Every day at 6:30am in Pyongsong, we were woken up by North Korean propaganda blasted into our rooms from megaphones outside. Filmed at the Jangsusan Hotel in September 2015.
Mom soooooo he banned everything on the internet except propaganda... and you don't consider that a ban on the internet? Save it for the semantics dome E.B. White
Not really. Do you know how good the phones these days with their low apertures and optical stabilizations? MY S7 edge records even in 4K. Im just saying.
Glad you could film a culture that’s stuck in the 1960s. That TV in your room looked like it was the most advanced piece of technology and it was still a CRT TV lol. The music playing out there are like my previous neighbors who played their Mexican music 24 hours a day.
Im shocked that you had the BALLS to even RECORD at ALL while you were there. Id have been so paranoid that any of the windows directly in front of the hotel would have people watching me.
My colleague spent the night there once. She tossed and turned her first night. The next morning a girl from the front desk asked her if she needed a sleep aid to help her sleep. That's when she knew they watch the rooms on video while you sleep. Creepy.
It's "Brutalism" architecture style which came up in the 1950's and was common until the late 1970's or early 1980's. Whole North Korea is kinda stuck in that era.
Orwell based 1984 on his real-life experience with communists (as a socialist fighting against nationalists in the spanish civil war). It's unsurprising that the place where they got in power is so similar.
@@DeerJerky No, we need to discuss how biden and the democrats are essentially trying to destroy America and turn it into north korea part 2...., i know that triggers you because you voted for the ignoramus but it will be discussed
Well I think he's being really smart about it because in the video he doesn't say anything bad about Korea. He simply states that there is morning music and shows it but doesn't call it ridiculous or crazy or any other stuff like that. I mean they probably would still be mad at him for recording but he at least isn't slandering their country.
@@DuffyGabi Yeah sure I'm not saying that it's not risky but he definitely is trying to make sure not to say a bad thing. I think it's good that there are some brave people that show how the situation there is. I for example really thought that people overreact a bit when they talk about NK but people recording the country really showed me how serious it is. They also don't immediately imprison everyone who records something. If he'd talk bad about them on the other hand it might give them even more an excuse for taking him in. They could say that he's a danger for their country and wants to spread propaganda against NK in western country. Otto Warmbier for example also stole a propaganda poster and was not just recording. Not saying that it's not dangerous but they usually try to find a "good excuse" to imprison a tourist.
@@blaqai well technically he stole a poster yes. That doesn’t make it ok to turn him in to what amounts to a vegetable that’s also been in the fridge for 6 months. He was beaten into a coma for trying to take a piece of paper. Also, North Korea is one of the countries that teaches their youth in schools to hate the west and particularly the US. It’s an extremely unpredictable and dangerous place for anyone in the west to travel there.
Liam Foran - apparently you haven’t been abroad ! ! - countries that are ran by dictators like this homosexual Kim Jung has his own ppl killed for the smallest things like trying to eat scraps of his plate in one of his many opulent homes...he is also a male rapist as reported by his personal secretary who either fled the country or defected,i cannot remember which,either way they usually do not kill,they have that person imprisoned ; it’s much better to use them as a Slave Force in their prison system. The End.
@Helen Brown Because it's entirely a propaganda tool of the North Korean government? And based on an alleged "Sinchon Massacre" that never really happened in the way that the Kim governments have claimed? en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinchon_Massacre A massacre where U.S. troops likely never participated according to independent outside historians? So, it's a nonsense museum in a nonsense country.
But I really love the room. It's such a time travelling experience. Last time I experienced this architecture, furniture, TV and stuff when I was in an old Eastern nuclear-shelter-museum from the 1970s.
He is actually so smart. He never calls them out or slanders the propaganda nor the country, instead he makes sarcastic remarks, but it's those sarcastic remarks (being portrayed positive) that could possibly save his life if he ever gets caught with the recording.
Calski not really. since i bet you have never been to North Korea, all of the bad things you know about it is from western fake news and people who want to get views.
North Korean hotel clerk: "Would you like a wake up call?" Guest: "Yes, thank you." 5AM: Military truck rolls up outside your window and blares for hours.
Hhahaha! Forgot the endless guy screaming pro-communist slogans! Catch is... If you refuse to agree to the wake-up call the next day... Its gulag time for you!
