-I'm on a journey across North Korea, and after a week, it's time for me to leave the capital, Pyongyang.

♪♪ On my way, I pass under the imposing Arch of Reunification.

♪♪ [ Chuckling ] Wow.

♪♪ It's impressive.

Reunification of Korea might be the aim of the leadership, but the reality is, this is still a country divided.

♪♪ North Korea -- it's a brutal dictatorship, a country shrouded in mystery, suspicion, and fear.

But after a week... [ Chuckling ] Wow.

...I think I'm getting past the stereotypes.

This is a culture where reverence to the great leaders is all, and the sense of mass unity is so strong.

♪♪ And now I gained access to areas of the country that are normally off limits, to understand the war that divided Korea...

It's interesting to hear your side of it, because we were told we had won, and you believe you had won.

...to learn about its ancient past and what the leadership claims it has planned for the future.

This street was all built in a year.

Traveling away from cities.

I'll be meeting the people of rural North Korea.

So, that's your older brother?

What do you want to do?

Once again, I'll be accompanied by local guides.

But maybe they're the ones who will reveal the real North Korea... -Criticizing our leaders is like criticizing ourselves.

-...a land of mountain ranges, beaches, and Forests.

I'm about to discover a very different side of the DPRK.

♪♪ Opened in 2001, The 30-meter-tall Arch of Reunification represents the great leader Kim Il Sung's dream of reunifying North and South Korea.

♪♪ It's also the starting point of the road that will take me directly to the border.

♪♪ And so far, traffic doesn't seem to be a problem.

This is the Reunification Highway, which runs about 100 miles from Pyongyang to the Demilitarized Zone.

Well, I suppose, sadly, because reunification hasn't happened yet, this road is almost empty.

There's hardly a single vehicle on a six-lane highway.

Miles of empty road.

♪♪ I'm heading 100 miles south to the DMZ, the Demilitarized Zone, the 2 1/2-mile-wide border that splits the Korean Peninsula in two.

With me are my two guides, Kyung-chul and Soo-young.

♪♪ After three hours, we arrive at the Joint Security Area, the one place on the DMZ where you can cross from one side of Korea to the other.

Looking after me is the rather intimidating Senior Lieutenant Hwang Yong Jin.

-[ Speaking Korean ] -The Demilitarized Zone was created as a result of the Korean War in the 1950s.

Like most people in the West, I learned that the war started when North Korea invaded South Korea, who were then defended by the U.N. and America.

But the senior lieutenant sees it rather differently.

-[ Speaking Korean ] -Hmm.

-[ Speaking Korean ] ♪♪ -But, really, nobody won the Korean War.

There's just been a ceasefire for over 60 years.

It -- It's interesting to hear your -- your side of it, because I was 10 years old when the war -- the armistice, um, ended the conflict in 1953.

And we were told we had won, and you believe you had won.

So there we are.

-[ Speaking Korean ] -Well, I would say there were wolves on both sides.

So it's a -- you know, neither side won.

♪♪ Our minders are not particularly happy with me questioning who won the war.

So we walk on to what is probably the most militarily and politically sensitive area in the whole of the Korean Peninsula.

These blue U.N. conference rooms are the only place you can walk between North and South Korea.

The border is marked by the raised concrete line in the middle of the huts.

-[ Speaking Korean ] I-I have -- I've been here once before, from the other side, in 1996.

22 years ago, while filming in South Korea, I stood on the other side of the border as part of a tour group.

Escorted by American soldiers, North Korea seemed an impenetrable land, but I've always wanted to see it for myself.

-If you wish to make a crossing to North Korea, please do so at that end of the table.

[ Indistinct conversations ] -North Korea.

-Mm-hmm.

-And more than two decades on, here I am -- this time, crossing from North to South.

The atmosphere is still tense.

♪♪ So, this is 22 years later.

I remember thinking then that, you know, I -- it was like it was presented as a blank wall there from which you would get no response at all.

And yet I felt I wanted to know more.

You had to know more.

You can't just have one side of the story.

You've got to look at the other side of the story.

So it's rather, um -- It's -- I'm rather pleased that I'm given the chance -- have been given the chance today -- to see the other side, as well.

So, this time, I don't have to go back and out the door as we did before, with our large group of people.

I can come in on my own, I can walk over into North Korea, and I can stay here for a bit and probably have my lunch here.

And that -- I think that's some -- I feel that's an achievement of some kind for all of us.

