Korea opportunities

Beijing

We were halfway across the narrow pontoon bridge on the Tumen river which separates China from North Korea in a remote area not far from Vladivostok when I reflected that what we were doing was completely mad. By then, however, it was too late to turn back. Approaching rapidly was the red-and-blue flag with its central star, and, beyond it, a grimy concrete blockhouse containing the border police of the hermit state.

The story had begun three weeks earlier when I telephoned our Chinese producer, Lu, in Beijing and asked him to inquire about entry to North Korea. His answer was that journalists are currently barred but that he had found a small travel agency which might be able to obtain invitations for a party of businessmen. Two weeks later an excited Lu rang me. ‘The invitations have come through,’ he said, ‘but we must use them within a week.’

Bogus CVs claiming that we were executives of a travel company were hastily concocted. I became regional manager of the International Travel Network; my cameraman, Sean Swan, assistant manager. A small camera was purchased. Feeling distinctly uneasy, I entered the North Korean border post behind Miss Kim, the formidable ethnic Korean travel agent who had arranged our invitations. It was freezing, but inside the post it seemed to be even colder. All round us North Korean border guards in giant Russian-style peaked hats and ill-fitting brown uniforms clasped their chests and stamped their feet in an effort to keep warm. Clusters of officers were soon poring over our documents with a mixture of hostility and suspicion – but they had reckoned without Miss Kim. Bustling from one dirty glass window to another, she chivvied and cajoled. When she met resistance, she brandished our invitation, an impressive green-covered document with a large red stamp which stated that we were permitted entry for the ‘promotion of economic and technical exchanges’.