They say prisons sort of freeze time, because longterm prisoners become time capsules. North korea is a country sized prison, and an interesting preservation of a late 20th century soviet-style dictatorship
@WorldFlex That's the opposite of accurate. You've just literally been indoctrinated to think communism means "dictatorship" and probably have never read the manifesto and can't define it without bringing in some heavily policitized bias.
You're late. He's probably gone now. This was in 2015 Kimmy. Also don't be mad about your failed rocket test. Super powers can have performance problems sometimes.
I'm impressed by the posh conditions of your room, more certainly impressed by the high end technology put into the TV. Gotta give you kuddos for filming.
Trust me, this is all a thinly veiled facade. The whole place is like a game from the early 90s where if you go out of bounds, you can walk behind the false walls and see the emptiness.
@@LambGoatSoup I mean the movie is definitely not 100% accurate but North Korea has many spots that are in extreme poverty, there was even an issue of cannabalism due to hunger in the 90’s…
Depressing horn music: "Citizens of our fair city; by order of the Regent, the curfew is now active. Any and all foot traffic along Kaldwin's Bridge after sunset will be met with force by the city watch." Depressing horn music.
The music sounds like it’s from the 40’s. Take away the fact that it’s meant for propaganda and it’s kind of nostalgic in a creepy, wartime kind of way.
Julia Crawford Wartime? NK is still at war with SK. They only signed a peace treaty. NK needs perpetual war to feed the party’s loyalty. They like to take a few pages out of 1984, don’t they?
@Cheeto or at least that military truck is there to spy on everyone in the hotel, but I mean I'm not surprised, who would want to to to north Korea? Probably a spy or someone that doesn't agree with the dictatorship, so no wonder that they spy on people in hotels
Its pretty much the closest you'll ever get to experiencing life in Stalins Soviet Union in the 21st century. From the buildings, uniforms, statues etc.
You kidding? Soviet Union was never even close to that even during Stalin reign. Sure there were limitations and rules, but they never took it that far.
@@troller8680 I mean, look at the city buildings, artstyles, work cultures, camps, army uniforms etc and compare them to Soviet ones. They obviously have differences (For one North Korea has some early communist China influences too) but the general theme is practically identical. Hell, even alleged current starvation in North Korea rural areas events such as the Holodomor.
@@theanglo-lithuanian1768 holodomor (which was the result of transition from one agrarian model to another) and your annual starvation in Korea is entirely different thing. Check yourself, was there any starvation in USSR after holodomor (not counting WW2 events)? And even if you go for aesthetics, only military might somewhat similar. Same goes for architecture (which was different in USSR, depending on time period), no idea about camps. Even people despite all the talks weared different outfits and had more colours. No, North Korea is another entity at this point who took things too far. Just look up video called Moscow in 1953 to see the difference. And just reminder - 1953 was during Stalin era who considered to be the most authoritarian.
@@troller8680 ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-f9p20dxtTkY.html Looking at this similarities are there, from the uniforms to clothing to buildings, especially in areas outside of the big cities. And you're right, North Korea is a more extreme version of the USSR. Similar to China during Mao's rule.
Watching life play out in the window. It's like a nation sized Truman Show. Everyone is moving at the same pace, and posture. It's like they're all in sync. Products of the state and one way of thinking.
That's a fantastic observation, actually. There is a very "painted on" look to their movement. The cyclists, walkers, the spacing they occupy on the roads. It is so singularly eerie that little things like that could possibly be different somewhere. It's like the gait of their walks even seem like they're sort of "practiced." Odd feeling, that.
The countries in the Warsaw Pact were never this harsh. North Korea for me is a monarchy because the countries leaders run by bloodline, while Warsaw Pact countries leaders were members of the political party.
@@pomeranianproductions647 let's say, East Germany wasn't as posh as West Germany, but at least things were adequate enough there. No extremes, like no extreme rich and poor. People were normally rich and poor. Ofc people evacuated to the West cuz their family was there and higher gambling chance for a better job.
It IS a fascinating and mysterious country. Nowhere else like it on earth. I see the appeal and why people would want to visit. But I can’t understand why an American would want to MOVE there. I don’t think they do, actually.
