WEBVTT
Kind: captions
Language: en

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[SPEAKING KOREAN]

00:00:18.572 --> 00:00:58.252
[KOREAN PATRIOTIC SONG]

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SHANE SMITH: Right after we
launched VBS, people started

00:01:00.740 --> 00:01:02.070
saying, North Korea.

00:01:02.070 --> 00:01:03.390
Why don't you go
to North Korea?

00:01:03.390 --> 00:01:03.760
Why?

00:01:03.760 --> 00:01:06.030
Because nobody knows anything
about North Korea.

00:01:06.030 --> 00:01:07.700
So we were fascinated by it.

00:01:07.700 --> 00:01:10.570
And we tried to get in for a
year and a half, but couldn't

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because North Korea doesn't
let anyone in.

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They do not want anyone to
corrupt their 100% homogeneous

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society that is 100% percent
ruled by one

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person, Kim Jong Il.

00:01:24.771 --> 00:01:27.730
In the end, we just got so
frustrated that we ended up

00:01:27.730 --> 00:01:31.400
flying to South Korea and
saying, well at least we can

00:01:31.400 --> 00:01:35.310
go to the DMZ and put our foot
into North Korea and at least

00:01:35.310 --> 00:01:37.230
see a little bit of
it from the South.

00:01:37.230 --> 00:01:40.900
Let's go see the DMZ, which is
the demilitarized zone, which

00:01:40.900 --> 00:01:43.440
is the border between North
Korea and South Korea.

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Since the Korean War ended, it's
been the most militarized

00:01:53.980 --> 00:01:57.200
zone on Earth with two million
estimated troops on the North

00:01:57.200 --> 00:01:59.990
Korean side, about 500,000
on the South Korean side.

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Missiles pointed at each
other, artillery tanks.

00:02:03.290 --> 00:02:05.650
There's three million mines
on the border itself.

00:02:05.650 --> 00:02:09.220
In fact, there's so many mines
that the North Koreans built

00:02:09.220 --> 00:02:12.060
invasion tunnels, where they
went 70 meters down.

00:02:12.060 --> 00:02:14.740
And they're like, we could
be in Seoul in

00:02:14.740 --> 00:02:16.060
an hour and a half.

00:02:16.060 --> 00:02:18.380
Now the CIA and the
American army have

00:02:18.380 --> 00:02:19.750
found a number of these.

00:02:19.750 --> 00:02:22.770
But they think that
there's even more.

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It's been called the
end of the world.

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And it's the closest you can
get to seeing North Korea.

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Getting to the DMZ isn't easy.

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It's only an hour and a half
north of Seoul, but you have

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to go through about
15 checkpoints.

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Then you have to go through
United Nations indoctrination

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session, where they're
like, don't point.

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Don't look at them.

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Don't take any pictures.

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Don't do anything.

00:02:47.545 --> 00:02:49.634
We're only going to be there
for 2 and 1/2 minutes.

00:02:56.410 --> 00:02:59.320
We're at the last stop
in South Korea before

00:02:59.320 --> 00:03:00.820
going to the DMZ.

00:03:00.820 --> 00:03:02.640
This here is Freedom Bridge.

00:03:02.640 --> 00:03:05.400
Right after the Korean War, it
was the last time the North

00:03:05.400 --> 00:03:07.320
and South exchanged POWs.

00:03:07.320 --> 00:03:10.840
And on the other side of that
now, a little further back is

00:03:10.840 --> 00:03:12.090
North Korea.

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Right here, it's kind of
like a theme park.

00:03:16.060 --> 00:03:18.630
But as you see, just beyond the
theme park, hidden by the

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trees, there's barbed wire and
land mines and checkpoints

00:03:21.860 --> 00:03:23.270
everywhere.

00:03:23.270 --> 00:03:27.860
So it's a very bizarre
theme park.