[ Chuckles ] Sadly, these huts represent a massive failure of diplomacy, and since 1953, North Korea has found it necessary to create one of the biggest armies in the world.

It reportedly spends 25% of its GDP on the military and its notorious nuclear weapons program.

None of this makes for good small talk.

Nuclear warheads and nuclear missiles have cost your country a lot of money to develop.

-[ Speaking Korean ] -Uh, hopefully, there are signs that there may be a change in relations between your side and America.

Is this good news?

-[ Speaking Korean ] [ Chuckles ] -Well, I hope that people recognize that, um, we don't really need wars and armies and weapons.

We should understand each other by meeting each other, talking to each other, sharing our experience, rather than fighting each other.

It's a simple message.

And you know, I hope one day more people will understand.

-[ Speaking Korean ] -Hmm.

Wow.

It's good to meet you.

And I hope you're successful, with no more loss of life.

You know?

-[ Speaking Korean ] [ Both chuckle ] -After this, the guide seemed to relax.

If only the real peace talks could end this well.

A sad legacy of the Korean War is that most of North Korea was destroyed by American bombing, leaving few reminders of what was here before.

[ Birds chirping ] But just a couple of miles away from the DMZ is a town that a thousand years ago was the capital of Korea.

♪♪ This is Kaesong.

♪♪ During the Korean War, it was part of South Korea, so was spared bombardment.

♪♪ Now part of the North, this city and my hotel make me feel like I've arrived in a totally different century.

Ah, that looks nice and cozy, doesn't it?

It's good.

[ Stringed instrument plays ] ♪♪ The buildings in the hotel are over 100 years old, and as night falls, the guides and I are entertained by a night of Korean traditions.

-They are now bashing the boiled rice, so make it more sticky.

-Ah, this is an old tradition, is it?

-Yes.

-Go on, show me how you... -Oh, it's actually an unusual opportunity for us to do this.

-Yeah.

You're in good form.

You're in good shape.

-[ Laughs ] -Soo-young, be careful.

-Yeah.

[ Mallet slams rice ] -Kyung-chul, you're fantastic.

-[ Chuckles ] -There's more on your mallet than there is on this... -Wow.

-[ Laughs ] Just see how heavy it is.

Oh, yeah.

You have to do it with this hand.

Okay.

-Oh.

-Oh, I think that's -- Actually, I -- I've got a doctor's note.

Bad shoulder.

[ Laughter ] Yeah.

-Oh.

Take a bite.

-Mmm.

-Mm-hmm.

-Mmm.

-I took great efforts to bash this.

-Great, this.

Yes.

-[ Chuckles ] -Actually, it's still got the marks of your marathon this afternoon.

-[ Chuckles ] -Kaesong has taken me back to North Korea's past.

But tomorrow, I'll be traveling towards its future.

♪♪ ♪♪ The next morning, it's time to leave North Korea's history behind us.

We're driving 300 miles to the beach town of Wonsan, a place which could play a large role in the DPRK of tomorrow.

♪♪ But the roads are getting worse.

Uh, just about sort of halfway now.

Uh, this is the -- the main road, and -- and yet it's -- it's -- it's pretty rough.

The surfaces can be quite bouncy.

♪♪ I have this slightly -- [ Chuckles ] You were nodding off there, weren't you?

-No.

-No, I do, I do.

I'm surprised you can sleep on the road like this.

[ Laughter ] Winding through the mountains, with the -- the sea at the end of it, is quite an adventure.

I associate the sea with holidays.

Do you have summer holidays here, as well?

Holidays when you go away with your families?

-Oh, we have -- We working people have 15 days' vacation, and we can choose any day.

So, now I go, uh, to -- I usually go to the sea beach with my friends.

-Do you go with your family -- I mean, like mother and father or... -Yeah.

I got married last year in February, so... [ Cellphone rings ] -Oh, there she is.

[ Laughter ] That's his wife.

He can't get away.

♪♪ After a fairly torturous four hours, we arrive in the coastal town of Wonsan, a city at the center of Kim Jong Un's plans to transform the North Korean economy.

-Palin.

Mr. Palin?

-[ Speaking Korean ] -Thank you.

♪♪ [ Ping-Pong ball bouncing ] -I'm hoping the Ping-Pong won't keep me up.

♪♪ ♪♪ North Korea might be a country that has closed itself from the outside world, but, paradoxically, it's also trying to restyle itself as an international beach destination.