Yeah in fact it’s not even the year 2021 over there LMAO. They count their years based on when Kim Il Sung first took power back in the 50’s, right now they’re only in like AD 70 something.
@@thatperformer3879 Also their military still uses Early Cold War equipment. Hell they even think that the U.S wears 50s Uniform and uses the M1 Garand as standard issue.
Wonder why. Almost like 90% of their infrastructure was bombed by the United States and 3 million people were killed, with thousands of tons of napalm poisoning the soil.
@@E4439Qv5 I think Cuba is far more modern than North Korea,even tho they're communist Cuba isn't isolated themselves from the world,the quality of life in Cuba is pretty good,100x better than in North Korea.
That's interesting that they would go so far out of their way to make themselves look perfect to the point where if something breaks, they don't want anyone knowing about it.
Oh yes this is very established and engrained in the culture of the craziness there. They don’t want a single thing that can be shown or used as them being lesser or more broken down than the western countries
That's how all the communist dictatorships work. They don't want you to know socialism doesn't actually work. Cuba, china, and the soviet union did the same. They hid every failure or blamed it on someone else.
@@DukeoftheAges That's why they're so repressive. The system is so broken that the only thing keeping it together is force and corruption. Officials hiding information from superiors and abusing their position to gain (and give) favors is the only way things are kept going.
Yup. Seeing people in our generation openly promote communism and hardcore socialism is terrifying. They are beyond stupid and refuse to acknowledge videos like these.
Luv Pancake Yeah I get the epic memes, but I literally know hardcore left wing people from my school who promote communism and have communist flags in their bedrooms. Scary shit.
He was right to be paranoid. Tourists in the slightly friendlier China get assigned a dedicated surveillance officer (each officer is usually monitoring several people or an organized tour group). If China is doing it then North Korea is DEFINITELY surveilling every single second of a tourists time in North Korea.
You are mistaken. China does NOT assign anyone to tourists. I've been to China four times. I was told that secret security is everywhere, but no one ever bothered me and I never detected their presence. I wasn't entirely comfortable 100% of the time, mainly due to the propaganda we're fed here in the U.S., but I was able to do basically anything I wanted and I could travel throughout the country at my leisure.
Is this a voice over or did you actually say these things while filming? That's pretty brave, given that they usually hide microphones in the hotel rooms.
I wonder *After watching the fake car dealership* if the cars and, trucks driving around are like the ones on "The Truman Show"..just going in circles, back n forth in front of the hotel..not really going anywhere
+barniculas while that can be true, and there is no reason not to entertain such a notion, there is also the possibility of it being that it isn't and they have enough people in cars actually going about. I'm skeptical but not sure :/
+barniculas Actually it seems you're right. There are at least 3 vehicles I see that appear twice in this video. For example, at 2:26, there's a blue truck. And at 2:56 there's the same blue pickup truck again going the opposite direction. I think there's a few other cars that are also making loops, but it's hard to tell. I actually think it's possible that they may have made either side of each vehicle, slightly different looking....such as one side with hubcaps, other side without, one side with door trim, other side without, to make the cars look slightly different when they turn around and loop back.
+C “N7” North I'm sure some of the vehicles are political party member vehicles, some are local buses, but I would not put it past NK to have extra vehicles driving around the blocks to make it appear as though the streets busy. NK's are pretty good at faking things including empty buildings, skyscrapers, etc. NK have a huge fuel shortage and most of the fuel is reserved for the military, so I doubt they would waste gas for private owners other then members of the Korean workers party.
There's something similar in Japan when around voting season. There drive around this truck with their name written all over it and yell out through their megaphones about their regime or something. During the day they'd park outside of train station and do the same. Very annoying.
"best way to wake up in the morning" *Nervous happiness to satisfy any possible hidden microphones that might hear you questioning the authority figures*
God that place looks miserable, even the weather is depressing. And I normally love cloudy weather. The trees even look sad. Its like as if all of the misery and stress of the people have infested the air and the land itself
The loud speakers distorted voice gives it that extra punch of eerie vibe. In every movie hearing that equals missiles incoming or a nuclear power plant nearby failed
Scariest part is everyone talks about how they manufacture the bustling of the city for the tourists, but since these are all rumours I can’t actually tell if this is all real or fake. Creepy
Saw a video of this dude going to nk and that’s exactly what it felt like. But also with those fake clothing and food stores I wouldn’t be surprised if the rumors are true.
