National Geographic goes Inside North Korea's Dynasty in a revealing new 4-part documentary series from November.

A new 4-episode documentary series from 72 Films about North Korea will make its debut on National Geographic ((DStv 181 / StarSat 220 / Cell C black 261) on 18 and 25 November giving the world an eye-opening look into the notorious hermit kingdom and the secretive Kim dynasty.

Inside North Korea's Dynasty will unspool with 2 episodes on National Geographic on 18 November at 21:00 and 22:00, and on 25 November at 21:00 and 22:00, with a collection of archival footage, rare firsthand testimonies and secret audio tapes from inside the brutal North Korea regime.

The groundbreaking four-episode documentary series examines the extraordinary history of the world’s only communist dynasty, three generations in the making, and took a year to produce.

The 4-part series documents the birth of the Kim dynasty by examining the rise and rule of the founder of North Korea, Kim Il Sung; his son, Kim Jong Il; and his grandson and the current leader, Kim Jong Un.

"Much of the world got its first real glimpse of North Korea's elusive current leader, Kim Jong Un, earlier this year when he met with the American president Donald Trump in Singapore," says National Geographic in a statement announcing the documentary series.

"But to really understand Kim and his place in the history of North Korea, you need to go back more than 70 years, to when his grandfather, and then father, were the leaders of the 'hermit kingdom'. It is a story of how a minor guerrilla fighter emerged from the battlefield to take control of a country desperate for leadership, and of a family dynasty unlike any the world has seen in modern times."

National Geographic says Inside North Korea's Dynasty "is the ultimate story of a family’s power, and the relationship among a father, a son and a grandson".

"The series provides a look at the Kim dynasty more complex and comprehensive than ever attempted before, revealing the workings behind the formidable family dynamics at the heart of an extraordinary country. Viewers will be immersed in the family’s dark and surreal story, bringing a fresh perspective on a nation ruled for over seven decades by one dynasty," says National Geographic.

"National Geographic was clear from the start - they wanted a definitive documentary on the Kim dynasty, unlike anything produced before," says 72 Films.

"We immersed ourselves in this project for a year, looking through archives that have not been viewed in decades and interviewing almost 50 people with perspectives that could shed light on this dynasty. Going in via the family was a fresh way to unlock North Korea."

"All three leaders are fascinating in their own right. They have all chosen to use their extraordinary power in different ways. The result is a film that is as unique in scope and depth as it is in insight and relevance."

Historic moments in the Kim family’s trajectory are captured with nearly 30 firsthand testimonies and rare interviews presented in the series, including from Shin Jyeung-Kyun, son of kidnapped South Korean filmmakers; Choi Jae Wook, press secretary for the South Korean president; and retired Col. Victor Vierra, in his first television interview, who was stationed at the Demilitarised Zone at the time of the axe murders of August 1976.

Also speaking are Kang In-Deok, director of the Korean CIA, North Korea bureau; Ko Young-Hwan, interpreter for Kim Il Sung; MichaelYi, interrogation specialist for the American CIA; Kim Hyun Hui, former North Korean espionage agent and the bomber of Korean Airline Flight 858; and the American basketball star Dennis Rodman, about his relationship with the current leader.

Producers culled through nearly 400 hours of tapes to assemble a collection of archival footage to drive the narrative of the story.

The episodes include the following:

Kingdom of the Kims
Sunday 18 November 21:00
For decades, Korea and its people laboured under Japanese imperialist rule.
But in 1912, in a small town outside Pyongyang, a child is born - Kim Il Sung, coinciding with an omen of imperialism’s doom.
This is the story of how an unknown guerrilla fighter rises to power, takes complete control of his country and makes himself a god in the eyes of his people.


The Son of God
Sunday 18 November 22:00
Unpacking the unique Kim father-son relationship further, this episode tracks the decline of Kim Il Sung and the rise of his son, Kim Jong Il.
It tells how he uses filmmaking and propaganda to win his father’s approval and power. Beginning in the 1970s, this film explores Jong’s rise to power as the heir apparent of North Korea.