A few miles away from my hotel, Kim Jong Un has ambitious plans to turn Wonsan into the Costa del Korea.

[ Band plays up-tempo music ] -[ Singing in Korean ] ♪♪ -There's a huge construction project here in Wonsan to create a new resort, and a massive amount of workers have been brought into the city.

And these women here are here every morning, and other groups all over the city, to encourage the workers to, uh -- to build this extraordinary place in an extraordinary fast time.

♪♪ I can't see it happening for HS2, but, uh, maybe they'll learn a thing or two.

♪♪ Holidays to North Korea might sound unlikely, but it's already a popular destination for the Chinese, and international tourism is seen as a potential future growth area.

This huge development of luxury beach hotels, conference centers, and golf courses should be completed by the end of 2019.

Book now to avoid disappointment.

And visitors won't have to endure a four-hour drive to get here, because they've already built an international airport.

♪♪ It's all ready to go.

There's even the first advert I've seen here.

But there's a distinct lack of passengers... or planes.

♪♪ But what makes this Marie Celeste of airports even more bizarre is that all the shops and bars are fully staffed, despite there being no customers.

[ Speaking Korean ] I suspect they're here for our benefit.

♪♪ Nothing has confounded my expectations of DPRK, uh, as much as this gleaming, new airport.

And it seems to me it's a statement of intent that DPRK is going out to the world.

"Come here."

You know, in order to fill this place, they've got to have people from all over the world coming to the country.

So it means that the country itself will have to be seen by the rest of the world as the benign and welcoming host, rather than, you know, possible bad boy.

♪♪ But I wonder, if international tourists will want to travel to a country that is renowned for food shortages, famine, and poverty.

♪♪ With a landscape that is three-quarters mountain, North Korea has always struggled to produce enough food for its people.

♪♪ This is the Cheongsam Cooperative Farm, a few miles outside of Wonsan, and I'm joining farmer Kim Hyang Hui in the fields.

[ Speaking Korean ] -[ Speaking Korean ] -Okay.

Thank you.

You show me.

-Yeah.

[ Speaking Korean ] -Okay.

Is it rice that you grow, mostly?

-[ Speaking Korean ] -Due to a lack of machinery and fuel, most farmwork is done by hand.

-[ Speaking Korean ] [ Horn honks in distance ] -Oh, there they are.

Put on top.

You're putting it on top, yeah.

[ Chuckling ] Ah.

How am I doing?

Alright?

-[ Speaking Korean ] -Well, well, that's honest.

That's honest.

[ Chuckles ] ♪♪ North Korea's food shortages hit their peak in the mid-1990s, thanks to a fatal combination of flooding and the end of food imports from the collapsing Soviet Union.

Aid agencies estimate more than a million people starved to death.

And it's something I'd been warned not to bring up.

We -- We -- We remember hearing, in the West, that you had very bad shortage of food in the 1990s.

Um, are things much better now?

-[ Speaking Korean ] -I'm starting to get used to North Koreans shutting down when I ask uncomfortable questions.

Food supplies might be getting better, but malnutrition is widely reported.

And though the government may not like to admit it, the country still requires tens of thousands of tons of food aid each year.

Ah, your house is very nice.

Very good.

-[ Speaking Korean ] -Ah.

Is this your son?

-[ Speaking Korean ] -[ Speaking Korean ] [ Chuckles ] -Nice to meet you.

-Very nice to meet you.

Oh, very good.

-Hey.

-English.

-English.

-Yes.

Ah, thank you.

-[ Speaking Korean ] -Mm.

-[ Speaking Korean ] -Very nice and comfortable.

-This is my family.

-[ Speaking Korean ] -My father, mother.

-Oh, really?

-Brother, sister, and me.

-Yes.

There they are.

So, that's your older brother?

-Yes.

-What do you want to do?

-Army.

-Army?

Ah, well.

-[ Speaking Korean ] -Yeah.

Hyang Hui offers to make me some food, so I offer up my services as an English teacher.

And what's that?

-Clock.

-Clock.

Brilliant.

And, uh, what's that?

Hand, hand.

Put out your hand.

-Hand.

-There you are -- hand.

-Hand.

-Yeah.

My hand, your hand.

Hand.

That's good.

Yeah.

And let's see.

What's that?

-Tree.

-Tree.

Hey, brilliant.

That's great.

Before I leave the farm, my host is very insistent I try some local food... Oh, this is your kimchi.

-Kimchi.

