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NORTH KOREA, Suspicious Minds, January 2003

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Facts & Stats
North Korea has the world's fifth-largest military, with more than 1 million active-duty personnel. Read more Facts and Stats.

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Learn more about the nuclear threat North Korea poses, the country's military history, the famine that has ravaged its citizens, and the ongoing efforts at reunification of North and South. read more

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Related Report from FRONTLINE
Trace the delicate maneuvers and clumsy turns that have brought the world to the brink of a nuclear showdown in East Asia. Visit Kim's Nuclear Gamble.





The Story
North Korean women perform in a political rally (image copyright BBC, 2003)
FRONTLINE/World visits North Korea, which is among the most closed societies on the globe. Traveling as tourists, BBC reporter Ben Anderson and cinematographer Wills Daws peek past the sights planned for them on their guided tour and develop surprising rapport with their ideologically pure official minders. [This story was originally broadcast in January of 2003, with an encore broadcast on many PBS stations March 20, 2003.] read more


FACE-OFF: A Short History of the United States-North Korea Conflict (White House photo by Eric Draper)


North Korean museum guide in military uniform (image copyright BBC, 2003)Interview With Ben Anderson: Versions of the Truth
Listen in as BBC reporter Ben Anderson comments on the biggest lesson he learned in North Korea: "Everything that one side accuses an enemy of -- you can be fairly certain he's doing it himself."

Ongoing Coverage: The New York Times
Visit The New York Times "Threats and Responses: Targeting Terror" for up to date news, analysis, video and multimedia packages covering U.S. relations with North Korea and the nuclear threat. Reports on North Korea are also issued as part of The New York Times Asia Pacific coverage. All articles on Asia Pacific pages are available free of charge.