00:03:27.860 --> 00:03:32.540
A lot of families come, and
they put up messages or

00:03:32.540 --> 00:03:35.750
prayers for their family in the
North that they've been

00:03:35.750 --> 00:03:38.170
split and never allowed
to see.

00:03:38.170 --> 00:03:41.404
So they'll come here and make a
pilgrimage and say, OK, this

00:03:41.404 --> 00:03:43.375
is what I'm going to put up.

00:03:43.375 --> 00:03:45.586
Someone's put up some
golf balls.

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I think the South's going to
lose pretty damn quick.

00:03:48.446 --> 00:03:51.326
They're going to be rave
soldiers brought up on

00:03:51.326 --> 00:03:55.360
Playstation versus the North
Koreans who eat grass and

00:03:55.360 --> 00:03:56.610
sleep with their AK.

00:04:12.720 --> 00:04:14.160
And so you get off the bus.

00:04:14.160 --> 00:04:16.220
And you look across, and
there's North Korea.

00:04:16.220 --> 00:04:17.890
They're like, that's
North Korea.

00:04:17.890 --> 00:04:20.200
Get back on the bus.

00:04:20.200 --> 00:04:21.920
You could start World War III.

00:04:21.920 --> 00:04:23.170
They really get you terrified.

00:04:25.870 --> 00:04:28.240
They let you into one
barracks room.

00:04:28.240 --> 00:04:30.730
And the barracks room is
half in North Korea,

00:04:30.730 --> 00:04:32.130
half in South Korea.

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And they set that up so
they could have talks.

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But it's the only place where
you can go and actually set

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foot technically into
North Korea.

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And this is as close as 99.9%
of the people in the world

00:04:43.830 --> 00:04:47.070
will ever get into getting
into North Korea.

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And people are like,
that's North Korea.

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So that piece of concrete--

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The gravel is South, and the
concrete is demarcation line.

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And the sand is North.

00:05:00.330 --> 00:05:01.530
SHANE SMITH: No what?

00:05:01.530 --> 00:05:02.420
SHANE SMITH: No pointing.

00:05:02.420 --> 00:05:03.680
Right, right, right.

00:05:03.680 --> 00:05:04.410
No finger pointing.

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FEMALE SPEAKER: You could
take a picture

00:05:05.602 --> 00:05:06.705
with the two soldiers.

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SHANE SMITH: We're like,
dude we have to

00:05:08.280 --> 00:05:09.713
get into North Korea.

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We have to get in.

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GEORGE W. BUSH: North Korea
has a regime arming with

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missiles and weapons of
mass destruction.

00:05:38.310 --> 00:05:42.950
States like these and their
terrorist allies constitute an

00:05:42.950 --> 00:05:45.890
axis of evil, arming
to threaten the

00:05:45.890 --> 00:05:47.210
peace of the world.

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The United States of America
will not permit the world's

00:05:50.290 --> 00:05:53.830
most dangerous regimes to
threaten us with the world's

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most destructive weapons.

00:06:05.871 --> 00:06:20.110
[CHANTING IN KOREAN IN UNISON]

00:06:20.110 --> 00:06:21.870
SHANE SMITH: We couldn't
get in.

00:06:21.870 --> 00:06:26.530
We tried through the embassy,
through press, through Swedish

00:06:26.530 --> 00:06:28.410
embassy, British embassy,
Canadian

00:06:28.410 --> 00:06:30.140
embassy, German embassy.

00:06:30.140 --> 00:06:33.018
And I was saying to myself,
what in God's

00:06:33.018 --> 00:06:34.650
name is going on here.

00:06:34.650 --> 00:06:37.400
So we were interviewing
North Korean

00:06:37.400 --> 00:06:39.290
refugees in South Korea.

00:06:39.290 --> 00:06:43.180
And a few of them had said, just
go to Shenyang and bribe

00:06:43.180 --> 00:06:44.200
the consulate there.

00:06:44.200 --> 00:06:44.820
There.

00:06:44.820 --> 00:06:46.510
That's what everybody
else does.

