the ground in Halloween when he was only 9 years old Gong Cheol Quan said he was imprisoned at the yogic political prison camp with his family when he was released ten years later he escaped to the South so people here think there's entire families that are kept in this places which is not an uncommon panda-sama together and tourism game she 180 to 120,000 people are reported to be held in these camps on life sentences the North Korean government denies that political prisons exist today on northern part is a Kogi I did talk high you don't get some cut is a collaborative and so compasses ago okay an ocean-going a telephonic car Thunder enjoyed a couple losing him lil died it's not her with you we wanted to raise the issue of human rights while on our visit to North Korea difference we were given one chance to sit down and ask questions with party members our guides insisted it wasn't an interview just a conversation in Western world especially in the United States there's lots of criticism for this country on you know what what happens to those who oppose the government etc so we wanted to know his opinion about what other countries say about human rights here in this country when I was Pingo son could would another in community attitude and occasionally a chuck testa reactor vivo namsom Carrollton the economy some carrot three Aradia whom dumb do you know cou your issues determine or so money you could ever do so in December the UN General Assembly voted to refer North Korea to the International Criminal Court for alleged crimes against humanity the question is now on the permanent agenda of the Security Council after the vote Kim il-sung square was filled with thousands of people in a government rally against the United States and the United Nations [Music] [Music] Andre lang cough is a historian who has studied North Korea for decades North Korea is a notorious human rights abuse arguably the world's worst human right appears having said that these resolutions have no impact whatsoever because they understand it's official now that if they lose they are not going to be spared so they're going to fight and they're going to be even more oppressive not less similar to our people in Seoul kim ji-hoon not her real name told us she had been arrested and tortured by the North Korean security police after she was falsely accused of being a spy commonly we were losing about test location you know under their melanomas only cursory look - she said she defected in 2013 and that her family is still in North Korea come on now Walter dough cookie their own goosey Mahamaya can be negotiated ah there's a grant a cozy duo mutual concern anonymous on our hearts of all who come salute a religion is higher altitude room table well San Diego hanging on motto very little particles team I assume that good pergola a walk clear geo told us that when Kim jong-il died many people had a secret hope his son would bring change but she says it could not be said publicly and they had to fake their grief but she said that hope didn't last long Oh put him on see Lydia's human children amore well it used to be did you ever see something like that did you see executions where your money but you there is a small dirty secret there is very little resistance in an efficient and sufficiently brutal dictatorship state resistance as possible when repression doesn't work properly and if you have a well-run repressive state nobody dares to say anything after more than 60 years the division between North and South Korea is still a fault line North Korea has now threatened a nuclear test because of the United Nations attention on human rights in the country ambassador Joseph de tranny is a former US negotiator with North Korea on their nuclear program the six-party talks reached a dead end in 2009 if they're not happy with something they'll tell you we're not happy with something and if you persist we'll have a nuclear test we'll have a missile launch and I think the expectation has been we will cave threats don't work any longer the threat to escalate doesn't work any longer they're not going to get what they want because they're threatening they will get more by coming back to the table and being reasonable the United States has announced a new round of sanctions as a response to the cyber attack on Sony Pictures they claimed was orchestrated by North Korea outside policy is is a pro engagement or pressure pressure does not look engagement might have some impact but only very limited on balance we have this kind of oscillation between unrealistic hopes about pressure and a nearly equally unrealistic expectations about engagement I mean we've had 20 years of experience negotiating with North Korea and what do we have in North Korea with more nuclear weapons in North Korea with more missile delivery systems a North Korea that is continues to proliferate so these negotiations haven't been successful that's been brutally blunt about that but that doesn't mean we stop well the international community navigates policy options changes within North Korea might have the most far-reaching implications there's so much curiosity in South Korea about what's happening in the north that as you can see like judgmental people just come here to take a small peek of the other side our main glimpse of life in the provinces we were shown in a cafe in Seoul gopu culinary oh no you go here I think three and watch Bonnie I was Falklands was shown exclusive footage from a North Korean smuggler he asked us not to reveal his identity in this clip a group of people are waiting outside a train station in soon-jong city north of Pyongyang we were told that we're waiting for merchants to arrive with Chinese goods that need to be brought to market things like shampoos electronics and smuggle DVDs javante will be continued always always we're told if caught filming the market you could go to prison or words convey Tom Cruise or teacher I couldn't be could be moved upon and cookie couldn't cooperate in Monaco the government can minimize changes in the economy but can't hide them completely we were taken to the minguk cooperative farm in thirty-one city it's a model farm in one of the most fertile areas of the country the leader agriculture is a priority he wanted to do some reforms have these reforms are already in place as anything will not reform what to say your major new measures but it's not new but it has been already chronic malnutrition is still a real problem in North Korea but food production has increased somewhat in recent years in part because of a new emphasis on family based agriculture and incentives for farmers the policy of Kim jong-un is to emulate Chinese economic reforms of the 70s and 80s slowly and very carefully but at the same time we remain very harsh very repressive in dealing with everybody who have any doubts about the system or is going to change the system in any meaningful way over last year they had a massive campaign against people who watch illegally imported smuggled foreign movies well they became very harsh and now people are afraid to watch such movies which is very task for all very curious then you can ask ask during our time in North Korea were constantly told that we should see with our own eyes how different the country is from outside perceptions but what's unseen and unspoken is all the ways in which the regime maintains its control for those who have fled it's a system that despite decades of diplomatic pressure and US and international sanctions appears entrenched [Music] to millions how do I get into beautiful little Canadian go through Sonia do tomorrow okay take it up and use the new bushy reach deep alligator [Music]

Channel: Al Jazeera English

Views: 1,025,851

Rating: 4.4852943 out of 5

Keywords: north korea, Fault Lines, defectors, kim jong-un, al Jazeera, aljazeera, inside north korea, north korea documentary, al jazeera documentary, north korea vs usa, north korean propaganda, trump north korea, us north korea, Hidden state: Inside North Korea -, Inside North Korea, north korea war, north korea army, Kim Jong-un became the Supreme Leader o, north korea relations with united states, north korea long range missile, inside north korea al jazeera

Id: YAsPtK_hiFg

Length: 24min 39sec (1479 seconds)

Published: Wed Jan 21 2015