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John Sweeney
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North Korea Undercover: Inside the World's Most Secret State Hardcover – International Edition, September 15, 2014

by John Sweeney (Author)
4.1 4.1 out of 5 stars 289 ratings
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A unique and timely account of life in North Korea.
     North Korea is like no other tyranny on earth. It is Orwell's 1984 made reality. The regime controls the flow of information to its citizens, pouring relentless propaganda through omnipresent loud speakers. Free speech is an illusion: one word out of line and the gulag awaits. State spies are everywhere, ready to punish disloyalty and the slightest sign of discontent.
     You must bow to Kim Il Sung, the Eternal Leader and to his son, Generalissimo Kim Jong Il. Worship the dead and then hail the living, the Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un. North Koreans are told their home is the greatest nation on earth. Big Brother is always watching.
     Posing as a university professor, award-winning BBC journalist John Sweeney travelled undercover to gain unprecedented access to the world's most secret state. Drawing on his own experiences and his extensive interviews with defectors and other key witnesses, North Korea Undercover pulls back the curtain, providing a rare insight into life there today, examining the country's troubled history and addressing important questions about its uncertain future. Sweeney's highly engaging, authoritative account illuminates the dark side of the Hermit Kingdom and challenges the West's perception of this paranoid nationalist state.
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  1. Print length
    320 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Bantam Press
  4. Publication date
    September 15, 2014
  5. Dimensions
    6.24 x 1.27 x 9.4 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    0593072979
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0593072974
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

JOHN SWEENEY is a reporter for BBC Panorama who became a YouTube sensation when he lost his temper with a senior member of the Church of Scientology. Before joining the BBC in 2001, Sweeney worked for twelve years at The Observer, where he covered wars and revolutions and unrest in more than sixty countries from Algeria, Bosnia, Chechnya to Zimbabwe. He has helped free seven innocent people falsely convicted for killing their babies and given evidence against six suspected war criminals in The Hague. Over the course of his career John has won one Emmy, two Royal Television Society prizes, one Sony Gold award, the What The Papers Say Journalist of The Year Prize, an Amnesty International prize and the Paul Foot Award. He is the author of eight books, including most recently The Church of Fear -- Inside The Weird World of Scientology. His hobby is falling off his bike on the way back from the pub.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Bantam Press (September 15, 2014)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 320 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0593072979
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0593072974
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.39 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.24 x 1.27 x 9.4 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.1 4.1 out of 5 stars 289 ratings

About the author

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John Sweeney

John Sweeney

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John Sweeney's rule of thumb is "I poke crocodiles in the eye with a stick". He's written eight non-fiction books and four novels including the best-seller, Elephant Moon, and his latest thriller, The Useful Idiot, about fake news in Stalin's Moscow in 1933. Sweeney is a British writer and broadcaster who became a YouTube sensation in 2007 while working for BBC Panorama and lost his temper with a member of the Church of Scientology. He admitted looking like an 'exploding tomato'. As a reporter, first for The Observer, then the BBC Sweeney has covered wars and chaos in more than eighty countries and been undercover to a number of tyrannies including Chechnya, North Korea and Zimbabwe. He has helped free seven people falsely convicted of killing babies, starting with Sally Clark and Angela Cannings. He has 'door-stepped' Vladimir Putin over the killings in Ukraine and when he challenged Donald Trump about his business relationship with mafiosi Fat Tony Salerno, Mr Trump walked out on him. Over the course of his career John has won an Emmy, two Royal Television Society prizes, a Sony Gold award, the What The Papers Say Journalist of The Year Prize, an Amnesty International prize and the Paul Foot Award. His hobby is falling off his bike on the way back from the pub while his dog Bertie looks on, bewildered.

He's on twitter, his handle stemming from his encounter with Scientology: @johnsweeneyroar

