Reporter granted rare access inside secretive North Korea | 60 Minutes Australia

if you thought the insults hold between North Korea and the United States couldn't get any more ridiculous than this week set a new standard in fast the road nation sentenced President Donald Trump to death because he apparently called their leader Kim jong-un short and fat ordinarily this kind of behavior would be dismissed with a chuckle but 2017 has seen tensions on the Korean Peninsula rise to the most dangerous level ever the threat of nuclear war is real and Australia is in the sights of the North's missiles after months of negotiations nine news correspondent Tom Stein firt was given rare permission to travel to North Korea there he discovered a country whose people are not only ready for conflict but fully aware it could mean the end of the world [Music] [Applause] this is North Korea as it projects itself to the world a nation marching in unison ready to defend it's later at all costs do you think a third world war is a possibility here who knows our country is nuclear-armed and Donald Trump is going to attack us but tonight we show you a North Korea you've never seen [Music] as we head inside the world's most secretive state at a time of unprecedented tension who is the enemy Millikan Junkins american yankees in the midst of a nuclear showdown that has implications for us all Rocketman is on a suicide mission for himself and for his regime with unpredictable leaders and an escalating war of words we will have no choice but to totally destroy North Korea it is the most serious threat to world peace in decades in the moment that you launch 10 missiles that are equivalent to 1,000 bombs of Hiroshima and Nagasaki who will survive in this world not Australian nobody in the United States the world will end as we know it it's rare for foreign journalists to get access to North Korea at the best of times let alone right now be careful your cameras I will tell you we can take photos or not okay an ever-present team of miners carefully monitors our every move and a highly orchestrated tour led by government official Joo gyeong Jacques the problem is that most of the Western people have no idea what is going down here they don't know the reality of our country what is the reality our reality is that we are enjoying a normal a comfortable happy life here and we have our own way so I think that with single mind we can pave the way to a final victory under the wise leadership of our respected supreme leader Kim Jong hoon I was last in Pyongyang two and a half years ago and the changes are striking from new streets too grandiose buildings like the SciTech complex which celebrates the regime's technical achievements at its heart is a replica of a unit a forerunner to the intercontinental ballistic missiles which can now reach the American mainland because we are very proud of the result of this base Rock Lee the successes in the science of fillers because it means we are developing and we are now becoming a space power and that kind of your economic power we are ready Pyongyang is the showcase capital of one of the poorest countries on earth home to the nation's privileged elite but make your way out of the city and a very different North Korea is visible one seldom seen by foreign eyes we're on our way 200 kilometers east to the city of one Sun a bumpy 5-hour journey through dirt poor farmland and dark tunnels we stopped briefly at a coffee shop where the walls are plastered with pictures of North Korean missile launchers so are you excited when you see that they have tested a nuclear weapon that's it it's excitement I am that's beyond my greatest excitement because we were weak but now we are strong single-hearted unity great leadership and we have the ICBMs so I usually say to Donald Trump come come come to me I will choke you with my H bombs well in one Sun we find fishermen jostling for space to catch dinner at random we speak to kim yeongcheol who's lived here for 15 years Donald Trump is just like a dog barking at the moon immediately he casts the conversation to politics as you've seen on the TV reports Trump is saying crap like he's going to kill us all oh we have our Supreme Leader so even if Trump rings all his forces even if the sky falls we are not afraid with its beaches and relaxed vibe Kim jong-un has earmarked one son as North Korea's future holiday hotspot but overseas visitors are few and far between on the headland out there the regime has built this huge brand-new international airport because they're actually hoping to set up a billion dollar tourism industry in this country but given the current climate it's no surprise that not a single passenger plane has touched down there yet the sights not going to waste though because while no planes have been taking off from there plenty of missiles have been one Sun is one of the regime's key missile test sites almost 40 have been fired from this area as North Korea or the DPRK develops its capability to strike targets around the world is there anything that the world should fear from the DPRK because from my perspective the thing that scares a lot of people is the fact that you are now armed with nuclear weapons I think that not at all no sir it at all but there is one thread it is a while switch in the world it is from not DPR Korea but from Donald Trump so I think that we must get rid of this threat we must get rid of Donald Trump I see how then do you feel when you hear Donald Trump say that he wants to destroy your nation the whole Trump is going to turn our skyscrapers