Landing at North Korea's Pyongyang Sunan International Airport for a work trip last month, The Straits Times associate editor Rahul Pathak and senior executive photojournalist Desmond Foo were met with a rude shock.
Hand over your mobile phones, they were told, before Customs officials went through their photos, presumably looking for material sensitive to the regime.
"At that stage, you are just wondering if you remembered to delete everything," said Mr Pathak, who added that officials also rummaged through their luggage before they were allowed to enter the country.
It was a nerve-racking start to their seven-day reporting trip in one of the most secretive countries in the world.
In those seven days, Mr Pathak got a good look behind the veil of the North Korean government's bombast and propaganda, visiting kindergartens, hospitals, factories and universities.
While his experiences have been chronicled in feature stories that ran in both The Sunday Times and The Straits Times last month, Mr Pathak will also share insights gleaned from his trip at the upcoming Straits Times Global Outlook Forum on Dec 5.
He is one of four panellists who will speak at a panel discussion on global politics in this age of disruption.
Mr Pathak, 56, noted that North Korea is one of the biggest hot spots in the world now, with the government seeking to push ahead with its nuclear ambitions despite international pressure.
He added that during the panel discussion, he will talk about the country's weapons programme and the geopolitical threat it poses, as well as the impact of international sanctions and whether these would force North Korea back to the negotiating table.
He will also discuss the attitudes of regular North Koreans to the country's leadership - something he managed to observe while in the country.
The desire to get the views of the North Korean on the street was what sparked the idea of a trip there, which took place after over half a year of discussions with the North Korean embassy here, said Mr Pathak.
"I wanted to give people a sense of what the place is like, and also a sense of the people there and how they think," he said.
This was a perspective often lacking in reports from international media outlets when reporting on North Korea, said Mr Pathak, who has been a journalist for over 30 years.
For instance, he found it fascinating that with 12 years of compulsory state-sponsored education, North Koreans were some of the most educated people in the world. "They were very well informed when it comes to information the government wants them to have," he said.
The other panellists on his panel are prominent historian Wang Gungwu, Associate Professor Elvin Lim, who heads the department of political science at the National University of Singapore (NUS), and Mr Richard Jerram, chief economist of the Bank of Singapore.
Professor Wang, who is chairman of the ISEAS - Yusof Ishak Institute and the East Asian Institute, will give his views on China after the recent 19th national party congress, while Prof Lim, who specialises in US politics, will offer his take on America under President Donald Trump.
The discussion will be moderated by ST opinion editor for global affairs Audrey Quek.
