ABSTRACT
Throughout its history, Communism has relied on tight censorship, allowing only the dissemination of information that strengthens the proclaimed ruling legitimacy of “The Party.” Today in North Korea, that legacy endures as the regime goes to great lengths to limit all foreign media content (Greitens 2013). However, as advanced technological products proliferate even the most restricted of North Korean media markets, increasing numbers of North Koreans gain access to modern telecommunication technology and media culture (Boynton 2011; Kretchun and Kim 2012; Baek 2017; Kretchun et al. 2017). It is estimated that over 3 million citizens use mobile devices and Internet access is available to government officials, elites and North Koreans working abroad (Yamada 2017). North Koreans are able to find ways of accessing the foreign media via the technological capabilities of new digital platforms, creating increasing challenges for the regime’s defense of its legitimacy (Lerner 2015; Holt and Smith 2017).
