Using charm to tease out North Korea’s secrets
sir – Veronica Timperley (Letters, September 28) underestimates the subtlety of Michael Palin’s programmes on North Korea.
Seasoned travellers like Palin know that charm is a better tool than forthright comment for extracting information in a country that has “democratic” in its name.
It is also important to distinguish between government and people. Palin wisely made this distinction and let the footage speak for itself.
Following a visit to Iran in 2005, a visa photograph in my passport showed me wearing a hijab. When I subsequently visited the US, the immigration officer viewed it with suspicion and asked: “What did you think of Iran?” I replied: “Lovely people, dreadful government,” and my passport was stamped.
Palin had a narrow path to tread and was no doubt mindful that some years ago tourism came to a virtual halt in North Korea because a visitor was shot after leaving her hotel unaccompanied by a minder.
He also had to consider that the lives of his charming but brainwashed minders could be impaired by one false move.
Ann O’brien
Leeds, West Yorkshire