REPORTER'S NOTEBOOK: North Korea Embraces Modern Life

— -- In the world of journalism, all we really want is a lead, which means getting unique access for a story we never witnessed before. The goal for years has been to nail down an interview with one of the top government officials in North Korea. It is a country where officials rarely speak, partly because of its new unpredictable leader Kim Jong Un. But this month they decided to talk.

The Interview

The U.S. had announced new severe sanctions against North Korea because of its ongoing human rights violations. What made it painful for North Korea was that for the first time Kim Jong Un was named on the list. Director General Han Song Ryol wanted to give a message to the United States that this allegation was a “declaration of war” and America “crossed the red line.” He said the two American detainees being held in Pyongyang, Otto Warmbier and Kim Dong Chul, will now be treated differently under the “war-time laws.” Despite all of his words, they allowed us as journalists to see more than usual.

My Father’s War

Our first big trip was to the south. It has been more than 10 years since I was able to see the DMZ from this side and once again I had a strange feeling in my stomach. We got the tour of the buildings now straddling the border. The signing of the armistice caught on pictures and the books laid out on the negotiation tables. It’s like a museum stuck in time. My father was a soldier during the Korean War although he did not make it to the battlefields of this peninsula. He was based in England until the armistice was signed and the troops withdrew south. Sixty-three years later, here is his 55-year-old son walking through the warzone that his father never saw, constrained by North Koreans who are “technically” still at war. Bizarre to say the least.

The Emerging City

North Korea has been changing significantly since my first trip here 11 years ago. In 2005, Pyongyang’s airport was an unusual place, worn down and antiquated with no arrival ramps or departure screens. The country's new airport has beautiful architecture, stores, restaurants and high tech computers. But what hasn’t changed, at least on this trip, is that there are still hardly any passengers! One reason is that we were the only journalists allowed in for this story. Other than the bureau AP opened here a couple years ago, American reporters are rarely invited. The only real way to get to Pyongyang is through Beijing and only one flight is offered a day (except Wednesday).

When you head downtown from the Pyongyang International Airport, you see how beautiful this country can be. In every capital city I have visited in Asia, there is massive traffic. But here the highways and streets are practically uninhabited. Really most of the people are on bikes. The only automobiles are public busses and taxis or diplomatic cars. There are more active intersection traffic lights than there were a decade ago but the “traffic cops” have not left. Almost all of them are women dressed in white uniforms with ties, high heals and plenty of makeup.

Despite the lack of traffic, the land is filling up quickly with new buildings, colorful high rises, in newly named neighborhoods like “Scientists Street.” There are construction cranes spread across the sky and the busses, still stuffed with passengers, are increasingly modern.

The View from the Sky

It was a long shot. We had been trying to get the interview with Mr. Han for a long time and once we got it we decided to make one more request. “Can we bring a drone so we can see the city from above?” we asked.

“No” they said, but “how about a possible tour in an old MI-17 soviet helicopter?” Home run.

This was never done before. Our only concern was this chopper was not very military in the sense that we couldn’t hang out of the door rolling the camera. We could only shoot video through the small windows just as we would on the commercial flights. So as we went to board we asked them if we could just attach a couple GoPro cameras to the bottom so that we could turn it into a “drone.” “Yes” they said. Wow.

We rolled on everything from the Pyongyang Circus and rail station to the Kim Il Sung Square and the Yanggak Bridge. Look at the side-by-side buildings where one is for orphans and the other for the old. The Pyongyang racecourse, not far from the smoking power plant and the Arch of Reunification. There is the top of the Yanggakdo International Hotel (where we often stay), the Rungrado May Day Stadium and the Munsu Water Park and of course the colorful Sci-Tech Complex.

Are They Happier?

It is hard for us as journalists to know how the people truly feel because we cannot interview North Koreans privately away from our minders. Wherever we go our “hosts” or “guides” listen to our questions and certainly write down the answers. For the very first time we got the chance to unwind at the Kaeson Youth Park, filled with roller coasters and insane rides. It isn’t quite as good as Disneyland (Disney is the parent company of ABC), but it was insane enough to make me almost carsick. For the first time I also had some nice interactions with the locals honestly because the topic was not about politics and policy. Just about kids and carnivals. Everyone reacts the same on a roller coaster no matter where it is located.

The weather was perfect for these four days. The fields are green and the skies are blue. There is hardly any pollution because there is very little production and very few cars. But what is growing is the tension. Just a few hours before our interview with Mr. Han, we heard the news that North Korea launched two more ballistic missiles, one of which crashed at takeoff while the other traveled more than 600 miles into the sea off the coast of Japan. Mr. Han told us he didn’t know that so he couldn’t react. The confirmation came later.

Goodbye

On the way out of the country we said goodbye to our “hosts.” What always happens on these trips is that we don’t trust each other in the beginning and at the end our ice begins to melt. We talk about our kids, our favorite movies and our favorite sports teams and suddenly we just don’t argue as much. Our job is to gather information and spew it to the public while they watch our every move and record every word so they can play them back for their bosses.

Welcome to journalism.