-Ah, lovely.

Yes.

Thank you.

...under the watchful eye of the great leaders.

Hmm.

Tell me what, uh -- -[ Speaking Korean ] -Mmm.

-[ Speaking Korean ] [ Chuckles ] -It's very good.

Um, but it's very fiery.

Very fiery.

It's like eating fire.

Well, there's some chili in here, I think.

-[ Speaking Korean ] -Yeah.

-[ Speaking Korean ] ♪♪ -Thank you.

I've been charmed by this family home, but I can't help but think this generous hospitality is partly to give me the impression that food is in plentiful supply in the DPRK.

It's been a busy day.

[ People singing "Happy Birthday" in Korean ] So busy, that it's easy to forget it's my 75th birthday.

But the guides and my crew are not allowing me to forget.

♪♪ [ Cheers and applause ] -Wow!

That is wonderful!

Thank you.

"Happy birthday."

You know, I never thought I'd make it to my 75th birthday... [ Laughter ] ...let alone singing.

-Happy birthday.

Or do some planting in a field.

[ Laughter ] -Cheers.

-Cheers.

You know, however old you get, there's always a job for you in the DPRK.

[ Laughter ] Oh, thank you.

Oh, that's lovely.

♪♪ ♪♪ The next morning, it's time to leave Wonsan and head to a place that some say is the most beautiful in North Korea.

We're on our way to Mount Kumgang.

And the weather has sort of changed completely from yesterday.

In fact, Korean weather is a bit like British weather.

Get one day of sunshine; the next day of gloom and drizzle.

But it's rather attractive along the coastline here.

♪♪ We're driving to the Mount Kumgang region.

It's just 80 miles away, but with North Korean roads, it's another backbreaking three-hour journey.

♪♪ So, now we're suddenly into the mountains.

I'd say, very suddenly, they have, in the last few miles, climbed a lot.

As we arrive in Mount Kumgang, the rain clears, allowing us to begin a hike up the Kuryong waterfall.

♪♪ After two weeks, Soo-young feels much more like a friend than an official guide.

The color of those boulders are so white, compared to all this.

-Mm-hmm.

-It's beautiful.

-The rocks are very unique.

-Yeah, aren't they?

-Do you like doing this, hiking?

-Yes, so I want to get some more fresh air and relax.

And I'll think of -- thinking of nothing else.

-Wow.

-But the nature is good.

-For the first time since I arrived in the DPRK, I feel a great sense of freedom.

Wow.

Look at that, in there.

The Rockies or North Korea?

-Take your pick.

♪♪ -"Kumgangsan" means "diamond mountain."

And even on this cloudy day, it is stunning.

♪♪ That's nice.

Let's stop down here.

-Shall we?

-Oops.

-Oh.

-Ah.

-Ah.

-I'm hoping this is a good place to have a more open conversation about our two countries.

I find your country so very different from ours, and yet sometimes very similar.

How do you get your -- your news of what's going on in the country?

-Oh, by mass media -- you know, TVs and radios and buying newspapers, as well.

-What do they tell you about Britain, how we live?

Be honest.

You can be honest.

-The British, yeah.

We feel... -Yeah, I mean... -By appearance, you look so different.

But, yeah.

-Yeah.

-And... -I was thinking about, you know, our way of life, which is really based on freedom of speech and freedom of thought.

And people can wear what they want, and they can dress what they want, and they can be as rude as they want about their leaders.

You know?

Presumably, you think that's, um, not a good thing.

-Uh, it's your freedom.

It's your freedom.

You can do what you want.

And we have got our own -- you know, own style.

And you have got your own style, and your citizens can do -- can do what they want.

And yes, and... -And your citizens can do what they want, too?

-Yes.

-I mean, at home, one difference between, I suppose, your culture and ours is that we can be very rude about our leaders.

And here, I feel it's -- you just have a different way of -- of looking at things.

-Because our leaders are very great, and the leaders are not individual.

They are -- They are represent -- They represent the popular -- represent us, the masses.

So we cannot criticize ourselves, can we?

Criticizing our leaders is offending -- is like offending -- criticize ourselves, too.

What do you think?

-Well, I think of my leaders that sometimes they're good, sometimes they're bad.

And I think they make some wrong decisions and occasionally some right decisions.

And you know, they're -- they're -- that's -- that's the way they are.

Your leaders, if I may respectfully say, are very different, and I absolutely respect the respect that you have -- that you have for your leaders.