Customer reviews

4.1 out of 5 stars
289 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Captivating and Highly Informative!!
Reviewed in the United States on August 20, 2016
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John Sweeney was a good friend during our LSE days (regrettably quite a few years ago) so I would probably have rated the book highly regardless, but I genuinely loved it. It is a unique blend of careful, well-documented analysis and gripping narrative. North Korea undoubtedly wins the prize for most totalitarian regime, and for those fascinated -- as I am -- by it, this is a totally must read. A great complement to the book is the documentary film that Sweeney and colleagues shot during their trip. I am also going to turn to John's other books, notably his account of the life and times of Ceausescu, communist Romania's famed dictator.
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Brian
4.0 out of 5 stars ...
Reviewed in the United States on March 7, 2016
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The book isn't bad, but, as others have eluded to, there isn't very much of anything at all in this book not found in others on North Korea. In fact, a decent portion of this book seems like a collection of accounts from the best North Korea books available. Furthermore, the ''undercover'' in the title is slightly misleading and the author had an experience not terribly different than someone simply entering on a tourist guided tour. As I said, not a bad book at all, I'm still happy I read it, just don't really expect much new.
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Shive 1969
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent portrayel of the greatest disfunctional nation in the world
Reviewed in the United States on January 1, 2016
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An excellent coverage of a nation I would never ever visit. Being the son of a Korean War combat vet who fought to keep South Korea free from this form of rule I could never go to a country where they have tourists bow to statues of the ego maniacs who have brought death and misery to their own people, kidnapped citizens of various other nations, and threatened the peace of nearby nations and the U.S.
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Andrew Price
3.0 out of 5 stars ... this book looking for information on what life is like in North Korea and some history on it
Reviewed in the United States on February 8, 2016
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I bought this book looking for information on what life is like in North Korea and some history on it. I got a little of that and a lot of dry humor and info on Mr. Sweeneys other works. I wasn't completely disappointed, and did learn a lot of information i didn't know, but I probably wouldn't of bought it it knowing it was going to be written in the manner that it has.
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Christina F.
4.0 out of 5 stars Great book, terrible typos
Reviewed in the United States on June 14, 2017
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I am enjoying the author's perspective on North Korea and its people. However, the Kindle edition that I purchased is absolutely riddled with typos. There are letters missing from words, and more often than not, words that run together without spaces. This makes reading somewhat annoying, though the content itself is quite interesting. This edition of the book really does need some editing and revision.
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Clare O'Beara
5.0 out of 5 stars North Korea undercover
Reviewed in the United States on August 10, 2016
I found this an interesting though depressing read. We don't know exactly what goes on inside North Korea nor how many people starve to death or are jailed for life in cold gulags; but thanks to various journalists and escapees we have a fair idea. John Sweeney of BBC clearly despises the personality cult and brainwashing, having exposed Scientology. He found a similar, profitable but deadlier cult in NK on his undercover visit.

Now, Sweeney did not do anything but pose as a history professor to accompany a group from the London School of Economics, all of whom were told that there would be an undercover journalist and a camera man and filming. However, it has to be said that he would not have got into the country any other way, and he could not put his group in danger. He adds his own interviews with other travellers from diplomats to terrorists.

Sweeney uses his profile to bring the visit and its surreal quality to our attention, liberally spiced with history explaining the three generations of rulers and the ruling class, who know that if the regime falls, they will be first against the wall. As internal travel or communication is banned for most, the people in the capital do not often know how bad life is for those outside, and are probably afraid to ask. With a university and children's camp and hospital all devoid of people, a farm devoid of animals, a giant square empty of visitors, a barren, impoverished landscape and bleak concrete homes, no wildlife or pets or domestic animals to be seen, almost no road vehicles and incongruous luxury for the leader, I'm not alone in likening the scene to Hunger Games.

Sweeney notes that more people now have Chinese mobile phones and can get signals near borders. He tells us that a very few outsiders have chosen to live in NK and that outside women (from Romania and Japan) have been kidnapped to provide them with wives, the NK leaders extolling racial purity. The parts connecting Irish activists and terrorists and Syrian terrorists with NK weaponry, explosives, chemical bombs and counterfeit dollars are far-reaching and gripping reading. If NK didn't have some kind of nuclear threat, which their leaders talk up frequently although they couldn't do very much with it, nobody would put up with this regime. Or would they? Comparisons are made briefly with Mugabe, equally letting his nation depend on outside aid while starving, and stealing from, the people.

You may take a few chapters to really get into this book, but it becomes absorbing and harrowing reading.
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Sabrina Draper
5.0 out of 5 stars Great description of the terrible history of DPRK
Reviewed in the United States on October 20, 2021
I really enjoyed this book on Audible. Very good organization and introduction to the history of DPRK and the oppression faced by these people. I couldn't stop listening to it and would highly recommend it to others.
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J. Nieling
4.0 out of 5 stars OK ... could be better
Reviewed in the United States on January 23, 2017
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I am glad I read the book. It is very eye opening. However, it is not very well written and the kindle version has many many words that were pushed together with no blanks between the words, making it a bit more challenging to read. I haven't read Nothing to Envy but I understand that it is a better book
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Top reviews from other countries

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chinnu
5.0 out of 5 stars A glance at North korea
Reviewed in India on July 12, 2023
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Good insights into the status of North korea.
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Parsec
5.0 out of 5 stars Ein Mann, der dahin geht, wo es wehtut
Reviewed in Germany on May 7, 2014
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John Sweeney von der BBC-Sendung Panorama ist einer der bekanntesten Reporter Englands - und seine Bekanntheit kommt daher, dass er a) bereit ist, dahin zu gehen wo es wirklich wehtut und das er b) sehr bissig aber pointiert zu schreiben versteht. Sweeney ist definitiv keiner, der einer Konfrontation aus dem Weg geht, und er ist bereit, für seine Berichte eine Menge Opfer zu bringen.

