The Mole: Undercover in North Korea

The Mole: Undercover in North Korea is a 2020 documentary miniseries written and directed by Mads Brügger.

The Mole: Undercover in North Korea
Muldvarpen – Undercover i Nordkorea
GenreDocumentary
Directed byMads Brügger
Country of originDenmark, Sweden, Norway, United Kingdom
No. of episodes3 (2 in English version)
Production
Producers
Release
Original release11 October 2020
Chronology
Related showsDet Røde Kapel

The series follows Ulrich Larsen, called "the Mole", a former chef living on benefits who spends 10 years infiltrating the Korean Friendship Association (KFA).[1] He quickly rises through the ranks and gains the trust of KFA leader Alejandro Cao de Benós from Spain.[1] Cao de Benós tells the Mole that he is looking for possible investors that are willing to invest in North Korea, despite sanctions against the country. Brügger decides to inject into the story a "Mr. James" (Jim Latrache-Qvortrup), pretending to be a possible investor.[2] After a meeting with Cao de Benós about possible sale of drugs and weapons from North Korea, the Mole and Mr. James travel to North Korea, where they sign a contract with North Korea to produce drugs and weapons in another country.[3] Mr. James meets the North Koreans officials again in Uganda, where they discuss buying an island in Lake Victoria to construct an underground drugs and weapons manufactory, under the disguise of establishing a luxury hotel.[4]

People

The Mole / Ulrich Larsen

Ulrich Larsen is a former chef, who was forced to retire early due to chronic inflammation in the pancreas, and now lives on government benefits.[3] He watched Brügger's documentary series Det Røde Kapel (The Red Chapel) about North Korea, and became interested in the country. He joins the Korean Friendship Association and contacted Brügger about his ventures. He starts filming the meeting, officially to post them to social media, but really in the case Brügger should be interested in making a sequel to Det Røde Kapel.[3]

He lives in a Copenhagen suburb with his wife and kids, who did not know about his 10 year long double-life. He had only told his wife that he was in the friendship association out of curiosity, where he was traveling, but not what he did there, and that he was working with Brügger on a project where he "make fun of" Det Røde Kapel.[3] When he told his wife about his true role, she said she thought he was an idiot, and that it was tough with the lies and the danger he put himself into, and the way he retracted from the family.[3] In an October 2020 interview with DR in connection with the premier, Larsen told that he had become more vigilant, placing empty soda cans on door handles in hotels, so he is warned if anybody tries to enter.[3]

Sam Wollaston of The Guardian describes his as "polite, unassuming, his unmemorable 44-year-old face is how I imagine an efit template might be, what you start with before you add distinguishing features. You get to decide who he is. Perfect for blending in."[1]

Mr James / Jim Mehdi Latrache-Qvortrup

The actor who played Mr James is Jim Mehdi Latrache-Qvortrup, a former French foreign legionnaire and convicted drug dealer.[5][1]

Alejandro Cao de Benós

The series features the Korean Friendship Association with its president Alejandro Cao de Benós. He has stated that he was just acting, playing along on Mr James' plans to deal weapons and drugs.[2]

Annie Machon

Annie Machon is a former MI5 intelligence officer and whistleblower who was drafted for her experience by Mads Brügger to debrief the Mole and Mr James.


Anders Kristensen

The Danish president of Korean Friendship Association.

Production

The documentary is produced by Wingman Media and Piraya Film, with DR, NRK, SVT and BBC Storyville being co-producers.[3]

The documentary contains an actor playing "Mr James", who pretends to be an investor. Mr James, an agent provocateur, seems willing to do illicit deals involving narcotics and weapons.[2]

Reception
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Politiken[6]
Berlingske[7]
Jyllands-Posten[8]
Ekko[9]
Soundvenue[10]
Dagbladet[11]

The documentary earned universal acclaim from Danish newspapers and publications.[12] Politiken gave it five out of six hearts and described it as convincing and nerve-racking,[6] while Berlingske and Jyllands-Posten rated it five out of six stars and called it marvelously entertaining and extremely impressive, respectively.[7][8] Thomas Brunstrøm of Berlingske said that "even by Mads Brügger's standard, it's an insane story, with characters so colorful that if The Mole had been fiction, you would probably say it was too unrealistic."[7] Soundvenue also rated it five out of six stars and praised Brügger as currently the most interesting Danish documentarian.[10] Bo Tao Michaëlis of Ekko rated it five out of six stars and wrote that it was brilliantly fascinating from beginning to end, describing it as a "007-movie without fast car chases and hot blondes" and applauding Brügger's decision to pair the anonymous Larsen with the former Foreign Legionary and criminal Latrache-Qvortrup.[9] Norwegian newspaper Dagbladet gave it five out of six stars, writing that it's sensational and among the few documentaries explosive enough to change the world.[11] The Guardian, The Telegraph and The Times described the documentary as extraordinary and absurdly brave.[1][13][14]

