A scary Korea move for star
Michael Palin has told how he feared for his safety while making his new documentary about North Korea.
The Monty Python legend, 75, revealed his wi fe Helen urged him not to make the f i lm about everyday life in the secretive dictatorship.
“There was never a moment when I said, ‘I don’t want to do this’,” said Palin on being invited to make the two-part Channel 5 programme.
“But there was a time when I thought it would be rather foolish and, quite uncharacteristically, my dear wife said, ‘I don’t really want you to do this’.
“Normally she is very keen for me to go on holiday.
“That is an indication of how worrying it was and for a long time we thought it honest ly would never happen.”
There were fears the country’s volatile leader Kim Jong-un could start a nuclear war as tensions flared between North and South Korea late last year.
Tensions softened when North Korea sent 22 athletes to the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics in South Korea in February.
But despite the improving relations between the two countries, Palin admitted his nerves kept him awake at n i g ht b efore h i s departure.
While in North Korea, he witnessed the historic moment Kim Jong-un shook hands with South Korean president Moon Jae-in.