Traveling through North Korea | DW Documentary

Summary

The documentary follows filmmakers’ tightly controlled visits to North Korea in 2013 and 2017. Their trips had to be arranged through state agencies, and they were accompanied by guides at all times. Although they signed a declaration stating that their visit was not for journalism, they secretly recorded footage, aware that filming without permission could put them at risk.

During the 2013 visit, they saw a country organized around military displays, official ceremonies, and the personality cult surrounding the Kim family. At the Victory Day parade, the Demilitarized Zone, and major Pyongyang monuments, the filmmakers observed how public spaces and national history were presented to visitors.

Conversations with the guides were guarded. An expert explained that North Koreans who meet foreigners are often paired and required to report on their interactions, an arrangement that encourages mutual surveillance and self-censorship.

The documentary also examines the country’s official ideology and the difficult question of reunification. One guide described a united Korea with both socialist and capitalist systems but resisted the idea that the North might give up socialism. The filmmakers found that their questions could not fully reveal what people privately thought. They concluded that they had only glimpsed daily life in a society where open expression may carry risks.

Pyongyang’s architecture is presented as closely tied to ideology. An architect interviewed in the film explains how the city was rebuilt after the Korean War, replacing its older layout with broad avenues, monumental buildings, and sightlines connecting important sites. The Juche Tower and other landmarks reflect the state’s emphasis on self-reliance and reverence for its leaders. The visitors also attend the mass Arirang performance and tour a children’s palace, seeing the extensive training behind such large-scale displays.

The 2017 visit offered some visible contrasts with 2013: new residential buildings, brighter clothing, more consumer goods, and a city that appeared less dark at night. The filmmakers stress that these were impressions from a restricted itinerary, not proof of how life had changed for the population as a whole. During this trip, one filmmaker ran the Pyongyang Marathon while ill and dehydrated. The visit also included the country’s ski resort and a supermarket selling foreign goods.

The documentary’s overall conclusion is cautious: North Korea appeared to combine real human warmth and moments of beauty with pervasive control, propaganda, and uncertainty. The filmmakers valued meeting their guides but remained conscious that surveillance shaped what they could see and what others might feel safe saying.

Presenters and Contributors

• Gregor Möllers — Filmmaker and narrator
• Anne Lewald — Filmmaker
• Philipp — Travel companion in 2013
• Dr. Rüdiger Frank — Professor of East Asian economy and society, interviewed about surveillance
• Philipp Meuser — Architect and editor of a guide to Pyongyang, interviewed about the city’s design
• North Korean guides — Unnamed contributors in the film