-You respect our feelings.

-Yeah, absolutely.

I wouldn't want to change your feelings at all, but I'm -- it's just been nice to talk about them, really.

I wouldn't want to change your feelings.

Now, that's what you feel, and you're an intelligent person.

-That's why we are so different from you, if you find... -Yeah, but you and I are not that different.

I mean, we can talk about things, and we have a similar intelligence about things, but that's good, too.

So I absolutely respect the respect you have for them and the way you feel about them.

Okay?

-Yeah.

-I really do.

♪♪ I know these conversations are not easy for Soo-young, but what it has shown me is how every North Korean ties their identity to that of the great leaders.

Although I've had many discussions, and, uh, Soo-young, my, um, guide, um, is very chatty and she's very funny, and we've had quite uninhibited discussions, but, oh, it's so difficult whenever you get onto any subject concerning the leadership.

I mean, they just stop.

I think it's just a very, very difficult thing for them to talk about, because you don't talk about the leaders.

As soon as you talk about them, you demean them in some way.

I think that's what it is.

And I find that I'm finding that quite tricky.

[ Sighs ] But having said all that, um, we have been able to film every day.

We've picked up a lot of material.

And I'm a great believer that sometimes just seeing the way people look, the way people talk, the way they eat, just little glimpses of that and the way they cultivate the farms or whatever, gives you a real insight into what's happening in the country.

♪♪ The next morning, we make a speedy return to Wonsan.

Thankfully, this is my last North Korean road trip.

After this, I hope to catch a plane from Wonsan Airport up to Mount Paektu, the place where the story of the Kim dynasty began.

And when we arrive at the ghost terminal building, things seem to have changed.

Yeah, there are people everywhere, and the gate.

Hey, a boarding card.

-Board card.

-Thank you, thank you.

-Thank you.

Yeah.

Bye-bye.

But after checking in, things seem to grind to a halt.

♪♪ Uh, well, there's been a bit of a hiccup here because, um, the mist, you can see, is cloaking Wonsan Airport.

And the plane that's taking us up to Mount Paektu cannot take off from Pyongyang to come here until this is all cleared.

So we don't quite know when we're going to actually be, um, uh, seeing the plane and getting on board.

So, meanwhile, we just hang around the airport.

At least it's not going to get too crowded, because this is the only flight of the day.

[ Conversations in Korean ] But, suddenly, the airport manager, who frankly has little else to do, has some news.

-[ Speaking Korean ] -Oh, yeah, taking off, but... -But, yeah, it would take -- Then it'll be 40 minutes.

-After hours of inertia, there's a sudden rush of activity, and the plane arrives from Pyongyang.

Air Koryo, the country's national airline, has one of the oldest fleets in the world.

This one was built in 1967.

Well, it's happening.

Here's our plane.

I think it's a -- We think it's an Antonov Russian plane.

♪♪ It says 06F, but there isn't any.

There's no 6F, so I think I'll just sit here.

♪♪ Finally, we're on our way.

♪♪ This 50-year-old plane is taking me 500 miles north to Mount Paektu, close to the border with China.

♪♪ It's very comfortable.

I wouldn't say the seats are functional.

That's what the wonderful thing about them.

They've got all these nice surfaces, and it's carpet on the floor.

And look at this sort of wallpaper, which is, uh, you know -- this is 1960s travel, not, uh, 21st-century travel.

Yet you still feel quite comfortable here in economy, flying to Mount Paektu on Koryo Airlines.

After a while, the landscape below becomes increasingly mountainous.

♪♪ I'm relieved when the wheels eventually touch down.

♪♪ As we disembark, I find myself in a very different-looking part of the country.

♪♪ -Well, Mount Paektu, the mountain we've come all this way to see, is just there, just below where the the sun is setting.

I mean, it's not one great peak.

It's a sort of a group of mountains.

But it's out, really, over there, just where the sun and the dark clouds are gathering.

So you can't actually see it, but you can sort of feel it.

But as the sun sets, the clouds clear and the snowy peaks reveal themselves.

♪♪ Ancient Korean legend has it that the mythical leader Dangun, who created Korea, was born at Mount Paektu thousands of years ago.

But this area is also home to a slightly more recent legend.

♪♪ After we arrive at the hotel, our taste buds are tantalized by a barbecue dinner.

♪♪ Mmm.

That's good.

Basically, a potato that's been toasted on the fire, so it's quite dark.