00:06:46.510 --> 00:06:48.010
So we were in South Korea.

00:06:48.010 --> 00:06:48.870
And we said, why not?

00:06:48.870 --> 00:06:49.590
We're here.

00:06:49.590 --> 00:06:52.030
So we flew up to China.

00:06:52.030 --> 00:06:53.280
We had nothing to lose.

00:07:04.640 --> 00:07:10.500
And we met the consul in
Shenyang, paid a visa fee.

00:07:10.500 --> 00:07:13.510
And we left our passports
there and, in

00:07:13.510 --> 00:07:15.200
fact, most of our money.

00:07:15.200 --> 00:07:17.040
And we went back to this
North Korean hotel.

00:07:17.040 --> 00:07:20.000
We had to stay in one of their
hotels in northern China.

00:07:20.000 --> 00:07:22.860
And we were supposed to hear
back from them at 4:00 the

00:07:22.860 --> 00:07:24.510
next afternoon.

00:07:24.510 --> 00:07:26.560
At 6:00 in the morning, there's
a banging on our door.

00:07:26.560 --> 00:07:28.380
And we wake up all
discombobulated.

00:07:28.380 --> 00:07:30.160
And they're like, we
have to go now.

00:07:30.160 --> 00:07:31.010
Here's your passport.

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Let's go.

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And we're like, where
are we going?

00:07:32.790 --> 00:07:33.470
Where are we going?

00:07:33.470 --> 00:07:36.030
And they don't give you any time
to react, not one second.

00:07:36.030 --> 00:07:38.090
They take you right out from
the room at 6:00 in the

00:07:38.090 --> 00:07:39.420
morning and get you
on the plane.

00:07:39.420 --> 00:07:43.321
Shenyang, you got to come to
Shenyang to stay here in the

00:07:43.321 --> 00:07:46.130
North Korean hotel with
concrete beds.

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[KOREAN MUSIC]

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SHANE SMITH: You're not allowed
to bring anything into

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North Korea.

00:07:56.710 --> 00:07:58.090
You can't bring a cellphone.

00:07:58.090 --> 00:07:59.770
You can't bring a computer.

00:07:59.770 --> 00:08:03.160
You can't bring any printed
material, any music.

00:08:03.160 --> 00:08:05.445
They don't want you to have
anything that you can even

00:08:05.445 --> 00:08:06.170
leave there.

00:08:06.170 --> 00:08:09.196
In fact, they don't want you to
bring any type of camera in

00:08:09.196 --> 00:08:12.480
that is too sophisticated, no
telephoto lenses, nothing.

00:08:12.480 --> 00:08:14.333
You can bring basically
a point and

00:08:14.333 --> 00:08:15.583
shoot, and that's it.

00:08:19.646 --> 00:08:23.160
In fact, when you go in, you
have to sign a thing saying,

00:08:23.160 --> 00:08:25.290
I'm not bringing in anything.

00:08:25.290 --> 00:08:27.710
And let me tell you, if they
find that you did,

00:08:27.710 --> 00:08:28.960
you're in deep shit.

00:08:34.720 --> 00:08:37.640
And then you're flying
from Shenyang to

00:08:37.640 --> 00:08:39.039
Pyongyang in North Korea.

00:08:39.039 --> 00:08:42.690
And then you go, holy shit,
we're going to North Korea.

00:08:42.690 --> 00:08:45.520
And with the express purpose of
shooting, which you're not

00:08:45.520 --> 00:08:48.240
allowed to do, with the express
purpose of making a

00:08:48.240 --> 00:08:50.980
documentary, which you're
not allowed to do.

00:08:50.980 --> 00:08:52.360
This is terrifying.

00:08:52.360 --> 00:08:56.150
So from the first minute I got
there, I was shit scared.

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[CHANTING IN KOREAN IN UNISON]

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SHANE SMITH: The first
sight of Pyongyang.

