North Korea certainly deserves its title of the Hermit Kingdom of East Asia. Even today, for many that country remains a riddle wrapped up in an enigma. Does North Korea really have no COVID-19 cases? Has Kim Jong-un really executed people with a flamethrower? Is everyone there forced to get a Kim Jong-un haircut? As a North Korea watcher, in this podcast I do my best to provide short but detailed responses to these and other most common questions about this country. The podcast is powered by Anchor. For more details visit - askmeaboutdprk.wordpress.com
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episode 20: Episode 20 – What is daily life like in North Korea? (Part 3: Organizational Life & Surveillance)
One of the key pillars of the long-lasting North Korean authoritarianism is a highly complex system of mass-surveillance. Spying on your own citizens is something that is characteristic of many authoritarian regimes, but Pyongyang has certainly outperformed all of its undemocratic counterparts in this field. Some researchers even argue that the North Korean system has no equivalents in the world, while Amnesty International has christened the DPRK as ‘The Surveillance State’. Since using security and intelligence agents is a widespread practice in many authoritarian regimes, today I will talk about other more subtle surveillance mechanisms that are more specific to North Korea. For more details visit - askmeaboutdprk.wordpress.com