The ex-politician turned TV presenter fronts five half-hour travel programmes on South Korea: a more sedate experience than Stephen Mulhern’s travels broadcast earlier this year.
1. DMZ to Seoul
Michael begins his journey at the Demilitarised Zone, the heavily fortified border that has divided the Korean peninsula since the end of the Korean War. From the track of a long-abandoned railway near the Imjin River, he explores one of the most tense frontiers in the world and reflects on a conflict that ended in ceasefire but never peace.
From the DMZ, Michael travels south by rail into Seoul, arriving in a vast, fast-moving capital that has risen from the ruins of war to become one of the world’s most advanced cities. Exploring palaces and the restored Cheonggyecheon stream, he uncovers how tradition and innovation coexist in everyday Korean life.
At the BBC’s Seoul bureau, Michael meets the news editor broadcasting news into North Korea, before sharing street food with a North Korean defector who poignantly describes the personal cost of division.
Michael’s first Korean leg ends at Kukkiwon, the World Taekwondo Headquarters, where he discovers how Korea’s national martial art reflects discipline, resilience and a hard-won modern identity.
Episode 2: Suwon to Seodaemun (Seoul)
Michael’s South Korean railway journey continues in Seoul. Travelling across one of the world’s largest metro systems, he heads south to Suwon to visit Samsung’s headquarters, tracing the rise of the family-run company from a small trading business to a global technology giant and symbol of Korea’s postwar economic miracle. Touring a futuristic smart home, Michael explores how innovation now shapes everyday life.
Back in central Seoul, he visits the city’s original railway station, built during Japanese rule and now preserved as a cultural space, reflecting the complexities of Korea’s colonial past. In Gangnam, a district propelled to global stardom by a K-pop hit, he explores the international success of Korean popular culture, meeting the boss and dancers at a K-pop academy to understand how Hallyu – the Korean cultural wave – has conquered international audiences.
Finally, in Seodaemun, Michael visits a former prison and Independence Park to uncover the story of the March First Movement of 1919, a pivotal moment in Korea’s struggle for independence from Japan, meeting a descendant of a leading resistance figure whose courage helped shape Korea’s struggle for freedom.
3. Daejeon to Busan
Leaving Seoul aboard South Korea’s high-speed KTX train, Michael travels south through the heart of the country to explore how rail has shaped both its economy and identity.
His first stop is Daejeon, a centre of science and education, where a local bakery founded by a North Korean refugee offers a small but telling story of postwar resilience. Nearby, in Geumsan, Michael visits a ginseng research institute to discover how Korea’s most prized root, cultivated for over 1,500 years, has evolved from traditional medicine into a global health and skincare industry.
Continuing east along the historic Gyeongbu line, Michael learns how Korea’s railways, first laid at the end of the 19th century, became the backbone of the modern nation. In Gyeongju, the ancient capital of the Silla dynasty, he joins archaeologists excavating royal burial mounds, uncovering gold artefacts that reveal the story of Korea’s first unification.
The journey ends in Busan, where Michael explores a hillside community built by war refugees and meets an artist whose work reflects the city’s enduring legacy of displacement, creativity and renewal.
4. Busan to Jeonju
Michael’s journey continues in Busan, South Korea’s second city, on the country’s south eastern coast. On the seafront at Haeundae Beach, he boards the Sky Capsule monorail along a former coastal railway route, reimagined as a scenic ride above the shoreline.
From here, Michael heads to Jagalchi Fish Market, one of the largest in South Korea, where he explores Busan’s long fishing heritage with a local food blogger and samples the city’s famously fresh seafood.
Overlooking Busan’s vast container port, Michael discovers how the city became Korea’s principal maritime gateway, handling the majority of the nation’s seaborne trade.
In Jeonju, one of Korea’s oldest cities and former heart of the Joseon dynasty. Exploring its historic hanok village, he meets a master craftsman producing hanji paper using techniques refined over centuries.
5. Gwangju to Jeju
On the final leg of his journey, Michael travels to South Korea’s south west, where food, protest and landscape reveal the values that have shaped the modern nation. Arriving by high-speed train in Gwangju, he explores the region’s deep-rooted food culture, meeting a prizewinning kimchi maker to learn how Korea’s iconic fermented dish has sustained communities for centuries and become a symbol of shared labour and tradition.
Michael then confronts a darker chapter in South Korea’s history at the May 18th Memorial Park, where a survivor of the 1980 Gwangju Uprising recounts how student-led protests against military rule were brutally suppressed and why the events are now regarded as the cornerstone of Korean democracy.
Leaving the mainland, Michael crosses by ferry to Jeju Island, a volcanic landscape dominated by Mount Halla. Exploring lava tubes with a volcanologist, he uncovers how the island was formed before meeting the Haenyeo, Jeju’s legendary female free divers.