Much has been discussed about the power of outside information to open the eyes of the North Korean people and convince them of the truth about the outside world. Some high-profile defectors have even cited American movies and South Korean dramas as catalysts that pushed them to defect - Park Yeon Mi famously credited the movie Titanic with her moment of realization. But is this kind of information campaign really enough to change North Korea from within?
Jieun Baek's new book - North Korea's Hidden Revolution - focuses on this exact question. In this episode, Korean Kontext host Jenna Gibson sits down with Baek, who is currently a Ph.D candidate at Oxford Universtiy, to discuss how information has changed North Korean society already - and the limits to what it can accomplish.
Photo from comradeanatolii’s photostream on flickr Creative Commons.
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Mongolia and the Korean Peninsula: Dr. Alicia Campi
East Meets South: Ahn Choong-yong and Jagganath Panda
Peace Corps Story: Kathleen Stephens
Korea, Japan, and the Missing Advocate: Kristin Vekasi and Jiwon Nam
The Great Successor: Anna Fifield
Defending Korea, from the Nakdong to the Chosin: Colonel John Stevens
How China Sees the Korean Peninsula: Lee Seong-hyon
At Best Unique, At Worst Delusional - North Korea's Special Economic Zones: Theo Clement
Explainer: The Political Origins of Korean Baseball
Explainer: The State of Korea's Childcare Industry
North Korea's Illicit Trade Winds: Hugh Griffith
Why North Korea Won't Budge: Ken Gause
Going Back to The Source: Jeffrey Robertson
[Rebroadcast] Valuing Age and Experience: Yongmin Cho and Quan Nguyen
Explainer: Ultrafine Dust Crisis
[Rebroadcast] We Built This Bureau: Elise Hu
From Maximum Pressure to Maximum Leverage: Daniel Wertz
[Rebroadcast] In Defense of KORUS: Phil Eskeland, Troy Stangarone, and Kyle Ferrier
When North Korea Embraces Mobile Technology: Yonho Kim
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