Inside North Korea Panorama

We have decided to expel

the Tokyo BBC correspondent

Rupert Wingfield-Hayes...

It's not how I expected my trip to North Korea to end.

This is the country the regime hoped I would show the world -

a modern, showpiece capital...

..with loyal, happy subjects...

..and a growing nuclear arsenal.

-One more go, one more go.

-No.

-One more go. One more go.

'Instead, I got detained, interrogated and expelled.'

It's been pretty exhausting, stressful.

What did I do to cause such offence?

And what does it say about the way this country works?

So we've just landed at Pyongyang International Airport

in North Korea.

This is one of the most isolated, impoverished

and repressive places on earth,

and it's a place we still know so little about.

I have been invited to accompany a group of Nobel Prize winners,

including British biologist Sir Richard Roberts.

They're here to meet with students at the country's top universities.

It's not the first time I've been here for the BBC.

12 years ago, I came in from China, posing as a tourist.

We've been told we mustn't do any filming from the train,

but we haven't been given any reason why.

The poverty was stark.

Today, despite international sanctions,

Pyongyang looks prosperous.

There are taxis on the streets, new buildings

and something that was not allowed back then, mobile phones.

So here we are, number 24. This is our home for the next week.

We arrive at a compound for visiting VIPs.

Well, this isn't what you really think

Pyongyang is going to look like

and, in fact, most of it doesn't.

This looks more like an American suburb,

but just 100 metres away is the gate.

Outside the gate, are the bustling streets of Pyongyang.

'I try to take a walk into town.'

So, yes, there's some frantic waving going on.

Those are our minders.

'There are a team of them

'and their job is to accompany us wherever we go.'

We were just going out to have a little walk, that's all.

We're not going anywhere.

No, actually, she's inviting you.

-She's waiting actually, waiting for all of you.

-I see.

'One of the minders, Mr Kim,

'tells me a senior official is at the guesthouse.'

Yes, we just have to go back and get something...

'It turned out not to be true, but my little stroll is over.'

The next morning, we're taken to a giant tower

on the bank of the Taedong River.

So this is the tallest stone tower in the world.

This is the memorial to the Juche Ideal,

which is the sort of central principle

of the Korean Workers' Party.

There are several of these enormous, grandiose monuments

throughout Pyongyang, and it's obligatory to visit some of them

when you come here.

The tower honours North Korea's own version of communism,

a self-reliant nation ruled by an all-powerful leader.

From the top, we can see a massive event is under way.

For the first time in nearly 40 years,

the regime is holding a Workers' Party congress.

It's a big moment for the country's young leader, Kim Jong-un.

When he succeeded his father Kim Jong-il four years ago,

many predicted he would not last.

But he has not only survived, he's consolidating power.

So far, he seems to be popular,

because people see the economic growth.

Therefore, the young boy...

Well, he might appear comical to us sometimes, to be frank,

but he is probably...

..the most popular North Korean leader

in the last, say, quarter century.

He has also been ruthless in removing potential enemies.

One of his first moves was to kill

a number of top officials and generals,

including his own uncle.

This defector fled the purge and is now in South Korea.

-TRANSLATION:

-The worst of Kim Jong-un's policies

is his reign of terror and treating his people harshly.

His father dealt with faults or crimes in the military

with demotion and soft punishment.

Now it is execution and purging.

The Nobel Prize winners are here to promote dialogue

with this regime.

I want to ask Sir Richard Roberts if he is worried

this trip might give it more legitimacy.

'But as soon as I try, our minders step in to stop me.'

You are going to have to let us do our job, OK?

-LAUGHING:

-Ya, ya, ya.

I'm not asking to film the military,

I am asking to film the Nobel laureates who are visiting,

we are just going to do a little interview with them.

I spent a lot of time in the Soviet Union during the Cold War,

and there I know that talking to people and letting them know

what was going on in the rest of the world

was important to them, and maybe that can be important here too.

-Just two more minutes. It's OK.

-One minute, one minute.

-Ready to go.

-Yeah, but they're not going to go without us.

'Sir Richard tells me his wife didn't want him to come.'

She felt we would probably be used for propaganda purposes,

in ways that were inappropriate.

Which, to an extent, you will.

-Of course.

-We're not the only camera crew following you.

Right, and that's fine.

I am not here to help the North Koreans

gain some respect in the world necessarily,

unless they do something good.

Have to hurry, it's the lunchtime.

Two o'clock is the lunchtime, to the hospital.

