LAST year, Michael Palin took a camera crew to the DPRK (North Korea) for a 12-day trip around the country which was screened on Channel 5 and this book is a travelogue about his experiences.

Palin is clearly no communist sympathiser and throughout he often disparages the system and leadership of the DPRK.

Yet, as his account progresses, he clearly develops a fondness for the Koreans, including his guides and minders, and he has his criticisms about how the country is portrayed in Western media through its anti-communist propaganda machine.

He successfully deconstructs dominant Western narratives minimising the achievements of the DPRK, while also documenting the relatively open access he and his camera crew were afforded on their trip.

Palin recounts a discussion between himself and his Korean guide, which succinctly summarises a fundamental difference between capitalist and socialist ideology. “Our way of life is based on freedom of speech,” Palin says. “People can be as rude as they like about their leaders. In my country we are able to criticise our leaders if they do something wrong”.

His guide responds that what “makes us so different,” is that “our leaders are very great. They are not individuals. They represent the masses, so we cannot criticise ourselves, can we?”

There's a real celebration of shared humanity when Palin shows video clips of Monty Python sketches to the great amusement of his Korean hosts — a demonstration of the universality of comedy if ever there was one.

Palin notes the rapprochement between the two Korean republics which led to the recent summit between Kim Jong Un and Donald Trump and, on his travels in the north, found that propaganda and discourse is changing, reflecting the move toward peaceful reunification.

The book is full of stunning photography which shows the natural splendour and beauty of Korea. And it also affords a rare glimpse of a non-communist who is really attempting to get the pulse of everyday life in the country.

Palin has a refreshing honesty about people who we almost never get to see.

North Korea Journal is published by Hutchinson, price £14.99.