Posted 10 March 2008 - 02:02 AM
12 of the 14 parts are available.
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I highly recommend everyone head over to VBS.TV and watch the first five episodes of The Vice Guide to North Korea which scheduled to air a as a 14 part series. The series chronicles the adventures of an independent journalist’s trip into North Korea. We have seen plenty of footage before from journalists in North Korea, but the footage VBS.TV came up with is highly impressive because they were using a hidden camera, which has skillfully captured many images of life in North Korea that is not usually seen by outsiders.
For example in one episode a banquet hall is filled with food for one guest just to give the impression that North Korea does not have a food shortage. In another episode which is one of the strangest North Korea encounters I have seen filmed is when the journalist plays pool and ping pong with a North Korean tea girl. This is the first time I have seen strange scenes such as these coming out of North Korea.
For example in one episode a banquet hall is filled with food for one guest just to give the impression that North Korea does not have a food shortage. In another episode which is one of the strangest North Korea encounters I have seen filmed is when the journalist plays pool and ping pong with a North Korean tea girl. This is the first time I have seen strange scenes such as these coming out of North Korea.
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March 03, 2008
A BRIEF NOTE FROM SHANE SMITH ON THE
BYZANTINE NORTH KOREAN VISA PROCESS
Getting into North Korea was one of the hardest and 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 into the country to cover the Arirang Mass Games in Pyongyang. Then, ten days before we were supposed to go, they said, “No, nobody can come.” Then they said, “OK, OK, you can come. But only as tourists.” We had no idea what that was supposed to mean. 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.
But we went for it. The first leg of the trip was a flight into northern China. At the airport the North Korean consulate took our passports and all of our money, then brought us to a restaurant. We were sitting there with our tour group, and suddenly all the other diners left and these women came out and started singing North Korean nationalist songs. We were thinking, “Look, we were just on a plane for 20 hours. We’re jet-lagged. Can we just go to bed?” but this guy with our group who was from the LA Times told us, “Everyone in here besides us is secret police. If you don’t act excited then you’re not going to get your visa.” So we got drunk and jumped up onstage and sang songs with the girls. The next day we got our visas. A lot of people we had gone with didn’t get theirs. That was our first hint at just what a freaky, freaky trip we were embarking on...
A BRIEF NOTE FROM SHANE SMITH ON THE
BYZANTINE NORTH KOREAN VISA PROCESS
Getting into North Korea was one of the hardest and 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 into the country to cover the Arirang Mass Games in Pyongyang. Then, ten days before we were supposed to go, they said, “No, nobody can come.” Then they said, “OK, OK, you can come. But only as tourists.” We had no idea what that was supposed to mean. 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.
But we went for it. The first leg of the trip was a flight into northern China. At the airport the North Korean consulate took our passports and all of our money, then brought us to a restaurant. We were sitting there with our tour group, and suddenly all the other diners left and these women came out and started singing North Korean nationalist songs. We were thinking, “Look, we were just on a plane for 20 hours. We’re jet-lagged. Can we just go to bed?” but this guy with our group who was from the LA Times told us, “Everyone in here besides us is secret police. If you don’t act excited then you’re not going to get your visa.” So we got drunk and jumped up onstage and sang songs with the girls. The next day we got our visas. A lot of people we had gone with didn’t get theirs. That was our first hint at just what a freaky, freaky trip we were embarking on...