-OK.

-For the children. We have to go, hurry.

-OK.

Our next stop is Pyongyang's new children's hospital, opened in 2013.

This place is impressive - clean and modern.

But we see very few patients.

We are shown children exercising on adult gym equipment.

None of them looks particularly sick.

THEY READ ALOUD IN KOREAN

Next door, another group is in class.

Again, the girls look remarkably well.

One of the professors tries to find out more.

She doesn't have to stand, I am just curious

why she is in the hospital, why she is here.

WOMAN ASKS QUESTION IN KOREAN

GIRL REPEATS HERSELF

And you are friends, together?

MAN TRANSLATES

-Yeah.

-"Yeah, we are friends."

But you didn't know one another before you came to the hospital?

-That is right.

-Wonderful. So, you see...

It all feels a bit staged, but it's impossible to tell.

So we ask to see children being treated by doctors.

The answer is no.

Since we are in children's hospital,

we have to respect the rules and regulations of this hospital.

I hope you understand that.

So this is the real difficulty in North Korea, trying to get

an idea of what's real and what's not real.

Everywhere we've been in this hospital,

well, it looks like a set-up,

like it has been pre-scripted, it's a performance for us.

It's impressive, there's modern equipment, it's clean, it's modern,

but how much of it is real and how much does it represent

the reality of the rest of this country?

We just don't know.

Later, Sir Richard Roberts WAS allowed

to return here without us.

After the trip, I asked him what he had seen.

There were a lot of people, a lot of patients,

a lot of activity in the hospital.

We went over to the diagnostic labs and that was all rather good too,

it was fairly primitive, but I think everything we saw,

they had done extremely well,

given the limitations that the sanctions have

necessarily imposed on them.

But defectors say outside Pyongyang, hospitals look nothing like this.

Choi Joo Yeon recently escaped from

North Korea's third largest city, Chongjin.

-TRANSLATION:

-It is like night and day when you compare

Pyongyang and Chongjin.

We do have hospitals, but compared to Pyongyang,

they are old and lack equipment.

Medical care is supposed to be free,

but you have to give the doctors money,

and the hospitals have no medicines.

So you have to buy medicine.

THEY SCREAM

It's Sunday afternoon at the Rungna People's Pleasure Ground,

and the place is packed.

Is this going to be scary?

IN ENGLISH:

Here we go, good luck.

I have got my foot to the floor!

Hey, leave me alone!

When I was last here, there was nothing like this.

Since Kim Jong-un took power, several of these new funfairs

and water parks have gone up in the capital.

So how was it? How was it?

I have taken this several times, but each time I have the...

-I am always excited!

-Yeah?

-Woohoo!

So can I ask, where did you learn English?

Oh, I am a student of Kim Il-sung University.

-Kim Il-sung University?

-Yeah.

Hello.

'And he is not alone.'

Do you speak English?

Where'd you learn English?

I am studying in Kim Il-sung University.

-In Kim Il-sung University?

-Yes.

-What subject are you studying?

-Uh...

-HER FRIENDS LAUGH

It's difficult. Finance?

-Finance.

-Finance.

I study in Kim Il-sung university.

-You also study in Kim Il-sung University?

-Yes, yes.

This park seems to be full of students

from Kim Il-sung University.

Have they been brought in for our benefit?

Again, it's impossible to know.

Even here, it's hard to tell

how much this represents the reality of life here,

whether this is a bubble, Pyongyang is a bubble,

and these people are from the elite.

PEOPLE ON RIDE SCREAM

'We spot something our minder doesn't want us to film -

'a hot dog stand.'

Ya, ya, ya, let us go.

'It seems we have stumbled on a bit of North Korean free enterprise.'

He just wants to film the hot dog cooking.

'But why are they trying to hide it?'

They are really afraid to admit any change,

because any official admission of a serious ideological change

might be politically destabilising, so they pretend

that they are still living in the old Stalinist state.

But private enterprise is being allowed to flourish,

especially outside the capital.

This secretly shot video shows a market

close to the Chinese border.

These markets are, in theory, still illegal,

but they're essential for survival,

to prevent a return to the terrible famines of the 1990s.

-TRANSLATION:

-I was born in 1993.

That's when the national rations stopped

and because of that a lot of people died from starvation.

People didn't know how to survive, but now,

they've learnt by becoming merchants

and trading in markets.

But still, living conditions are not good,

so you have to fight for survival.

After three days, our first report on the trip

is broadcast on the BBC.