Nuclear Family
Sunday 25 November 21:00
This episode begins as the Cold War ends - and North Korea has lost Soviet patronage, and with it, the security it guarantees and the economic support that has sustained the country for nearly half a century. 
As Kim Jong Il takes complete control of the country, he also starts a nuclear weapons program.
He also employs a private sushi chef, and hosts lavish banquets and parties while the country continues to struggle economically.


Rocket Man
Sunday 25 November 22:00
The final episode starts with the death of Kim Jong Il and the rise of the new leader of North Korea: his son, Kim Jong Un, taking power at the age of 28.
Using exclusive interviews, firsthand testimony and expertly curated archive material, the episode charts Un’s reign from 2011 to present day; delves into how Un consolidated power, by killing his uncle and his half-brother; and breaks down the historic 2018 summit with America's president Donald Trump.

Ri Chun Hee - the dear North Korea news reader who will outlive us all.

It's not cockroaches, Cher or Riaan Cruywagen who will outlive us all. It's Ri Chun Hee.

Her face is known to millions of people around the world although she lives in one of the most notoriously secluded countries in the world.

Yet when she once again popped up on Sunday on television, everyone knew some big announcement was forthcoming.

On Sunday, framed in front of a TV screen backdrop of Mount Paektu, the dormant volcano on the Chinese border that symbolises North Korean nationhood, Ri Chun Hee shuddered with excitement - not because she caught another one in Pokemon Go - but because she could announce another massive hydrogen bomb explosion test as "the perfect success".

Ri Chun Hee (74) has been the news anchor on North Korea's state broadcaster for longer than even South Africa's Riaan Cruywagen, and on Sunday, as in the preceding 4 decades, Ri Chun Hee appeared on North Korea's Korean Central Television (KCTV) to proclaim that the dear leader's army tested a hydrogen bomb.

The excitable Ri is always very brave as she keeps telling North Korea and the world the news and pushes through her words although she's visibly fighting back and tries not to become overwhelmed with emotion.

She's the global face of North Korea's propaganda machine, much like Caesar Flickerman in The Hunger Games book and film series and in 2016 the BBC called Ri Chun Hee "probably the most famous newsreader in the world".

Now a grandmother, Ri Chun Hee, who was born poor in 1943, first appeared on North Korea's TV service way back in 1971 and became the main news anchor in 1974.

Whenever there's deaths like those of dear leaders Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il, intercontinental ballistic missiles being launched, or nuclear bombs being tested, it is Ri who comes on air to break down and cry, excitedly jump up and down in her chair like Pokemon, or to bombastically scold and attack the evil America and the rest of the free world.

The lovely Ri sooths and calms - even when she announces that North Korea has nuclear bombs that can kill millions - showing that nothing about North Korea's regime will apparently ever change.

Even in her never-changing appearance, like again on Sunday when the world stopped and stared, Ri seems somehow encased in amber: almost always on TV in a pink traditional Korean hanbok behind the anchor desk, with her raven black hair perfectly done.

While even Wikipedia calls Ri Chun Hee who lives in the capital of Pyongyang "retired", she is definitely not.

According to North Korea, their exulted news reader is held in very high regard for her "resonant voice, impressive mood and outstanding eloquence" - things that Cher and Riaan Cruywagen who won't survive a nuclear detonation like Ri would - can never dream to have.

Over decades Ri Chun Hee has perfected the art of TV news reading melodrama.

The professional Ri is beloved for the way in which she can be seen battling to hold back tears, chastising the enemies of North Korea and appearing ever-present for the news from the totalitarian dictatorship known as the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

Katharine H.S. Moon, a professor at Wellesley College, told Britain's Channel 4 that Ri Chun Hee "in many ways serves as the public mother image, or feminine image for the state, because North Korean never has allowed any of the wives of the North Korean leaders to be in public life. It's so rare."

"She's highly-trusted by the state. She is literally the voice of the state to the public."

"People have become so accustomed to her face - she is the one who is trusted by the people because she is the one they meet every night on the television."