into ashes total destruction of Korea every citizen every member of the Korean nation is God and has got angry over many a Donald Trump so if Donald Trump did decide to attack your country what would happen I think that the next step will be the destruction of United States no matter how old or young everyone here marches to the beat of the regime [Music] North Korea's brightest students are rewarded with a stay at the song 2-1 children's can there's plenty of fun on offer from football to robots that seem very sure the Australian guy but like kids everywhere they can't get enough of video games what are you teaching these boys do you teach them the technique I teach guerrilla warfare the tactics chemisant used to vanquish the Japanese army what's striking is that the children also see these games as practice for war what do you like about this game I'm so happy to kill Americans so you dream this is an American that you're shooting Americans and Japanese and South Koreans they are the enemy of the Korean people [Music] time and again we are shown the carefully staged performances of Pyongyang's most talented students there's a rigid discipline to growing up here that's hard to understand as an outsider Pyongyang's foreign Studies University students learn English from tapes with a distinctly American accent we're allowed to speak to classmates icky on rim and least so he on although our minders insist we avoid anything political what changes have you seen in Pyongyang over the last couple of years under the wise leadership of the respective supreme leader Kim Jong won our country has changed into a very luxury and modern country and yeah in the last couple of years there are many miracles changing our country into problems problems country and our people enjoying benefits of socialism but one seemingly simple question is much harder to answer for you learning here you come to the Foreign Studies what is it about the rest of the world that interests you so much restore all the other countries you know foreign countries what what are you interested in from foreign countries it's not that simple um I don't quite get you get your ok for foreign studies you've you study foreign language foreign languages what is it about other languages other countries that you find interesting should I say so no special comments okay if they say what they want there will be in trouble they'll all be kicked out of Kenya if they say oh I don't like my leader and then Oh North Korea is bad country then no it's gonna be huge for what for them soon Julie knows all too well the expectations of the regime now living in Seoul he escaped from North Korea at the age of 16 what would happen to you if you went back to Pyongyang tomorrow what would the government do public execution seriously because I mean I'm talking about North Korea at now all right with you this will be on TV so this interview will be shown in North Korea and outside of this man so describe exactly exactly I mean if I go back to North Korea first of all Norton government may be torture and then they forced me to announce certain kind of a script written by the government you don't seem scared by this well actually somebody has to tell this I mean the truth I mean North Korean government tried to hide up truth they try to hide the sky with their palms but they cannot hide out everything coming out the world will end as we know it but isn't it madness what is the North's master plan just over the border from here North Korea there's more than 10,000 rocket launches ready a name the US military on high alert if war broke out tomorrow are you guys ready to go I believe we are and the South living under constant threat you must dread the day that you might have to actually put one of these on that's next on 60 minutes when I got to South Korea I was so confused that people are so nice really yeah so nice and so I mean he was kind of one of culture shock got a hat these days some Julie enjoys a freedom he never knew existed in his former life in North Korea since he fled the country in 2002 he's worked tirelessly to expose the hypocrisy of the regime that creates a country for just 10% of total population I can say 90% are slaves North Korea is a country but I can say North Korea is prison the regime's brutality is notorious and not just how it crashes any sign of dissent from within in February the world was stunned by the brazen assassination in Malaysia of Kim Jong Un's exiled half-brother Kim jong-nam with VX nerve gas for many it showed just how erratic and ruthless the North Korean dictator really is what do you think of kim jeong-hoon well international community keeps saying that Kim jong-un is very unpredictable he is very irrational but my perspective Kim jong-un is very predictable he's very rational is he smart yes in terms of protecting its own regime that's why he's he's developing nuclear weapon do you think he wants war he will not attack United States first he will not attack South Korea first but if South Korea and United States can either try to use military option then they will attack with tensions rising the US military has been stepping up its preparations for war just this week there was a massive show of force by three aircraft carrier strike groups off the Korean Peninsula drawing the ire of Pyongyang two kilometers from the North Korean border we joined US Marines as they hold their shooting skills and went through drills for the possibility of chemical warfare well we hear so much about the prospect of a nuclear attack it's actually conventional warfare