LSE: BBC N Korea Report Put Students At Risk

The London School of Economics says the BBC deceived its students and put them in serious danger while making a Panorama programme in North Korea.

It has asked the BBC to withdraw Panorama: North Korea Undercover, which is due to air on Monday night, and issue a full apology.

The LSE said three people working for the BBC used a student trip as cover to get into North Korea, but the students were not told who they worked for.

They were only told that "a journalist" would be accompanying them.

The LSE said reporter John Sweeney also claimed to be one of their PhD students to gain entry to the secretive state.

The director of the LSE, Professor Craig Calhoun, told Sky News that the BBC put the students at risk.

"There were lies and deception from the outset, putting the students at risk and creates a serious future problem for those who go to do future research or student travel," he said.

"There is an unwillingness to take responsibility for the risks they've caused."

Three of the students involved spoke to The Beaver , LSE's official newspaper.

One said: "Contrary to what the BBC spokesperson insists, I have never been informed of the risks that I faced being in North Korea with the one print journalist who I agreed to travel with.

"I was never told that I could be held in detention or that I risked not being able to return to the country because of the journalist's activities. I was not informed of these risks by the BBC even after the trip."

Another student said: "I was never, at any point, told of the danger of being put in a gulag if we were discovered or that I would not be able to re-enter North Korea because of their journalistic activities.

"I was never told there would be a documentary that would implicate me before we had already landed in Pyongyang and spent time with our minders.

"Furthermore, there are only two flights from Pyongyang to Beijing per week. This means that even if we refused to partake in the trip at any point after finding out about the documentary, we would not be able to leave North Korea."

However, a third student told The Beaver: "What I find fascinating about the LSE-BBC North Korea scandal is that vocalised outrage and indignation seem to be erupting from every corner of the LSE public except from the group of students who actually went on the trip.

"Has anyone conducted the research necessary to find out what the entire group of nine students think? I doubt this, because in that case we would have seen a more detailed, nuanced picture painted of this event."

In a statement, the BBC said: "We recognised that because it could increase the risks of the trip, the students should be told in advance that a journalist intended to travel with them, in order to enable the students to make their decision about whether they wanted to proceed.

"They were given this information, and were reminded of it again, in time to have been able to change their plans if they wanted to.

"The students were all explicitly warned about the potential risks of travelling to North Korea with the journalist as part of their group.

"This included a warning about the risk of arrest and detention and that they might not be allowed to return to North Korea in the future.

"Transmission will go ahead as planned."

The BBC confirmed to Sky News that the LSE is not mentioned in the programme.