Ola Kaldager, the former leader of the Intelligence Service of Norway's group E 14, said about Larsen's infiltration: "As an intelligence operation, this is one of the best I have seen."[15] Former coordinator of the UN Panel of Experts on North Korea, Hugh Griffiths said "This film is the most severe embarrassment to Chairman Kim Jong-un that we have ever seen."[16]

Reactions

The Swedish and Danish foreign ministers, Ann Linde and Jeppe Kofoed, announced on 12 October 2020 that they would bring the documentary to the attention of the UN Sanctions Committee, and also raise the issues in the European Union.[17][18]

North Korea, from its embassy in Sweden, denied the allegations made in the documentary and called it a "fabrication".[19]

See also

References
  1. Wollaston, Sam (12 October 2020). "'Every boy's dream is to be James Bond': Inside North Korea with 'Mr James' and 'the Mole'". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 12 October 2020.
  2. Kristiansen, Annegerd Lerche (11 October 2020). "Instruktør Mads Brügger lod familiefar infiltrere Nordkorea: 'Det kunne være endt helt forfærdeligt'" [Director Mads Brügger let family father infiltrate North Korea: 'It could had ended terribly']. DR (in Danish). Retrieved 12 October 2020.
  3. Kristiansen, Annegerd Lerche (11 October 2020). Schou, Kim (ed.). "Muldvarpen i Nordkorea" [The mole in North Korea]. DR (in Danish). Retrieved 12 October 2020.
  4. Adams, Paul (11 October 2020). "Documentary claims to expose North Korea trying to dodge sanctions". BBC News. Retrieved 12 October 2020.
  5. Scheel, Agnete Finnemann (12 October 2020). "Tidligere dansk jetsetpusher hyret til at snyde Nordkorea" [Former Danish jetset dealer hired to con North Korea]. DR Nyheder (in Danish).
  6. Grundahl, Joakim (11 October 2020). "5 hjerter: Man taber kæben over Mads Brüggers nye dokumentar" [5 hearts: Your jaw drops over Mads Brügger's new documentary]. Politiken (in Danish). JP/Politikens Hus. Retrieved 11 October 2020.
  7. Brunstrøm, Thomas (11 October 2020). "Anmeldelse: Selv efter Mads Brügger-standarder er »Muldvarpen« det glade vanvid" [Review: Even by Mads Brügger's standards, »The Mole« is sheer madness]. Berlingske (in Danish). Berlingske Media. Retrieved 11 October 2020.
  8. Boysen, Katrine Sommer (11 October 2020). "Mads Brüggers forbilledlige DR-dokumentar "Muldvarpen" får os helt tæt på Nordkoreas usandsynlige manøvrer" [Mads Brügger's exemplary DR-documentary "The Mole" brings us very close to the unlikely maneuvers by North Korea]. Jyllands-Posten (in Danish). JP/Politikens Hus. Retrieved 11 October 2020.
  9. Michaëlis, Bo Tao (11 October 2020). "Muldvarpen – Undercover i Nordkorea" [The Mole – Undercover in North Korea]. Ekko (in Danish). Retrieved 11 October 2020.
  10. Ludvigsen, Jacob (12 October 2020). "'Muldvarpen': Mads Brügger bliver bare en bedre og bedre filmskaber" ['The Mole': Mads Brügger just becomes better and better as a film maker]. soundvenue.com (in Danish).
  11. Pahle, Christopher (13 October 2020). "Mildt sagt sensasjonelt!" [Simply sensational!]. dagbladet.no. Archived from the original on 14 October 2020.
  12. Ritzau. "Anmelderne: Selv efter Mads Brügger-standard er 'Muldvarpen' det glade vanvid" [Review: Even by Mads Brügger's standards, »The Mole« is sheer madness]. politiken.dk (in Danish). Archived from the original on 12 October 2020.
  13. Orange, Richard (13 October 2020). "Documentary about Danish chef who exposed North Korean arms deals to be sent to UN". The Telegraph.
  14. Moody, Oliver (13 October 2020). "Chef turns spook to expose North Korea's illegal weapons deals". The Times.
  15. Hansen, Ståle (11 October 2020). "Spionekspert: – En av de beste etterretningsoperasjoner jeg har sett" [Spy expert: – One of the best intelligence operations I have seen]. NRK (in Danish). Retrieved 12 October 2020.
  16. Adams, Paul (12 October 2020). "Documentary claims to expose North Korea trying to dodge sanctions". bbc.com. BBC. Retrieved 13 October 2020.
  17. "Joint statement by the minister for foreign affairs of Sweden Ann Linde and the minister for foreign affairs of Denmark Jeppe Kofod". Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark. 12 October 2020. Retrieved 12 October 2020.
  18. "Danmark og Sverige bringer DR-dokumentar op i FN-komité" [Denmark and Sweden brings up DR-documentary in UN-committee]. Berlingske (in Danish). Ritzau. 12 October 2020. Retrieved 12 October 2020.
  19. O'Carroll, Chad (October 15, 2020). "North Korean embassy official calls 'The Mole' documentary a 'total fabrication'". nknews.org. Retrieved 23 October 2020.
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