that's much more likely at first just over the border from here North Korea there's more than 10,000 rocket launchers ready and aimed at the south and within the first few days of war here more than a million lives could be lost if war broke out tomorrow are you guys ready to go I believe we are regardless of the environment these Marines need to be prepared for everything Colonel Moore Hennigan is the combat logistic regiment's commanding officer the Marines that are here today are working actually at their basic infantry skills every Marine is a rifleman so they have the opportunity to come out in the they shoot and in multiple environments there's a certain irony to this because they'd hear those gunshots in North Korea yep they sure would and and we actually get to listen every night to whether it's the radios that are going off or just everything that's happening right across the line so yeah it's not lost on anyone with tensions on a hair-trigger there are fears the region could be tipped into an accidental war we've come to South Korea's Yongbyon Island just 10 kilometers from the North Korean mainland 2,000 people call it home with 2,000 Marines stationed here to protect them seven years ago the island came under a hail of fire from North Korean artillery killing four people and injuring 20 and followed a military exercise in the South the pyongyang viewed as aggression so how long have you been living on the island here for about thirty years for local guest house owners seungyeon och it was the most terrifying day of her life the whole town was just covered in black smoke and it was a sea of fire it was cutter strophe it sounds like a really had an effect on you yeah yes indeed not just me but all the townspeople South Korea has nearly 20,000 bomb shelters dotted across the country seriously heavy door it's not until your head inside that you appreciate how frightening it would be to have to use one huge this shelter is equipped to hold 530 villages a quarter of the island's population for three days it's sealed against conventional chemical and biological attack we are well prepared as we can be because we have gone through this before you must dread the day that you might have to actually put one of these on I hope that never happens we've heard so many threats from Kim jong-un and Donald Trump does that make you worry sometimes about your safety here I don't feel completely safe Kim jong-un and Donald Trump I'm afraid to say it like this but they are both a bit cycle neither them seem like no more people to me kim jeong-hoon our leader is just doing the only thing that the small country a tiny country with 25 million people can do to secure its survival it's only life insurance is nuclear deterrence Alejandro's kalibanos is North Koreans unofficial spokesman outside of the Hermit Kingdom he was my guide last time I visited North Korea this time I have to catch up with him in Barcelona after the Spanish government slapped him with a travel ban we declare there will be no world without Korea if DPRK if North Korea is attacked knew clearly by the United States the answer will be nuclear as well so you just destroy the world if the United States the one that will destroy by launching a nuclear attack or North Korea we just answer in the moment that you launch 10 missiles that are equivalent to 1,000 bombs of Hiroshima and Nagasaki who will survive in this world not Australian not Spaniards nobody in the United States the world will end as we know it but isn't that madness the madness is the United States to try to conquer the world and try to destroy other societies the madness is to act as an emperor and the other countries serving that Emperor and contributing troops and money for the end of the world that's the madness coming out this is effectively where the battle line is drawn a warning to Australia they will not be able to avoid disaster and uncovering the real North Korea behind on politics I've got to know the people and and they are a fantastic people high-five oh yeah Mitchell the only time on this trip I don't have a mind that sitting on my shoulder yeah I wish it would come down and it's a frightening that's next on 60 minutes in North Korea you can take photos yeah we visit the demilitarized zone that separated this divided Peninsula for more than 60 years yeah the flags of the countries which attended the creamer under name of un for like yes here rival soldiers eyeball one another at what's regarded as the most dangerous border in the world this is effectively where the battle line is drawn just about the most tense place on earth right now at the moment the mood here it's deadly serious Australia stands with the Republic of Korea in solidarity against the provocative and illegal behavior of North Korea just a few weeks before our visit the Australian foreign and defense ministers stood at the southern side in a move that infuriated Pyongyang I want to repeat some of the articles which was by the spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of our country should Australia continue to follow the u.s. in imposing military economic and diplomatic pressure upon the DPR Korea despite our repeated warnings they will not be able to avoid the disaster Australia will not be able to avoid disaster disaster so you think that if Australia gets involved in any action against the DPRK it will be also harmful to Australian depolarizing our approach seems to have made us a target I don't accept that I don't believe estrella is a primary target foreign minister Julie Bishop believes North Korea is