Mit NORTH KOREA UNDERCOVER legt Sweeney den Bericht einer Reise durch diese abgeschottete Diktatur vor. Da es Reportern untersagt ist Nordkorea zu betreten mischte sich Sweeney unter eine Reisegruppe einer londoner Universität - ein Vorgehen, welches nicht unumstritten ist. Da freier Tourismus in Nordkorea nicht möglich ist berichtet Sweeney von Guided Tour durch dieses Land, bei welcher neben der DMZ und Pjöngjang auch der Taedong-Staudamm, Kaesong, ein Musterbauerhof, ein Hospital und viele Kim-Monumente besucht werden. Gleichzeitig beleuchtet Sweeney die Geschichte dieses Staates und lässt auch in einzelnen Kapiteln Flüchtlinge aus diesem Land, Überläufer aus der amerikanischen Armee, IRA-Aktivisten und ehemalige Insassen von Gulags zu Wort kommen - und er berichtet über Nikolae Causcescus Nordkorea-Besuche oder über die (soweit bekannten) Biografien von Kim Il Sung, Kim Jong Il und Kim Jong Un.

NORTH KOREA UNDERCOVER liest sich häufig schockierend - Sweeney kennt als Reporter und ehemaliger Kriegsberichterstatter viele Diktaturen aus eigener Anschauung und ist in der Lage, schnell Parallelen zu erkennen und Unterschiede darzustellen. Die von Sweeney berichteten Fakten sind definitiv aufwühlend... umso mehr wenn man bedenkt das sie von jemandem kommen, der schon sehr viel sehen musste.

Gleichzeitig ist bemerkenswert, wie gut Sweeney schreiben kann - NORTH KOREA UNDERCOVER ist sehr spannend geschrieben und spart nicht mit Sweeneys häufig bissigen, zynischen Kommentare über diesen Staat und seine Führer (so bezeichnet er das weitgehend ohen Straßenverkehr auskommende Pjöngjang gerne als "Big Zombie"). Sweeney findet immer wieder Raum, neben all dem Elend auch über Annekdoten wie seine persönliche Sammelleidenschaft für "Tyrannen-Kitsch" (also Selbstdarstellungen von Diktatoren) zu berichten und zynische, aber treffsichere Witze über den Personenkult in Nordkorea zu machen.

Alles in allem: eine aufrüttelnde, brilliant geschriebene Reportage. Unbedingt empfehlenswert.
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Seb M
5.0 out of 5 stars The most enjoyable read about North Korea and I've read most of them.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 17, 2014
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This book is a brilliant mix of travelogue and documentary.

One chapter may be an account of the bizarre experience of travelling there, the next a detailed history of an issue like the gulag. Very easy to read. Perhaps not for academics but well worth reading for those considering travelling to the DPRK, and well worth sharing among friends of those who have been so that people actually believe the surreal experience.

Sweeney is different to other authors on the DPRK in three ways:

a) He's emotional but is not a victim and avoids going over the top in his writing - and this is a subject that warrants emotion but strong emotions tend to actually reduce shock levels in the reader. The crimes of the regime means that first hand accounts from North Koreans tend to read like James Herbert books and pass through the minds value-sieve as if fiction. Sweeney's rational, factual approach combined with openness about his own values makes it easier for the facts to sink in and the reader to be left with the right perception of the DPRK.

b) He presents the facts in a coherent way but doesn't over-intellectualise a topic to the point that the crimes of the state become bland and unemotive.

c) He makes absolutely no apology for the state. Most people other than victims (or their ghost-writers) who write about the DPRK have an ongoing involvement with the state of some kind and tend to write somewhat apologetically. Sometimes fear, sometimes expedience, sometimes necessity, sometimes academic neutrality and sometimes the capacity of our minds to blind ourselves to inconvenient truths. Sweeney clearly doesn't plan to go back so gives you his real perceptions.

If I was thinking about visiting the DPRK, this would be the one book I'd buy.
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Twiglet21
4.0 out of 5 stars Good but clunky
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 14, 2023
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Good book enjoyed reading it. Wish he spoke more about what DPRK was actually like...ie. the story of his journey. It lost me a lot because it would start talking about lots of different people all of a sudden and before I knew it I was lost.

One page was missing text weirdly and there are grammatical errors once or twice.

The ancient history of the country got a bit boring, I bought this to learn what it's like now. As I said Good book I do recommend it but it isn't a travel journal or start to end story of a journey in DPRK its a bit of that peppered with other things. Worth buying.
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Suchiev
4.0 out of 5 stars nicely written
Reviewed in India on June 7, 2018
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Very interesting ,nicely written
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