North Korea is making last-minute preparations

'for a once-in-a-generation congress of its ruling elite.'

It didn't take long for our hosts to react.

They called us to a meeting.

They were very angry that I'd described the hospital

as being "set up" and that I'd referred to

the young people we'd met at the funfair as being

"children of the elite".

The greatest anger was caused by a headline written back in London

that wrongly used the words "fake doctors."

It was quickly changed, but the damage was done.

The Nobel Prize winners became very concerned.

The North Koreans told them their trip was now in jeopardy.

The first reaction that they had was that

they would not want you to do any further filming.

It wasn't clear, at least to us,

to what extent they were going to try to be

co-operative in our visit.

But cooperation does continue

and the next day, we're taken to Kim Il-sung University,

named after the current leader's grandfather.

The performances are a display of loyalty to the Kim family dynasty.

This number - Young People Be Loyal To Our Party.

THEY SING IN KOREAN

I had a good schooling, we had public libraries...

Sir Richard Roberts is answering questions

from students whose English is impressively fluent.

My question is,

when was the happiest time of your life as a scientist?

-LAUGHTER

-Very personal question.

Sir Richard feels free to speak his mind.

Kids need to be creative, they need to do their own thing,

shouldn't listen to the adults too much.

The adults often don't know what is best for you.

Very often...

But how free are these students to think for themselves?

I think outside the DPRK, we think that it's very restricted,

what you're able to read, for example, science journals,

science and nature and access to the internet,

so I'm just curious, what's it like?

No, we have free access to

read all the books, almost all the books from the outside world.

Have you got access to the internet?

We have many chances to get to the internet.

And you can read...

You can go on Google and look up things in English?

Oh, yes, Google, yeah, right.

Next door is the university's shiny new computer lab.

12 years ago, there was no internet here,

so what can they access now?

So can we put in bbc.co.uk?

'The excuses begin immediately.'

-So this one's busy?

-Yes.

-So there's another one we can look at?

-Yes, OK.

OK, we'll go and look at this one.

What subject are you studying?

Computer technology?

'If anybody knows how to use the internet, this guy should.'

-Uh, intra...

-Yeah, intranet.

So the server is not working.

'But the minders insist the system is just temporarily down.'

-Very busy.

-Internet Explorer? What explorer is it?

Across the room, Sir Richard Roberts is asking the same question.

I'm just trying to find out how accessible stuff is,

because if you're a scientist, these days,

if you don't have access to the internet, you're dead.

NUMBERS DIAL ON PHONE

If these students DO have access to the internet,

then it is very tightly controlled.

What I'm concerned about is that they can't be honest

about the fact that they only have limited access.

For them to pretend that they do

have complete access is silly.

Information is becoming harder to control.

Defectors say the internet and foreign media

are now a serious threat to the regime.

These secretly filmed pictures show North Koreans

watching a South Korean TV drama.

Vast numbers of DVDs are being smuggled in from China.

-TRANSLATION:

-The way we learn about life overseas

is that we watch a lot of soap operas.

They're smuggled into North Korea with other items.

They make us wonder why North Korea

can't produce such things itself.

It makes us doubt ourselves.

-TRANSLATION:

-I watched a lot of South Korean soaps

and US movies when I was in North Korea.

I remember feeling really tense.

In the old days, the punishment was a few months in prison.

But after Kim Jong-un took over,

it could mean execution.

According to North Korean state media,

dozens have been executed for watching foreign TV.

DRAMATIC FANFARE

It's the evening performance at the Pyongyang Children's Palace.

CHILDREN SING

Even children here are taught

they must be constantly prepared for war.

Tonight, they're celebrating the latest missile launch.

Kim Jong-un is determined

his country will become a full nuclear power.

In June, the country tested one of these - a Musudan ballistic missile.

Within a decade, North Korea's aim

is to have nuclear weapons capable of hitting the United States.

When I was at Kim Il-sung University, I asked one of

the students why it's so important.

I just wanted to ask you...

Can you not stand in the shot, can you stand back a bit?

Why do you think the DPRK needs nuclear weapons?

IN ENGLISH:

So when...

Sorry to interrupt you.

THEY SPEAK IN KOREAN

Thank you.

They will have a few dozen missiles armed with nuclear warheads,

located in their kind of silos

or protected facilities across the country and aimed at

the major American cities,

but probably maybe cities in South Korea, Japan and China.

