'You're followed and watched everywhere' - TVNZ1 Sunday television crew closely monitored by minders during North Korea visit

May 21, 2018

Minders were with the team all day, and they were even locked inside their hotel rooms at night.

After more than a year of negotiations, TVNZ1's Sunday show gained access to the secretive country of North Korea, and what they found there was eye-opening.

Sunday Reporter Mark Crysell, speaking this morning to TVNZ 1's Breakfast, said minders were all over him and his team from the moment they touched down.

This included checking to make sure he wasn't using his cell phone, checking his messages, checking photos and film footage that was taken.

New Zealand has no direct diplomatic connections with North Korea, so the Sunday team had to negotiate a visit through a third party - a bird conservation organisation called the Pukorokoro Miranda Naturalists' Trust.

It has also called off high-level talks with South Korea because of joint exercises with the United States.

The group has been into North Korea six times so far to count birds, and they have developed an excellent connection with the country, Crysell said.

The isolation once inside is intense, he said.

"Once you go in there, that's it - it's like going into a tupperware container," Crysell said.

"They put the lid on, you can't really communicate very easily outside, there's no internet, and you're followed and watched everywhere - you have to accept that.

"You're locked into your hotels at night - you can't go anywhere on your own."

Sunday was helped on their way with funding from The Asia New Zealand Foundation.

The full story will be screened on Sunday May 27 on TVNZ 1 at 7.30pm.

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