00:09:42.728 --> 00:09:44.186
It's pretty dismal.

00:09:44.186 --> 00:09:54.878
[KOREAN MUSIC]

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SHANE SMITH: We're in a hotel
that's about 47 stories tall.

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Nobody's in it.

00:10:01.340 --> 00:10:03.815
There's only one floor with
any people on it.

00:10:20.645 --> 00:10:22.625
We're in the hotel room.

00:10:22.625 --> 00:10:28.070
And we've been told that they're
bugged, that they're

00:10:28.070 --> 00:10:29.060
listening to us.

00:10:29.060 --> 00:10:31.535
I don't know if whispering
is going to help.

00:10:31.535 --> 00:10:34.540
That might be where
it all stems from.

00:10:34.540 --> 00:10:35.490
Hello, hello.

00:10:35.490 --> 00:10:36.458
Oh.

00:10:36.458 --> 00:10:38.330
Come in.

00:10:38.330 --> 00:10:41.606
Come in, Tokyo.

00:10:41.606 --> 00:10:43.010
Hello.

00:10:43.010 --> 00:10:44.260
Hello.

00:10:47.168 --> 00:10:48.510
Hello.

00:10:48.510 --> 00:10:49.760
We're here.

00:11:02.520 --> 00:11:05.770
Right after we get there, we
were taken for our first meal.

00:11:05.770 --> 00:11:10.470
And the first time you eat in
North Korea, it's a sign of

00:11:10.470 --> 00:11:12.220
the very weird things to come.

00:11:21.644 --> 00:11:24.620
[SPEAKING KOREAN]

00:11:24.620 --> 00:11:26.604
SHANE SMITH: This is
where we go, here?

00:11:26.604 --> 00:11:27.596
Table.

00:11:27.596 --> 00:11:30.063
FEMALE SPEAKER 2: Sit please.

00:11:33.220 --> 00:11:34.470
FEMALE SPEAKER 2: Kumgangsan

00:11:39.681 --> 00:11:41.300
SHANE SMITH: We're in the
big banquet room.

00:11:41.300 --> 00:11:43.060
As you can see, it's huge.

00:11:43.060 --> 00:11:46.770
There's about 20 women who are
getting ready for our dinner.

00:11:46.770 --> 00:11:49.410
First of all, they give you
about three or four courses of

00:11:49.410 --> 00:11:51.210
absolutely inedible food.

00:11:51.210 --> 00:11:52.240
It's just matter.

00:11:52.240 --> 00:11:54.910
It's like fried matter.

00:11:54.910 --> 00:11:57.300
And you're going, yeah, yeah.

00:11:57.300 --> 00:11:58.860
But you're waiting for
everyone to fill in.

00:11:58.860 --> 00:11:59.990
When's this banquet happening?

00:11:59.990 --> 00:12:00.820
When's the banquet?

00:12:00.820 --> 00:12:02.690
There is no banquet.

00:12:02.690 --> 00:12:05.470
Where is everyone?

00:12:05.470 --> 00:12:07.180
It's not very busy here.

00:12:07.180 --> 00:12:10.070
They realize they've gotten so
much bad press for not having

00:12:10.070 --> 00:12:12.920
food that they want to show,
oh there's plenty of food.

00:12:12.920 --> 00:12:14.060
Food everywhere.

00:12:14.060 --> 00:12:16.180
And they're carefully laying
out the food the whole time

00:12:16.180 --> 00:12:16.800
you're eating.

00:12:16.800 --> 00:12:19.780
And then as you leave, you
notice they're pulling all the

00:12:19.780 --> 00:12:23.180
things they've just carefully
laid into little tiny trays

00:12:23.180 --> 00:12:25.370
that are carefully going
to bring back to keep

00:12:25.370 --> 00:12:27.350
for the next day.

00:12:27.350 --> 00:12:29.860
And you're just sitting there by
yourself eating your matter

00:12:29.860 --> 00:12:32.053
going, OK I've come
to crazy land.

