- I feel like my heart's racing.
Yeah, I literally can't even describe.
(upbeat music)
I'm Lauren.
- I'm Lizz, and today, we're gonna step inside North Korea.
We just got to Seoul,
and we're about to get on this tour bus
that's gonna take us all the way to the Joint Security Area
and actually get to step inside North Korea.
North Korea has been in the political spotlight,
so I think getting to visit the border
is gonna be super eye-opening.
- I just can't believe we're gonna go see this land
that, like, nobody gets to see, really.
And this is where we're getting picked up.
Everything's kind of confusing.
We have to find out where we're meeting our people.
I think we just maybe wait around here.
- Do they just know we wanna go?
'Cause we look confused. - Yeah.
- Your tour is this building.
- [Lizz] We finally figure it out,
and we all end up getting on this bus.
There's our bus.
(light music)
- So, our tour guide's name is Sky,
and she's hilarious.
I'm obsessed with her.
She said there might be a war at the end
because we have Americans, Japanese, and Chinese,
and if we speak too loudly, there's gonna be a war.
- [Sky] Yeah, whispering only allowed.
Yeah?
If you interfere them, there's a chance,
end of the tour we could have a war.
- So, right now, we're at the first stop,
which is the Peace Park.
There's all these ribbons all over this fence
that are written for wishes of peace.
(light music)
We just walked across the Freedom Bridge,
but there's a gate that stops you at this other end.
(light music)
- That's crazy. - Wow.
- [Lauren] Wow.
(light bouncy music)
- I'm in the middle of eating lunch,
and I notice that Lauren has been gone a really long time.
All of a sudden, I get a text from her that says,
"Come outside right now."
Because apparently there's puppies.
Oh my God!
- [Lauren] I just want 'em to come to me.
- Wait, that's so cute. - Come to my arms!
I'm like, "Puppies, puppies!"
It was a nice little experience
before a very tense moment in our lives.
(dramatic music)
- So, we get back on the bus
for about another 30 minutes, and they say,
"All right, we are arriving at the JSA."
Like, they're starting to get more and more intense.
(dramatic music)
As soon as we got to the first checkpoint,
they got really, really strict
about us not being able to take photos.
- [Lauren] If we make some sudden movement
that the North Korean soldiers get offended by,
it's possible that we could be used
in propaganda video in North Korea.
- [Lizz] And then they make us sign
this really intense waiver that says
they're not responsible for our death.
- I'm honestly feeling pretty tense.
I'm like, "Was this a smart move?
"I'm not so sure."
This is crazy. - Are you recording?
- [Lauren] Yeah, I am.
- I can't believe we're looking at this right now.
It's so crazy in real life.
- [Lauren] I was too scared to move my body too much,
and I'm just standing there thinking,
"Don't do anything dumb.
"Lauren, don't do anything dumb."
- It's weird those other guards are facing the wall.
Literally, their faces are, like, in the wall like this.
That's very strange.
We only have one minute to take pictures.
So they're about to make us stop.
- And we're whispering.
- We have to whisper. - I don't know why.
- And they're really particular about where we can
and cannot film. - Alright, ladies, gentlemen,
we only have two minutes left!
- Two minutes left. - We have two minutes left!
- It's so intense.
I feel like my heart's racing.
It's just crazy.
Yeah, I literally can't even describe.
- We had to walk up in two lines like this.
I can't show that, sorry.
So, then it's time for all of us to file inside.
So we get, once again, in a single file line,
and we walk into the first, like, blue house that we see.
- [Lauren] And the guard says
that everything is being monitored,
and it's under surveillance 24/7
by these little microphones that are on the desk.
- [Lizz] What was crazy is that,
when we looked outside the window,
we actually saw the North and South Korean border.
- That's the border.
Like, that's the border.
We're literally about to cross the border.
(dramatic music)
- Just did it. - We're now in North Korea.
- Now in North Korea.
My mind is just totally blown.
I can't believe I'm actually here.
I've seen these houses in so many photos and documentaries.
So, we basically just walked back and forth
between South Korea for the three minutes
that we had time for.
- Yeah, I'm like, "North Korea, South Korea.
"North Korea, South Korea." - That's what we did.
- That's the JSA Jig. - Yeah.
It's incredible actually getting to step foot inside
of a country that I've heard so much about
and you read so much about on the news,
and to actually be there and feel it
and feel that tension
is just like nothing I've ever experienced before.
- It's just like a crazy thing to actually experience it,
and you really could feel the tension.
- Now that it's done and we're coming back,
the guard is making jokes.
We're all super chill.
We're allowed to take photos where weren't before,
and it feels like we just kind of overcame something.
- Yeah, I do feel like, "We made it there and back!"
- My heart is beating. - Yeah.
(upbeat music)
I'm afraid I'm gonna do something wrong.
At one point, I gave the thumbs up.
I was just like, "Oh no, my thumbs up
"is gonna start a world war."