More than 50% of the hard cash in North Korea is poured into

nuclear programme,

because they believe that only this nuclear arsenal

can defend North Korean regime and its political system.

MARCHING BAND PLAYS

If nuclear weapons are one pillar of regime survival,

the other is the cult of the Kim dynasty.

While we were in Pyongyang, hundreds of thousands joined this parade

to celebrate the Workers' Party Congress.

My minders show the same reverence

in front of a statue of Kim Jong-un's father, Kim Jong-il.

And I'm expected to do so too.

Our minder, Mr Kim here,

said I'm not allowed to put my hands in my pockets,

because this is a sacred site

and that's the reverence that the Kim family is treated with here.

-Just wanted to have one more go.

-No, no.

-One more go.

-No, no.

-One more go. One more go...

'I don't know what I've said wrong, but it appears I've crossed a line.'

What's... What's so sensitive?

Is it because you think I'm saying something disrespectful

about your former president?

-Bit.

-A bit.

'We're taken into a building and told we can't leave

'until we've deleted the material.

'It seems I've committed a serious offence.'

-TRANSLATION:

-The North Korean regime is like a religion.

People are brainwashed from birth to death,

so it's hard for them to realise.

North Korea has managed to survive based on loyalty,

supported by this religion, but it's different now.

Now it's a reign of terror

and it's fear that allows North Korea to survive.

In fact, we had not deleted the material of the statue incident

and in our next broadcast we decide to use some of it.

This time our minders were much more angry.

They burst into our villa uninvited, red in the face,

and they were shouting. They said, "Let's not play games."

It's now the final day of our trip

and we're at the Pyongyang University of Science and Technology.

Our minders are now openly hostile.

IN ENGLISH:

From this point, we're not allowed to do any more filming.

The next day, we're due to go home.

With some relief, we head to the airport.

But at Passport Control, I'm seized by border guards

and driven back into the capital.

This is video shot by North Korean state security agents

inside the interrogation room.

You can see how disoriented I look and scared.

They've taken me away from my team, isolated me in this hotel

and then the interrogation began.

One played the good cop, one played the bad cop

and then they presented the evidence against me.

Articles I had written for the BBC website.

They claimed the words "grim-faced"

meant I thought Korean people were ugly

and that a "barked" order showed I thought they had voices like dogs.

These are my interrogators and they now threaten to put me on trial.

The one on the left tells me he prosecuted this man, Kenneth Bae,

a Korean-American who spent two years in a North Korean prison camp.

Would the same now happen to me?

After ten hours, my boss finds out where I'm being held

and negotiations begin.

We agree I'll write a letter apologising

to the North Korean people for the offence I have caused.

Finally, at 3.30, the interrogation ends.

But for two more days, I am prevented from leaving the country.

Then we're told there will be an official statement.

HE SPEAKS IN KOREAN

We have decided to expel the Tokyo BBC correspondent

Rupert Wingfield-Hayes from the territory of the DPRK and we

are going to never admit him again.

They say I've insulted the Kim dynasty and the North Korean people.

But compared to some, I'm getting off lightly.

Three other Westerners are still in prison here. I'm leaving.

It's been pretty exhausting, stressful, and...

..I'll be very happy when I'm on that plane.

I think our main surprise was that that had not happened earlier,

because the North Koreans were very upset with you.

But I think you must have been aware

that this sort of thing does happen in North Korea.

You criticised Kim Jong-un inside North Korea, in Pyongyang.

And in the area that their power works, in the area they control,

so you were expelled from Pyongyang.

We're not going to make any statements now...

'By the time we land in Beijing,

'news of my expulsion has been flashed around the world.'

..but just relieved to be out.

'Pyongyang has published my apology letter to humiliate me

'and to show other journalists the danger of stepping out of line.'

REPORTERS ASK QUESTIONS

Sorry, guys.

A few weeks later, I'm in South Korea,

heading towards the border with the north.

As long as Kim Jong-un remains in power,

this border post will be as close as I can get.

I didn't go to North Korea to try and get into trouble

or to insult the leadership.

I went to try and understand how the country works,

to try and see beyond the normal facade.

Instead, what I found is that facade is bigger and more elaborate

than I had ever thought.

SINGING

Pyongyang's giant shows of unity mask a deep insecurity.

North Korea's economy is improving,

but life for most here remains harsh.

Many now know they are poorer and less free than people

in South Korea and even China.

The cult of the Kim dynasty is unchallenged,

but is maintained through fear,

backed up by nuclear weapons.