00:13:26.810 --> 00:13:28.930
SHANE SMITH: It's really gray
and heavy duty outside.

00:13:28.930 --> 00:13:34.620
I'm going to go downstairs to
meet our guards in 15 minutes.

00:13:34.620 --> 00:13:38.285
It's maybe the weirdest I've
ever felt in my life.

00:13:41.530 --> 00:13:44.330
The first thing you realize
in North Korea is

00:13:44.330 --> 00:13:45.760
you're not a tourist.

00:13:45.760 --> 00:13:46.580
You're on a tour.

00:13:46.580 --> 00:13:47.580
You come in.

00:13:47.580 --> 00:13:49.300
You're shown what
you're shown.

00:13:49.300 --> 00:13:50.310
You're escorted out.

00:13:50.310 --> 00:13:51.410
You're escorted the
whole time.

00:13:51.410 --> 00:13:53.210
You're never allowed
on your own.

00:13:53.210 --> 00:13:56.050
You can't leave the hotel, which
is on an island, until

00:13:56.050 --> 00:13:57.230
your guards come and get you.

00:13:57.230 --> 00:13:59.580
You have a guard, a guide,
and secret police.

00:14:05.030 --> 00:14:08.020
The first place they take you is
to the Pueblo, which is an

00:14:08.020 --> 00:14:11.880
American spy ship that they
captured in the '60s during

00:14:11.880 --> 00:14:12.710
the Cold War.

00:14:12.710 --> 00:14:15.100
And they docked it in
downtown Pyongyang.

00:14:15.100 --> 00:14:17.750
And the indoctrination starts.

00:14:32.438 --> 00:14:35.580
SHANE SMITH: They force you to
sit there and watch this

00:14:35.580 --> 00:14:38.610
indoctrination video about how
the American imperialists are

00:14:38.610 --> 00:14:41.120
terrible, and they're shitting
on the peace-loving people of

00:14:41.120 --> 00:14:41.655
North Korea.

00:14:41.655 --> 00:14:43.120
And look how terrible
America is.

00:14:43.120 --> 00:14:44.660
Look how terrible Japan is.

00:14:44.660 --> 00:14:47.300
And how we got their ship, and
it shows that they were spying

00:14:47.300 --> 00:14:48.820
on us and how evil they are.

00:14:48.820 --> 00:14:50.670
Really incredibly
anti-American.

00:16:14.213 --> 00:16:16.209
SHANE SMITH: This
is very freaky.

00:16:30.181 --> 00:16:33.300
On the way here, there's a big
poster that says the way to

00:16:33.300 --> 00:16:35.570
peace is a point of a bayonet.

00:16:35.570 --> 00:16:38.060
And all the North Koreans
are brought here.

00:16:38.060 --> 00:16:41.025
So you're sitting there as the
only Caucasian going, oh good,

00:16:41.025 --> 00:16:43.180
as everyone's staring
at you with daggers.

00:16:43.180 --> 00:16:44.480
And you're just sitting
there going, OK.

00:16:44.480 --> 00:16:46.090
Great, I get it.

00:16:46.090 --> 00:16:47.450
There's going to be a
lot more of this.

00:17:50.870 --> 00:17:52.315
SHANE SMITH: So every day around
6:30 in the morning,

00:17:52.315 --> 00:17:55.040
our guides and our guards would
come to pick us up.

00:17:55.040 --> 00:17:59.055
They'd put us in a truck, drive
us out to some monument,

00:17:59.055 --> 00:18:00.830
and you'd drive for two hours.

00:18:00.830 --> 00:18:03.230
And the first thing you notice
are, there's no cars.

00:18:03.230 --> 00:18:05.135
The villages have
no electricity.

00:18:05.135 --> 00:18:05.580
There's no nothing.

00:18:05.580 --> 00:18:07.070
Nothing's happening anywhere.

00:18:15.908 --> 00:18:19.420
We're going down south
of Pyongyang.

