I just finished watching it, and it's because you followed up
The depiction and his thoughts were similar to what most people would find. He also went to the places we went to during this trip (report).
I know that there have been criticism about him being rude, I agree with this criticism. Let me raise 2 examples and none of them have anything to do with politics.
1 : He was pointing with his fingers a lot, especially at the beginning of episode 1. That is extremely rude. You point at something with your whole hand, always.
2 : He was in a co-op farm, and the lady cooked him a meal. She asked him how was the kimchi, he said it was very spicy. That's also rude. You should always say it is good, even if it tastes like cough. In Korea, you offer a meal to your guest even if you don't have enough food, to show hospitality, so it is rude to make 'not so nice' comments. His tour guides would have translated a different feedback to that lady. There is nothing wrong if you go back onto the tour bus, then tell the tour guides that you don't like that kimchi from the lady, you like the kimchi better at the restaurant. That's totally cool, and the tour guides would laugh, or may even use these as feedback (they do really want feedback from tourists, they want to be better with tourism). You just don't comment in front of that lady's face.
These 2 examples illustrate why tourists have to be watched like this. People in both of the tours I been on, 2018 and 2019, said and agreed during the tour, that the tour guides are there, not just to make sure we don't do the wrong things (doing things which violate the law), but also to save us when we do the wrong things. The country has been isolated from the world for 70 years, people are deeply suspicious of outsiders. If we have a few foreign tourists, going to that farmer's home, she goes into so much effort to make a meal every time for tourists, but then the tourists would tell her that her kimchi is too spicy / not spicy / too smelly / not smelly, how would this lady feel? Why would she bother with dealing with these ungrateful foreigners? In fact, why are these foreigners so rude? They think they are so good, they look down upon us the Korean people, and come here and criticise my food? Who do these people think they are? These tour guides are really well with being peacekeepers.
Then there is this (im)famous interview at the end, when he asked the tour guide about freedom. She handled it well. Like she said, there is freedom in the UK, there is no such thing here, this is the system here. So what? What do you want me to do then? This is the system here, this is the way it is.
Michael's comment that, people in DPRK shut down when the topic becomes too sensitive, this is a good and accurate observation. They know that, there is no point to continue with that discussion, because, well, there is just no point.
I think his conclusion at the very end described the feelings of many tourists. After a week, you develop a human connection with people, the experience puts human faces into your head. Of course, you know the regime does things which we do not consider acceptable, but the experience reminds you that, there are people, real people, living there, and they are people, just like us.
) but also more interesting things like going to the beach and hanging out and playing games with kids from many other countries.