You see that?

Well, you can't see that.

And I can't see it.

I could be eating a dead mouse, but you know, it... Actually, I'm told it's a potato.

[ Conversation in Korean ] It's all good.

Thank you.

-Thank you.

-Yeah, yeah.

-It's hard to believe that these rustic surroundings gave birth to the ruling Kim dynasty.

♪♪ The next morning, I wake up in the far north of the DPRK and at a hotel which I'm not sure often sees actual guests.

But those who make it this far are probably here to see Mount Paektu, a place where Kim Il Sung, the first leader of the DPRK, made a name for himself.

And just a few miles away, there are the remains of the camp where he lived with his family.

-[ Speaking Korean ] -I'm given a military guide to show me around the rebuilt camp.

-[ Speaking Korean ] -During the first half of the 20th century, Korea was under hostile occupation by Japan.

Kim Il Sung first gained a reputation as a heroic resistance fighter in the 1930s.

It was also here that the future leader of the DPRK, Kim Jong Il, was apparently born.

-[ Speaking Korean ] -A miraculous moment.

It's a great story, but it's widely thought that Kim Jong Il was actually born in Communist Russia.

And how much fighting Kim Il Sung did here is up for debate.

But while the West sees the Kim dynasty as a dictatorship, here they are worshipped as heroes, defending their country against Japanese and American invaders.

And it's this version of history that has helped them to hold on to power for 70 years.

Well, that's a pretty sensational view of Mount Paektu.

This is a place where a lot comes together for thousands of years of Korean history, as symbolized, enshrined by Mount Paektu itself.

And then just behind me here, the monument of the founder of the DPRK, Kim Il Sung.

The past and the present coming together here.

As I look at Mount Paektu, a place that has been sacred to all Koreans for thousands of years, I can't help but wonder if the great leaders and their giant statues will be around for quite as long.

But it's time for me to leave.

Our plane is ready to take us back to the bright lights of Pyongyang.

My time in North Korea is drawing to a close.

♪♪ ♪♪ It's my last morning in Pyongyang, and this city, which felt totally alien two weeks ago, is now strangely familiar.

But there's one area I've yet to explore -- a brand-new development of apartment shops and restaurants on the bank of the Taedong River.

♪♪ This is the North Korea of the 21st century, and it's changing.

This is called Mirae Street, which means, I think, "Future Scientists Street."

♪♪ And it's one of the sort of miracles of the DPRK because this street, which is -- contains these amazing blocks, was all built in a year.

It takes me about a year to get the bedroom painted, [Chuckles] let alone build an entire modern city street.

♪♪ But even just to build this stuff that quickly shows ambition and a kind of sense of national commitment -- commitment to making this look like a modern city.

Since becoming leader, Kim Jong Un has promised to revitalize the economy of the DPRK.

Many people say that free-market forces are slowly taking hold as the old ideals of Communism slip away.

Maybe in five years' time, this street will be full of McDonald's and adverts for iPhones.

If so, I'm glad to have seen it before it becomes like everywhere else.

[ Wind blowing ] [ Traffic passing below ] When I first looked out over Pyongyang, I remember feeling very wary, apprehensive.

Um, it was all very unfamiliar and slightly threatening.

Now, two weeks later, I must say I feel much more relaxed.

I feel almost part of the city.

I feel I know it much more.

And I certainly feel less threatened.

I know that the -- the ideology here permeates every single aspect of life, and I know that, um, we've not seen everything.

And yet what I have seen feels -- Well, it doesn't feel grim, it doesn't feel brutal, um, as some would have us think.

It's actually, I would say, not an unhappy place.

But it feels to me this country is at a crossroads.

On the one hand, it wants to open up to the wider world, to expand culturally and economically.

But on the other, the system here seems intent on keeping the population under the type of authoritarian rule that can only persist in a closed and repressive society.

At some point in the near future, I feel the DPRK will have to decide which way it wants to go.

Alright.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

-Thank you for everything.

-Yes, yes, -Take care.

-I'm sure you'll be a film star.

And you have been brilliant.

-Oh, my lovely companion.

I wish you all the best.

-Thank you for looking after me.

You've made an old man very happy.

[ Laughter ] Anyway, lovely.

Hope to see you again soon.

-See you again.

-See you.

-Come to London.

I would love to show the guides my world, to see what they would make of it all.

For now, that's not possible.

But events are moving fast, and I hope positive change is coming to the people of North Korea.

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