using its nuclear arsenal to hold the world to ransom north Korea has used coercive blackmail as a negotiating tactic in the past and it is ramping up its ballistic missile and nuclear weapons programs in order to put itself in the best negotiating position the official government line there is that Australia is heading for disaster surely that worries you well I didn't say it didn't worry me doesn't it's an issue that we are dealing with I just want to read you a couple of quotes from Donald Trump he's threatened to unleash fire and fury like the world has never seen he says going to totally destroy North Korea he's called Kim jong-un little rocket man and also referred to him as being short and fat is that really the kind of diplomacy you want to hitch your wagon to it certainly has a reaction in North Korea and the trading of insults is actually it doesn't help the cause what president Trump's intervention has done is brought China into the discussion in a very direct way and I believe that that will be part of the most successful of strategy we've seen today so you think that language is actually beneficial I said that I'll use my words the language has made Beijing recalculate its strategy its risk and now China is deeply involved and I believe that is beneficial there are some lighter moments on our trip to North Korea another side of life here that the regime is keen to promote do you think I can win today I've been invited to take part in the Pyongyang marathon surely one of the world's most obscure running events what do you make of the turnout here this one's very small the big marathons in April that had over a thousand 100 Western runners this is I think 20 Nick Bona has run a tourism business here for more than two decades how much of that do you think is people that are just a bit worried about the situation here I think it's yeah partly that it's also that the Americans can no longer visit so that's 20 percent down yeah and it's the current situation it's it's definitely hit tourism and behind all politics I've got to know the people and they are a fantastic people politics apart yeah I wish it would come down and it's very frightening after a North Korean misfire [Music] we pound the pavements of Pyongyang [Music] it really is nice just to be out it's really the only time on this trip I don't have a mind that sitting on my shoulder the whole time watching every move free cut here for what you can't help but feel an event like this is very much a charm offensive from a regime that's constantly paranoid about how it is perceived betting its chest to the outside world and subjecting its people to a never-ending barrage of propaganda well we've got some of it here they still produced this kind of rubbish it was everywhere oh my god oh do you mind having my crazy translating song is for North Korean defectors song Juli grew up saying this kind of material every day we killed USA and our target is GSA this end of our enemy but this is just part of their everyday life isn't it growing up with these imagery of the u.s. getting slaughtered yeah you exactly I mean this is not just post courtesan kind of end up in the textbook their textbook in every shop window yeah of course I mean that's that's North Korea that's canal but that's kind of the that way I mean the way to brainwash people before we go soon julie has something to show me his two dogs peaceful and unification symbols of hope that one day the two careers will be reunited some Julie believes if change is to come it must be from within if international community attacked North Korea the people will stick together around its leader and then they will fight until the last person exists military intervention into intervention cannot be solution but my solution is to send information give them power give them information and then make them choose their future so don't bombard North Korea with missiles bombard them with information and knowledge yes I mean knowledge has power as its stronger than weapon [Music] if there's one thing you'd like us to take back to Australia about your country what would it be I hope that TBT no line from Australia let all the people in Australia feel that DPR Koreans are really peace loving and friendly people the nuclear deterrence of our country is not to attack other country including Australia our nuclear deterrence is to protect our service from the nuclear threats from us so usually I said to my foreign press that it takes a sieve to catch a seat [Music] hello I'm Tara brown thanks for watching to keep up with the latest from 60 minutes Australia make sure you subscribe to our Channel you can also download the 9 now app for full episodes and other exclusive 60 minutes content

Channel: 60 Minutes Australia

Views: 3,935,084

Rating: 4.4331546 out of 5

Keywords: 60 Minutes, 60 Minutes Australia, Liz Hayes, Charles Wooley, Tara Brown, Liam Bartlett, Allison Langdon, Tom Steinfort, Ellen Fanning, Peter Overton, Mike Munro, Richard Carleton, Tracey Curro, Paul Barry, Peter Harvey, Michael Usher, Ross Coulthart, George Negus, Ian Leslie, Gerald Stone, Sarah Abo, north korea, kim jung un, donald trump, trump korea, inside north korea, north korea tour, 60 minutes north korea

Id: 5iGClYMpcpE

Length: 29min 57sec (1797 seconds)

Published: Sun Jan 19 2020

Reddit Comments

[u/BehaviouralSink]

Great video, thanks. Really eye opening about the similar propaganda techniques in use with all countries. Can identify more than a few in use in the video also used in the west.

[u/herb_Tech]

It takes a thief to catch a thief. Damn