Why Anthony Bourdain Decided To Never Film In North Korea

For a man who built his career on exploring the world's most complicated places, Anthony Bourdain rarely backed down from a challenging country. From exploring the brutal history of colonization in the Congo to shooting in Libya's conflict zones, the man wasn't afraid of much and didn't seem to refuse local offerings — except maybe fermented shark meat. But despite his appetite for stories in far-flung corners of the world, there was one place he refused to film: North Korea. In a career defined by informed yet intrepid travel, it's telling that Bourdain never set foot in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. The reason wasn't so much logistical as it was ethical.

In 2017, TMZ (yes, the lowbrow celeb tabloid) actually interviewed/accosted Bourdain about the possibility while he was standing outside, natch, the LAX airport terminal. "There's nothing they're going to let you see in North Korea," he told the videographer. It's a very unpleasant government."

He's not exaggerating. Foreign journalists and filmmakers who enter are accompanied at every turn and spoon-fed a fantasy narrative curated by government handlers. The restaurants are stage sets, and the diners are often actors. Real life is hidden behind closed doors, along with the hunger, fear, and oppression most citizens face daily. Bourdain's decision wasn't about fear, though. It was about being a decent person. North Korea's tightly controlled borders and deep human rights violations stood in direct conflict with the values Bourdain stood for in "No Reservations, Parts Unknown," and even his very first travel show, "A Cook's Tour."

Bourdain took his job, and food, seriously

Of course, for Anthony Bourdain, food was never just food. A good meal meant nothing, he believed, if it came at the cost of another human's dignity. During the impromptu interview, when the TMZ videographer asked why he didn't want to "sample" the food, Bourdain retorted: "Most of the population is starving. Don't you think that'd be kind of bad taste?"

In 2020, the U.S. Department of Agriculture estimated that about 60 % of North Korea's population was food insecure, meaning they lacked consistent access to adequate food. With a majority population that remains undernourished, it's no wonder Bourdain felt that a travel show based on food would be tone-deaf at best. He also wasn't a fan of North Korea's dictator Kim Jong-Un, retorting, "He's a chubby little evil f***. Nobody else eats." Given Jong-Un's preference for expensive dishes like Kobe steak or shark fin soup, the leader is probably just as rotund today.

Bourdain wasn't all doom and gloom during his encounter with the TMZ reporter. In response to the inane question of what he would serve for a catered dinner featuring Kim Jong-Un and Donald Trump, he had just one word: "Hemlock." No, that's not his favorite steak cut. Poison hemlock is a highly toxic plant in the parsley family. His sarcastic suggestion that he'd poison the meal was a politically charged joke openly expressing his disdain for both leaders. It was the usual morbid Bourdain humor that he'd frequently crack both in front of and behind the camera.

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