Honestly I feel like that truck is like a cattle call for all the NPCs to keep traveling up and down that road on bikes and if you have motor vehicles to use that to show the “bustling” nature of the city.
Well, they did build a ghost city near the South Korean border just for appearances, so... It's not too far fetched to think those people outside are actors.
@Kelson Kugler Well when most of the country is forced to work, and the government actively violated human rights you wouldn't expect the conditions to be great. Along with the fact that there is recording of NK soldiers shooting elderly and children trying to escape the borders.
Just the vibe of this is so eerie, so unsettling. The feeling of hopelessness really sets in, the feeling that the lives of anyone there is completely controlled, the wrong thoughts are disposed of and casted away violently. This is why we should never let the government start telling us how we live our lives. Or else one generation later, you wont be able to even think otherwise.
You know there’s something similar between 1920s/30s Germany and the current NK. They both were in despair and needed a strong leader, little by little their dictatorship government started to brainwash almost everyone and indict fear so they could control the people and country, something that the US doesn’t have. No one here trusts the government and the reason why so many elected Biden is because Trump was slowly moving the country towards that direction. I mean did you not see that happened on January 6th? Here in the US, yes we have problems and division, however we still have freedom lots of it compared to people in NK many countries in the Middle East, Latin America, and in Asia such as NK and China.
John Postlethwaite so??? It's not like America where they beat you half to death in the streets, everyone is on pharmaceutical drugs and half your country is in jail LOL.
I have read on another travelers documentary notes that the music you hear every morning in North Korea is actually morning "greetings" from the train station (and by listening the lady talk after the music has finished, makes this even more credible). Since there is not much traffic and the cities are not so developed, you can actually hear the music even from quite far away from the station.
@@1990drewman Why not when "fake news" keep putting it down. What's wrong with a little honesty. Is honesty a part of freedom of speech? But then again, people don't understand honesty when their brainwashed by "fake news" like that in America.
WHAT's up guys, I'm back in North Korea and today we'll be checking out some propaganda here, and so remember to smash that like button and click subscribe, and so let's get right into it
*PRANK IN PYONGYANG GONE WRONG! (GONE SEXUAL) (MILITARY POLICE CALLED) (PLEASE HELP THIS IS THE ONLY UNTRACKABLE WAY I CAN SAY THAT THEY ARE HOLDING ME IN A SWEATSHOP)*
And the room he was in would have been bugged.....the whole hotel probably.....they were listening to every word he said.......SCARY ORWELLIAN BIG BROTHER SHIT OVER THERE.
I travelled North Korea in 2019, they are much more free with videos and photos now. All they told me was no photos of police/military. There was one time a guide told a Chinese tourist no photos of country side, however I asked my guide she said no problem. However I was very careful about what I said, even if I was filming alone in my room. In the end, they never even checked my phone! Great video by the way, thanks for posting
They probably didn't check what you filmed/photographed because you were being watched most of the time and were only allowed to go to places they prepared for you.
I remember when i went to anywhere in Europe and photographed basically everything. Things have really improved here since the beginning of the 20th century.
I know he gets a lot of hatred and mockery by the Western media, some of it justified, but Kim Jong-Un has liberalized the country quite a bit since he took over for his father (at least by North Korean standards). There has been some degree of privatization of the economy, a good deal of modernization, and encouragement of tourism and an opening up of some degree to outsiders. Hence why he was very receptive to meeting and negotiating with Trump and other Western leaders. It's still an extremely repressive place to live and not a fun place to get caught fucking around as a foreigner but by most accounts the quality of life there has improved considerably in the last decade. Kim Jong-Un is still a ruthless despot but he's definitely more forward-thinking than his dad and a lot more competent than Western perceptions make him out to be. He's quite politically savvy and not some buffoonish man-child.
At least North Korea don't turn people into stalkers and transhumans and no headcrabs lurking in the shadows ready to hump your head and put that sweet sweet cranium cracking beak through your skull and play with your nervous system
@@TheTrueMichael Also, eh. Atleast you don't have your memory slowly wiped with drugs, and aren't allowed to reproduce and are at the mercy of an alien force known as the combine..