00:18:19.420 --> 00:18:22.290
As you can see, there's nobody
on the roads at all.

00:18:22.290 --> 00:18:24.150
There's no cars on the roads.

00:18:24.150 --> 00:18:26.630
We're at a tea shop right now.

00:18:26.630 --> 00:18:33.340
And as you can see, I'm
the only guy here.

00:18:33.340 --> 00:18:36.305
We're just driving on lonely
roads and going

00:18:36.305 --> 00:18:38.900
to lonely tea shops.

00:18:38.900 --> 00:18:42.100
And there'd be the tea girl
who speaks English and has

00:18:42.100 --> 00:18:43.155
been waiting for you.

00:18:43.155 --> 00:18:45.550
And you realize, she's been
waiting about six months for

00:18:45.550 --> 00:18:47.160
anyone to show up
to sell her tea.

00:18:47.160 --> 00:18:48.949
How are you?

00:18:48.949 --> 00:18:51.414
SHANE SMITH: Tea?

00:18:51.414 --> 00:18:52.893
SHANE SMITH: Sorry?

00:18:52.893 --> 00:18:53.632
SHANE SMITH: Coffee?

00:18:53.632 --> 00:18:54.865
No.

00:18:54.865 --> 00:18:57.823
This is tea?

00:18:57.823 --> 00:18:59.795
What is this?

00:18:59.795 --> 00:19:00.288
Tea?

00:19:00.288 --> 00:19:02.753
What is this here?

00:19:02.753 --> 00:19:04.003
Hello.

00:19:07.190 --> 00:19:08.180
OK.

00:19:08.180 --> 00:19:10.190
And she's just so excited
you're there.

00:19:10.190 --> 00:19:12.760
And you realize, she hasn't
seen anyone in 10 months.

00:19:12.760 --> 00:19:14.480
And there's going to be another
10 months before

00:19:14.480 --> 00:19:16.378
anyone comes.

00:19:16.378 --> 00:19:17.860
You want to dance?

00:19:28.728 --> 00:19:29.978
PUN-YUN-CHI: Oh.

00:19:38.500 --> 00:19:40.022
SHANE SMITH: Shane.

00:19:40.022 --> 00:19:40.986
SHANE SMITH: Shane.

00:19:40.986 --> 00:19:41.950
PUN-YUN-CHI: Shane.

00:19:41.950 --> 00:19:43.878
SHANE SMITH: You?

00:19:43.878 --> 00:19:45.806
SHANE SMITH: Pun-Yun-Chi

00:19:45.806 --> 00:19:46.640
PUN-YUN-CHI: Yes.

00:19:46.640 --> 00:19:47.890
SHANE SMITH: Pun-Yun-Chi.

00:19:56.996 --> 00:19:57.490
Oh.

00:19:57.490 --> 00:19:58.478
PUN-YUN-CHI: Oh.

00:19:58.478 --> 00:20:01.936
SHANE SMITH: Very good.

00:20:01.936 --> 00:20:04.900
PUN-YUN-CHI: Oh no.

00:20:04.900 --> 00:20:05.888
Oh.

00:20:05.888 --> 00:20:08.358
SHANE SMITH: I can't
get that one.

00:20:20.214 --> 00:20:22.684
Oh!

00:20:22.684 --> 00:20:24.066
I like you.

00:20:24.066 --> 00:20:24.800
Thank you.

00:20:24.800 --> 00:20:28.200
CAMERAMAN: Thank you.

00:20:28.200 --> 00:20:30.070
SHANE SMITH: This
our tea room.

00:20:30.070 --> 00:20:30.630
We gotta go.

00:20:30.630 --> 00:20:32.218
We're late.

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We had a good time.

00:20:34.210 --> 00:20:36.220
It's so surreal.

00:20:36.220 --> 00:20:39.790
There's nothing normal
that happens ever

00:20:39.790 --> 00:20:41.100
in this whole country.